Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier is a scenic port of call on Alaska cruises concentrated from May through September, with Celebrity, Princess, and Norwegian Cruise Line among the lines sailing this fjord.
Endicott Arm cuts more than thirty miles into the Alaskan wilderness south of Juneau, a glacial fjord shaped over millennia by the slow grind of ice against granite. Steep rock walls rise directly from the water, streaked with waterfalls and dusted with snow well into the warmer months, while icebergs calved from Dawes Glacier drift past in shades of blue and white. Harbor seals haul out on the floating ice, and the surrounding cliffs shelter nesting bald eagles.
Ships move slowly through the narrow channel to reach the glacier's face, where sudden calving events sometimes send chunks of ice thundering into the sea. Humpback whales are frequently sighted feeding in the nutrient-rich waters nearby. As there is no town or dock here, the fjord is experienced entirely from the water, making unhurried deck-side viewing the best way to take in the scale of the landscape.
Pavlus Recommendations
How our planners would spend a day in Endicott Arm & Dawes Glacier.
Stake Out a Deck Rail Spot
Arrive early on an outer deck as the ship threads the narrow channel toward Dawes Glacier; the best views of calving ice and cliff-side waterfalls go to those who claim a rail spot before the crowds gather.
Scan the Ice for Wildlife
Keep binoculars ready for harbor seals hauled out on floating ice, bald eagles nesting in the cliffs, and humpback whales that often surface in the nutrient-rich waters near the fjord's mouth.
Watch the Glacier Calve
Point cameras toward the face of Dawes Glacier and wait; sudden calving sends chunks of blue ice crashing into the sea, one of the fjord's most dramatic and unpredictable moments.
