The Alaska Marine Highway System provides practical, dependable year-round ferry service on most routes. The ferries carry vehicles as well as passengers, and feature food service, sightseeing lounges, and staterooms. Travelers without staterooms may sleep in public lounges or on the solarium deck. Short local tours are available in many communities, and most coincide with ferry stopovers. USDA Forest Service interpreters ride the larger ferries in summer, hosting programs about Alaska s natural resources, history and culture.
Ferries travel three separate routes.
On the Inside Passage route, mainline ferries connect Bellingham, Washington, and Prince Rupert, British Columbia, with Ketchikan Wrangell, Petersburg, Sitka, Juneau, Haines, and Skagway. Smaller vessels, without staterooms, provide access to larger towns from the communities of Hoonah, Tenakee Springs, Angoon, Pelican, Kake, Hollis, Metlakatla, and Hyder. On the Prince William Sound communities of Whittier, Cordova, and Valdez. On the Southwest route, stops include Kodiak, Seward, Homer, Seldovia, Port Lions, and the Aleutian Islands. Between May and September, ferries travel between Kodiak and Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands.