Quick Details
Duration: 7 Hours
Departures: 10:30 a.m. every day, starting in May
Stops: Gull Island bird rookery, Seldovia
Affordable Homer, Alaska boat tours for the whole family!
Welcome aboard the Discovery or Rainbow Connection for an amazing tour of Kachemak Bay and the community of Seldovia. Our first stop will be at the Gull Island bird rookery where you will get up close and personal with up to 15,000 sea birds. Our most common are the Glaucous-winged Gulls, Black-legged Kittiwakes. Pigeon Guillemots, Pelagic and Red Faced Cormorants, Tufted and Horned Puffins, as well as the Common Murres. We also see frequent Bald Eagles and a large variety of other seabirds.
We will continue through scenic Eldred Passage where we frequently find otters, sea ducks, whales, and a variety of other marine life. Learn about the Islands, Fjords, and waterways as we cruise towards Seldovia.
We arrive in Seldovia around 1:00pm. Once in Seldovia you will have time to enjoy one of the many restaurants or you are welcome to bring a picnic lunch. Explore historic boardwalk, visitors center, museum, local trails, pick some berries, or just photograph the local beauty.
We depart Seldovia at 3:30pm with a scheduled return time of approximately 5:00pm. We are frequently delayed by whales or other awesome marine life along the way.
For more information and to plan your activities in Seldovia, please visit www.seldovia.com.
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Our Boats
Enjoy the Rainbow Connection or the Discovery.
*The Rainbow Connection and The Discovery are both used for our wildlife tours and alternate on a daily basis.
The M/V Rainbow Connection
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Your day on the water can range from hot and sunny to very wet and cold. There is lots of room on all our vessels to bring extra gear.
The Rainbow Connection and The Discovery feature many more comforts. We have a full-service snack bar, however, we highly recommend you bring the following items:
- Camera, extra batteries and a charger (there are 110-v outlets onboard)
- Warm clothes; layers are best
- Hats and gloves
- Raingear
- Sunscreen if you burn easily
- Hiking shoes if wanting to venture the trails
- Lunch food if you are not interested in eating lunch in Seldovia
- We do have crayons and coloring books onboard for your little ones
- Strollers for little ones are very convenient
- Pets are welcome too and there is no additional charge. Seldovia is a dog-friendly town so please do not leave them behind.
There is lots of room to store extra items and you are welcome to leave them onboard while you explore Seldovia.
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To late
1800’sAthabascan Indians, Aleuts and Eskimos have camped at Seldovia for hundreds of years, but its modern history began in the late 1800’s. It is possible that prehistoric evidence of a village site may lie beneath the Russian Orthodox Church or other homes in the Seldovia city. Other excavations of ancient skeletal remains have turned up around the MacDonald Spit. 1840Chief manager of the Russian Colonies in North America, Mikhail Dmitrievich Teben’kov, sent Captain to explore Cook’s Inlet, including Seldovia. 1852Captain Archimandritov named the bay “Zaliv Seldevoy” or translated, “Herring Bay.” The Kenaitze Indian name for the Bay was Chesloknu. 1867Alaska purchased from Russia. Many Russians departed for their mother country; however heritage of the Russian culture still remain in Seldovia. 1870Russians and Natives who were engaged in fur hunting and trading settled here by the 1870’s. This makes it one of the oldest settlements in the Cook Inlet area. Over the years the processing of herring, crab and salmon have been important. An Indian village once flourished at the mouth of the Seldovia River. Also Captain Nathaniel Portlock discovered what may be the first coal mine in Alaska — 8 miles south of Seldovia. It was mined by the Russians for their settlements and the Russian fleet. 188410th U.S. Census Population of Seldovia: 74 (including “island” which may have been the Yukon Island) 1898The Post Office in Seldovia was established. 1900’sAt the turn of the century, Seldovia was a stop for prospectors enroute to the gold fields in the Interior. 1908First Public School in Seldovia was established. 1910The first salmon cannery was built around 1910. 1910Juneau became the capital city of Alaska. 1920A herring boom in the 1920’s brought Scandinavians to town and they stayed on to fish salmon, halibut, crab. First record of a 4th of July Celebration in Seldovia. 1925More than fifty fox farms were established in the bays and coves of the peninsula, many of them using Seldovia as the point of supply. During these years, Seldovia was the commerce center for all of Western Alaska. Powder Island also had a sawmill, which caught fire and burned down. 1927Seldovia’s canneries were thriving businesses. 1931In 1931 a wooden boardwalk was built along the waterfront to facilitate travel through town. Businesses in buildings set on pilings flourished along the intimate wooden walkway, and Seldovia became known throughout Southcentral Alaska as “the boardwalk town.” The boardwalk was also social gathering place. Even today, the charm of old Seldovia is retained in an original section of the old boardwalk which remains along the Seldovia Slough. 1945Seldovia’s first airplane service: Miller’s Seldovia Air Service – 6 passenger double wing Waco float plane, pilot was Dick Miller. The plane was tethered to the Seldovia dock. This was also the year that Seldovia was incorporated as a “Second Class City,” with 285 residents. Seldovia’s canneries were no longer a thriving business. 1946Seldovia’s current air strip was built. 1947Children’s ski tow built on the Frank Raby Hill (behind the old Beachcomber Hotel) by Dr. Melvin Belz and Everd Jones. The first radio telephone transmitter was installed in June, enabling communication between Seldovia and Anchorage. 1962Seldovia was reclassified as a “First Class City.” 1964The 1964 earthquake changed Seldovia forever. The land mass subsided four feet, allowing high tides to wash over the boardwalk and into its buildings- houses and stores. The waterfront boardwalk was replaced and renewed with fill from surrounding hills so the the town could be rebuilt on higher ground, above high tides. 1971Construction began on the Susan B. English School.
First classes held on August 30, 1972.
Dedication Ceremony on September 30, 1972.1975Seldovia Native Association sold some of its logging rights to Robertson & Sons who milled about 5 million feet of Sitka spruce. In later years more logging was done. TodaySeldovia is an active and fun community, has a wonderful school (grades 1-12), invites tourism, is an attractive retirement place, and supports the sport fishing industry.