Alaska, USA

Where to surf in Alaska, USA

Alaska is the USA’s largest state and its sprawling, convoluted coastline has scarcely been explored by surfers. Beyond the distance and the cold, access is the main obstacle to surfing the 2,800-odd miles (4500km) of Pacific shore, where airplanes and ferries are virtually the only available modes of transportation, and only a few areas (like Kodiak Island and Yakutat) have some coastal access, usually via weather-beaten roads and tracks, barely navigable by the pricey, well-used rental cars. This leaves thousands of watery miles to be mapped by surfers with a sturdy boat and total faith in their survivability in this humbling environment.

Aleutian Islands

The Aleutian Islands get hit by serious swells, yet many expeditions have ended up getting no swell in the milder summer months. The north side is fully open to Bering Sea swells and spots on Adak have been surfed that work in NE swells.

The Alaska Marine Highway ferry service runs from Seward to Unalaska twice a month in summer, briefly dropping in at tiny settlements along the Alaska Peninsula, throughout the 6 day return voyage. While it stops in the large fishing port of Dutch Harbor for 5-6 hours, it is not enough time to get wet despite there being some righthanders near the airport and a left spit in big N swells.

Chartering a fishing vessel or quad bikes make it possible to search some of the Unalaska Bay coastline and great waves have been surfed to the east at road accessible Summer Bay, Morris Cove and Constantine Bays, but camping permits must be obtained from the Ounalashka land owners.

One less worry for an expedition is the bare Aleutian landscape doesn’t support any bears, unlike Kodiak Island that has perhaps the widest selection of readily accessible surf breaks in Alaska.

Southwest

Kodiak Island has perhaps the widest selection of readily accessible surf breaks in Alaska, although most tend to be fairly inconsistent during non-winter months. Surf spots can be found north of Kodiak City and along the scenic coast road south to Cape Chiniak and on to the Pasagshak State Recreation area for some south-facing beachbreak.

South Central

Eastern Kenai Peninsula near Seward and the islands of Montague and Hinchinbrook do have surf potential and protect the Prince William Sound.

Closer to Anchorage are some occasionally ridden waves in Homer, Nikiski and Anchor Point inside the Cook Inlet, which leads to the Turnagain Arm tidal bore in Girdwood. Located SE of Anchorage, huge 40ft (13m) tides flow into the Cook Inlet at a rate of 12 knots causing a wall of whitewater at Bird Point. 1-6ft waves can run for a couple of miles amongst the sand flats and channels, but sinking mud and viscous current makes this a dangerous thrill.

Southeast

Yakutat is the best-known surf destination in SE Alaska is located in the remote town of Yakutat (pop. 800), on the Gulf of Alaska midway between Anchorage and Juneau. It supports the largest surfing community (about 30 surfers) who regularly surf good beachbreaks and a quality left on big swells. This former Tlingit village is only serviced once a month in summer by the Alaska Marine Highway, so it’s well off the usual tourist trail.

The Southeast Alaska coastline provides an inexhaustible number of possible surf spots throughout the islands above the Canada border. Russian named islands like Chichagof, Kruzof and Baranof as well as the Prince of Wales and Outer Ketchikan areas present themselves as exploration areas.

Sitka is the only population centre open to the Pacific and is the jumping off point for outer islands and has some road accessible surf to the south of town.