The Nautilus Explorer.
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inside a sponge.
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Wild Alaska
Explore colorful sights beneath the waters of the Frontier
State ■ By Stuart Westmorland
T
he largest state in the U.S. by area,
Alaska is best known for its remote
natural beauty (and Sarah Palin). Think
large tracts of wilderness and untouched
coast populated by moose, eagles and
bears. Southeast Alaska in particular is a
destination where wilderness and wildlife
dominate the landscape, and civilization
is in short supply.
Below the water, Alaska’s sights are
no less impressive. For years, scuba diving in Alaska had been just a rumor, and
diving the Inside Passage — the coastal
waterway between the mainland and
coastal islands from Puget Sound to
Alaska’s panhandle — was virtually
impossible north of Vancouver Island.
But for the past decade, Capt. Mike
Lever of the Nautilus
Explorer has pioneered Live-Aboards
this remote underwater wilderness. Capt.
Lever has discovered mind-boggling dive
sites and created a mix of itineraries that
combine the best wildlife viewing topside
with Alaska’s unbelievably rich invertebrate marine life. And as more divers have
scubadiving.com july 2010 / 20
ventured to Alaska, more amazing sights
have been reported, including record-size
octopuses, wolf eels, sea anemones, sea
urchins, nudibranchs and barnacles.
Because the 49th state in the union is
so incredibly vast, there’s a good variety
of diving options to choose from —
much of it still waiting to be discovered.
The diving aboard Nautilus Explorer is
matched to the experience of its guests.
The diving depth is varied, but colorful
anemones, soft corals, hydroids and kelp
forests grow within inches of the surface.
There are several shipwrecks on each itinerary and technical dives are possible
with advance notice.
A highlight of July and August itineraries
on the Nautilus Explorer is the chance to
dive with spawning humpback salmon.
The 116-foot Nautilus Explorer accommodates up to 26 divers in elegance with
large staterooms, each with a private head
and shower. All the onboard essentials,
including drysuit rental, nitrox, coldweather clothing and equipment rental
are available too. The ship has an open-air
hot tub, complete bar and entertainment
system, and all the creature comforts you
could hope for on a luxury live-aboard.
The Nautilus Explorer features itineraries of 10 to 14 days, and from
Need to Know
» Getting There Most major airlines fly into Seattle (SEA); Alaska Airlines has
regular daily flights from Seattle into Sitka, Juneau, Ketchikan and Vancouver,
depending on where you board the Nautilus Explorer for your given itinerary.
» When to Go The best weather is May through September. Visibility is best in the
fall; spring plankton blooms and snowmelt affect visibility in May and June.
» Dive Conditions Water temperatures hover between 42 to 48 degrees F,
necessitating a drysuit. These should not be your first dives with a drysuit, as the
currents can be extremely fast and powerful.
» Price Tag Prices start at $3,030 for the 10-day adventure and vary by the
stateroom selected, trip length and add-ons. There is a $65 per-person port fee,
and there are add-on options like nitrox ($120), argon ($15 per trip) and drysuit
rentals ($120).
» More Info Nautilus Explorer, nautilusexplorer.com
scubadiving.com july 2010 / 21
From top: stuart westmorland; accent alaska; stuart westmorland; Opposite: mark conlin/alamy
Young brown bear hunting salmon.
June through August trips start from
Vancouver, Ketchikan, Juneau or Sitka.
Each trip features a highlight: Harbor
seals in June; the salmon spawn in July
and August; and humpback whales can
be seen throughout the summer. Dives
are carefully selected because Alaska features some of the highest current areas
in the world; as a result, you might get
four dives in a day or as few as two.
The trip into Le Conte Glacier uses
the ship’s steel hull like an icebreaker,
bringing passengers to within touching
distance of the southernmost tidewater
glacier in North America. Natural geothermal hot springs on Baranof Island,
bald eagles, stellar sea lions and humpback whales are other highlights.
But it’s the diving that is the real diamond in the rough. Invertebrate life like
The colors are so bright,
you almost need sunglasses to view when
illuminated with
strobes or dive lights.
Itinerary
Day Seven Look
for humpback
whales off Point
Adolphus. Dive
the entrance to
Icy Strait and the
6 Inian Islands,
featuring stellar sea lions, sea
otters and humpback whales.
Emerge to bald
eagles and scenery that will
make you think
you’re in the
Swiss Alps.
Day One Board in
Ketchikan.
NITROX BLENDED ON-SITE
COMPUTER DIVING AVAILABLE
ALWAYS DIVER FREEDOM
BURST INTO
SUMMER
ONLY $960pp/dbl occ
5 NIGHT PACKAGE
Why not Escape, dive and
save this Summer?
Take a break and relax on the East
End of Grand Cayman
Enjoy pristine reefs, breathtaking
wall dives and a service style that
will surpass your expectations.
Enjoy The ‘Green Short’ Service
800.348.6096
[email protected]
www.oceanfrontiers.com
Day Two
Checkout dives
on the reef outside the quaint
village of
1 Meyer’s Chuck.
This is beautiful
diving with loads
of anemones,
octopuses, wolf
eels and vibrant
corals. Shore visits include a visit
to a local art gallery and a hike
through the rainforest to a deserted beach.
Day Three
Motor through
2 Wrangell
Narrows, keeping a lookout
for bald eagles.
Spend the rest of
the day among
the glaciers and
icebergs of 3 Le
Conte Bay.
Day Four Dive
the wreck of
the 4 S.S. State
of California, a
300-foot-long
steamship covered in sponges and sea stars,
and home to large
groups of rockfish. Discovered
in 2001, the wreck
begins at 70 feet
and quickly gets
into advanceddiving territory.
The wooden deck
railings are still
intact. Afterward,
explore pristine
Admiralty Island.
Day Five Dive
with millions of
jellyfish in a fjord
on 5 Baranof
Island, snorkel with salmon,
kayak and watch
for bears.
Day Six More
beautiful reef diving off Baranof,
as well as shore
hiking, a trip to a
beautiful mountain lake (which
some guests
have dived) and
a relaxing visit to
the hot springs.
scubadiving.com july 2010 / 22
OceanFrontiers_018562_SCD0610.indd 1
4/5/10 5:00 PM
nothing else on the planet is found in
this cold, nutrient-rich water. The colors
are so bright, you almost need sunglasses
to view when illuminated with strobes
or dive lights. Molten-red soft corals,
gorgonian corals and fist-size acorn
barnacles all vie for space. The marine
life is equally mind-boggling: multihued nudibranchs, giant fish-eating sea
anemones, and sculpins with colors and
patterns so unusual, they would’ve made
Salvador Dali blush. All of which make
wild Alaska the next frontier of diving.
Day Eight and
Nine More underwater exploring in the Inian
Islands.
Day Ten Lynn
Canal to dive
the most famous
wreck in the area,
the 7 Princess
Sophia. In 1918,
this Canadian
Pacific Railway
steamship ran
aground in foul
weather; all 366
people perished
when it sank several hours later.
Dive the Princess
Kathleen — another CPR steamship, well intact
and lying on its
side between 40
and 120 feet deep
— before heading
in to Auke Bay,
Juneau.
Day Eleven
Disembark in
Juneau.
canada
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alaska
Juneau
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Sitka
5 43
2
1
alaska
Ketchikan
Pacific Ocean