Auke Bay
Taku Harbor
Funter Bay
Oliver Inlet
Tee Harbor
Hike the West Glacier Trail
Ride the Mount Roberts Tramway
Whale watch in Stephens Passage
Helicopter landing on the Juneau Icefield
Fish for king salmon in Taku Inlet
Mendenhall Glacier
Tracy Arm Fjord
Mount Roberts
Alaska State Capitol
South Franklin Street
May through September is the charter season, with June and July offering the longest daylight and calmest water in Stephens Passage and the Gastineau Channel. Whale watching improves through the summer as humpbacks arrive to feed, peaking in July and August. Late September brings a chance of early Northern Lights as nights lengthen, though rainfall also increases, so most guests still favor the June to August window for reliability.
Juneau International Airport (JNU) is the only way in besides sea, with direct summer flights from Seattle and Anchorage; there’s no highway connection to the rest of Alaska or Canada. Most charters embark straight from Juneau’s harbor within a short taxi ride of the airport. Some guests instead arrive by state ferry on the Alaska Marine Highway, which is slower but allows bringing a vehicle as far as Juneau’s own limited road network.
Auke Bay, just north of downtown, is the practical choice for provisioning and crew changes close to the airport. Taku Harbor and Funter Bay, both a half day’s cruise away, offer quieter overnight stops with good fishing. For a longer excursion, Tracy Arm Fjord to the south is a full-day round trip but rewards guests with tidewater glaciers and iceberg-strewn water rivaling Glacier Bay.
Three to five days covers Mendenhall Glacier, a whale watching run in Stephens Passage, and a day trip to Tracy Arm Fjord. Guests wanting to combine Juneau with Sitka or Glacier Bay typically extend to seven to ten days, since both require a half day or more of cruising each way. Juneau also works well as a one or two night stop within a longer Inside Passage itinerary.
No. Unlike Glacier Bay National Park, which requires a permit for any vessel entering park waters between June 1 and August 31, Juneau’s glaciers, including Mendenhall and Tracy Arm, sit outside the national park boundary and carry no entry permit or vessel quota. That makes Juneau a more flexible base for last-minute itinerary changes, though Tracy Arm can still get crowded with tour boats at midday.
