The 100 Best Affordable Vacations (27 page)

Perhaps you once found yourself in the wilds of South Dakota or some other isolated area, far from the city lights, and looked up to the sky on a moonless night and saw the Milky Way in all its glory, the heavens filled with constellations, novas, and glittering stars beyond counting—even beyond comprehension. The band of light was so dense that it did, really, look milky. That moment filled you with awe—and with a strangely tangible sense of self.

And revelations like that are what these “wild” adventures offer.

hop a ferry to alaska

ALASKA

Never before this had I been embosomed in scenery so hopelessly beyond description.

—
NATURALIST JOHN MUIR, ON A VISIT TO ALASKA ABOARD THE STEAMER
DAKOTA
(1879)

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Alaska’s marine highway is a street like no other. It’s a place where eagles nest, glaciers calve, and whales breach. The imaginary road is navigated by state-run ferries (called “Blue Canoes”), linking communities along the Inside Passage, and out to the far end of the Aleutian Islands.

The 3,500-mile Alaska Marine Highway System also offers a way for visitors to experience the grandeur of the Last Frontier. However, with a choice of more than 30 routes, a trip takes time and planning. If you bring a car aboard and reserve sleeping rooms, you could easily spend as much on your rustic adventure as you might on a traditional cruise vacation, which includes unlimited meals and entertainment. Each experience has its pluses but is different. The Alaska you see from a cruise ship will be carefully packaged. And shore excursions, which last just a few hours, can cost hundreds of dollars a person.

Taking the Alaska State Ferry as a walk-on passenger, though, makes the trip affordable and allows you to hop on and off the boat and spend time seeing Alaska’s rich coastal heritage, both scenic and cultural. Depending on ferry schedules, you may spend a day or two camping by the sea, or staying in a rustic bed-and-breakfast.

Even years later, passenger Wes Lafortune says he can still remember awakening early one morning when the ferry captain alerted the ship to an orca swimming just a few hundred feet away. “It was misty and the whale started breaching straight out of the water,” he says. “It was very still and quiet and quite dramatic. It was one of those ‘This is why we went on this trip’ experiences.”

The marine highway is essentially composed of four sections—the Inside Passage, the Cross Gulf Route, Prince William Sound to Kodiak Island, and the Aleutian Chain—with popular routes branching off the main north-south Inside Passage route that parallels Alaska’s southeast coast, linking Bellingham, Washington, with Skagway, Alaska. A nonstop trip from Bellingham to Skagway takes 67 hours and costs $363 per adult, with rates cut by about half for passengers under 12. It’s an additional $478 for a passenger car, while bicycles and kayaks cost about $60.

The base fare does not include accommodations. Cabins begin at $333 for a two-berth room for the Bellingham to Skagway run. If you’d like to save that money, there are two free options: You can pitch a pup tent on the ferry’s back deck, which is heated, or sleep on reclining chairs in the public area in an impromptu slumber party with fellow passengers, a colorful mix of rugged Alaskans, international travelers, and U.S. vacationers.

$PLURGE

SEE THE BEARS

With few roads and millions of acres of wilderness, touring doesn’t come cheap in Alaska. That said, some experiences are worth the expense.

How about seeing bears in the wild? From Wrangell, many commercial guides offer a six-hour round-trip excursion to the
Anan Creek Wildlife Viewing Site,
30 miles south of town. A boat brings you deep into the Tongass National Forest to a half-mile boardwalk and protected observatory site where you can spend a few hours watching wild bears jostle each other and fish pink salmon out of a creek. Tours offered by
Alaska Waters
(800-347-4462 or 907-874-2378,
www.alaskawaters.com
) run $265.

If you stay on the main Inside Passage route, the first leg of your adventure—Bellingham to Ketchikan, Alaska—will take 40 hours, providing plenty of time to get acquainted with the ship. Often park rangers are on board to interpret the stunning Inside Passage scenery, easily visible from the ship’s solarium. There also may be nature movies shown on board. For meals, you can bring a cooler or purchase meals in the cafeteria, which features Alaska seafood along with burgers and snacks.

Ketchikan, like many coastal Alaska cities, can resemble a theme park when a cruise ship is in port, but as soon as the passengers are gone, the town relaxes and you will too. Take in sites like the
Totem Heritage Center
(601 Deermount St., 907-225-5900). Book a room at
Captain’s Quarters B&B
(325 Lund St., 907-225-4912,
www.captainsquartersbb.com
, from $105 in season), or, to really save, a bed at the
First United Methodist Church hostel
(400 Main St., 907-225-3319,
www.ktnumc.com/hostel/index.html
) runs $20 in single-sex dormitories. For a memorable meal,
Diaz Café
(335 Stedman St., 907-225-2257) is a city favorite with its Filipino-Alaska seafood dishes.

Make your next ferry stop one of the small communities rarely visited by cruise ships. In Wrangell, for example, you can visit Petroglyph Beach to view ancient rock carvings. Base yourself at the
Stikine Inn
(107 Front St., 888-874-3388 or 907-874-3388), with rooms from about $85.

Now reboard the ferry and head to Juneau. The state capital has an only-in-Alaska urban buzz. Make the 13-mile trip to the
Mendenhall Glacier Visitor Center
(8510 Mendenhall Loop Rd., Juneau, 907-789-0097,
www.fs.fed.us/r10/tongass/districts/mendenhall/
), where trails let you explore as much as you would like. You can take a bus for $14 round-trip (907-789-5460,
www.mightygreattrips.com
). For a basic room from $95 in high season, try the
Driftwood Lodge
(435 W. Willoughby Ave., 907-586-2280,
www.driftwoodalaska.com
). If you just need a bed until you catch the ferry, the
Juneau International Hostel
(614 Harris St., 907-586-9559,
www.juneauhostel.net
) has single-sex dorm rooms from $10.

CANADA’S FERRYLAND

British Columbia’s extensive ferry system might seem to cover the same ground as that of Alaska, but the two are as different as the United States and Canada.

The bulk of BC’s ferry traffic travels a main artery connecting the city of Vancouver to Vancouver Island. Thousands of cars will make the crossing in a day, and if you’re trying to go on a holiday weekend, be prepared to wait for hours. But for a more relaxed look at the province, consider driving the Sunshine Coast circle tour, a clockwise sweep through coastal scenery, harborside villages, art studios, restaurants, and inns.

From Vancouver, take the ferry to Nanaimo on Vancouver Island, and head north, meandering along the Island Highway to take in the rugged Pacific Northwest scenery. In
Comox,
you’ll connect to an 80-minute ferry ride across the Georgia Strait to
Powell River
on the Sunshine Coast, so named because its weather patterns defy the typical gray Pacific Northwest forecast. You can get a cozy room at the
Herondell B&B
(RR 1, Black Point 29, Powell River, 604-487-9538,
www.herondell.com
) for just $60 Canadian.

From there, you can slowly work your way southeast on Highway 101 to
Saltery Bay
and then take a 50-minute ferry to
Earls Cove.
Along the way keep alert for purple banners marking local galleries and studios. In
Gibsons,
make sure to stop for fresh-from-the-wharf seafood at
Smitty’s Oyster House
(643 School Road Wharf, Lower Gibsons, 604-886-4665). The road runs out at
Langdale,
where you’ll catch a 40-minute ferry back to Horseshoe Bay in Vancouver’s North Shore. The ferries should run about $175 Canadian for two passengers and a vehicle, but discounts are often available.
BC Ferries, 1112 Fort St., Victoria, BC V8V 4V2, Canada, 888-223-3779 or 250-381-1401,
www.bcferries.com
.

Skagway’s another fascinating stop. The heart of this former gold-rush town is now designated as
Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
(907-983-2921,
www.nps.gov/klgo
), and you can take free, ranger-led walking tours. From here, you can drive into Canada’s Yukon and then back to the States. But if you’ve gone car free, simply grab a ferry back to Washington State, or hop another ferry for more adventures on the edge of the Last Frontier.

HOW TO GET IN TOUCH

Alaska Marine Highway System,
P.O. Box 112505, 6858 Glacier Hwy., Juneau, AK 99811, 800-642-0066,
www.dot.state.ak.us/amhs
.

kayak with dolphins

BAJA CALIFORNIA

Man has always assumed that he was more intelligent than dolphins because he had achieved so much…But conversely, the dolphins had always believed that they were far more intelligent than man…for precisely the same reason.

—
DOUGLAS ADAMS (1952–2001), AUTHOR OF THE HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY SERIES

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Traveling in a kayak is like being a water bug. With little effort you skim along the surface, quiet and unassuming, taking in incredible views from the waterline.

That’s how you can explore the Sea of Cortés off the coast of the Mexican state of Baja California Sur. For four glorious days you’ll paddle through pods of dolphins and pass sunning sea lions. If you’re lucky you may encounter whales. You’ll spend your nights on a desert island, eating grilled fish and sipping margaritas prepared by guides. If this sounds like a dream trip way out of your budget, don’t worry. It runs about $1,000.

The trip, offered by Sea Kayak Adventures, leaves from the historic, seaside town of Loreto. Just off the coast lies Mexico’s half-million-acre Loreto Bay National Marine Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The reserve is protected from commercial trawlers, which means habitat and food are preserved for sea mammals, including dolphins, thousands and thousands of dolphins.

You’re bound to see common dolphins. “A woefully inappropriate name for them,” says Nancy Mertz, co-owner of Sea Kayak Adventures. “They should be called the wonderful dolphin, the exceptional dolphin. Yesterday my husband and I went out and saw them. They were leaping and spiraling, and their tails were splashing down. There were babies traveling along.”

The basic six-night tour includes four days of camping and kayaking and two nights in a hotel. It runs $995 per adult, plus a $25 park fee, and $20 to rent snorkeling gear and a wet suit.

$PLURGE

THAR SHE BLOWS

If you’re wild about whales, you’ll probably want to try a more elaborate Sea Kayak Adventures expedition. A ten-day Sea of Cortés/Gray Whale combo trip will let you see the behemoths up close. The whales give birth in nearby Magdalena Bay, and it’s possible to kayak right up to them. A trip with motorboat support, which means you won’t have to carry all your gear, runs $1,895.

The kayaking is geared for beginners. Before the group leaves shore, guides make sure everyone is comfortable paddling. The two-person boats weigh about 200 pounds and include foam-padded seats and adjustable backrests. Then the adventure starts. The first day’s destination is a cactus-studded island just a few miles off-shore, which will serve as a base camp. On the way, the water is usually glassy calm, leaving plenty of time to look out for seabirds, like brown pelicans, gannets, and terns. But soon guests will likely encounter sea creatures. “We’ve seen so many,” says Glen Stickle, a Canadian who has visited Baja nearly a dozen times. “Whales, dolphins, mantas.”