Hi there!
You can go snorkeling in Alaska and see Alaska’s underwater life!
Snorkeling in Alaska?!?!?!?!
That was my reaction when I first saw someone mention that they were thinking about doing a snorkeling tour as one of their Alaska cruise excursions.
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YES, you can go snorkeling in Alaska!!!
🤣🤣🤣
I like snorkeling in Hawaii and snorkeling in the Florida Keys.
But when I first learned that you can go snorkeling, I thought there was no way I’m going snorkeling in Alaska.
I do not like being cold.
The water in Alaska is COLD… right?!?!!?
But then…
I went snorkeling in Alaska. 🤣🤣🤣
👆 If you’re doing a snorkeling tour in Alaska, you’ll be all bundled up and ready for the cold water of Alaska!
👆 You might see starfish while snorkeling in Alaska!
👆 You might see jellyfish while snorkeling in Alaska!
As you can imagine, yes in fact the water in Alaska is COLD.
As someone that gets cold easily, I could not believe I was considering snorkeling in Alaska.
But I guess the craziness of snorkeling in cold water sounded FUN!!!
I have swam in cold water once during a triathlon, and that was in a triathlon wetsuit.
I had to go back and check my race report from over 10 years ago, but the water temperature was announced as 59/60 degrees.
That actually was a fun experience!! There were waves so I was basically bobbing up and down as I was trying to swim forward. 🤣 (That was Lake Huron of the Great Lakes! Also, it was cold while standing around waiting for the start of the race, but I don’t remember being cold while swimming.)
So, I have had experience cold water swimming with water temperature in the 50s! 🤣
Since I was going to Alaska earlier in the season, I was thinking the water temperature might be colder.
Yes, it was.
But still, at least I have some cold water swimming experience. 🤣
I read google reviews that say the water temperature in Alaska can be in the 60s in the summer! Which comparably, sounds WARM!
But I was not going to Alaska in the summer. I was going in May.
If you don’t really have an idea of what these different water temperatures mean, Florida springs are said to be 72 degrees year-round, and you can find people swimming year-round in the springs… if they can handle the air temperature!
I even find low-70s to be cold!
For me, ideal water temperature for swimming is upper 70s and lower 80s!
But that is all without extra snorkeling clothing on to keep you warm.
If you are going snorkeling in Alaska, you will be wearing a wetsuit or drysuit to keep you warm while you are swimming in Alaska’s cold waters!
Snorkeling tours in Alaska
There is a snorkeling tour in Ketchikan and there is a snorkeling tour in Sitka.
You should do the snorkeling tour as a Ketchikan!
Mainly because I have no idea what the one in Sitka is like. 😅 But the Ketchikan snorkeling excursion is the most well-known snorkeling tour in Alaska, I think!
Yes, the water is cold in Alaska.
The water temperature was 50 degrees on the mid-May day that I went snorkeling in Alaska.
This was considered “warm” for this time of year!
But no, you aren’t cold when you are actually snorkeling in the cold water of Alaska!
Which is basically what all the reviews say!
For the vast majority of the time in the water, I was not thinking about the water temperature at all!
There was a bit of a cold sensation immediately upon getting in the water, and I started to feel a bit cold as I was swimming to shore at the end.
But other than that, the cold water was not on my mind at all!
Looking for jellyfish and starfish was, though!
Doubts before doing the snorkeling tour in Alaska
So I booked the snorkeling tour at the end of March to go snorkeling on May 15.
Shortly after I had made the booking for the Alaska snorkeling tour, I received an email from the owner.
It was basically a welcome e-mail and said to feel free to ask any questions about anything about any part of your Alaska cruise.
So I wrote back asking about what he thought the water temperature might be like on May 15.
First, the happy news.
He said that he expected the water to be clear, which made me happy because that means you can see underwater life more easily!
He also said that the water temperature will probably be around 45 degrees.
45 degrees?!?!?! 🤣🤣🤣
Soon after, I told my brother that I am doing a snorkeling tour in Alaska with a water temperature of 45 degrees.
He was not quite receptive to this idea and was wondering if I was going to get hypothermia even with a wetsuit.
Then suddenly, I started to have my doubts.
omg. 😱😱😱 Should I actually not do this?! Is it too cold for snorkeling?!?!
I had read through tons of reviews on google maps and tripadvisor before I booked the tour, which I took to be overwhelmingly positive.
I think I would have remembered if someone negatively commented on the water temperature.
But now I was full of doubt, and I went back to look through the reviews, this time specifically looking for mentions of water temperature.
Spoiler alert: I still did not find anyone negatively mentioning anything about being too cold while swimming around during the snorkeling tour.
The first review I came across that provided me with relief was a google review from Rachel, in part:
The 46 degree water was two degrees warmer than the air temperature of 44 degrees.
Surprisingly, it was not that bad as long as we were moving.
It made me feel good that she specifically mentioned swimming with water temperatures in the 40s!
Then I went to tripadvisor where you can filter for months.
So I filtered out for April and May, and I found a another review with mention of 40-degree water temperature.
Now, this is a guy, who probably wouldn’t get cold as easily as me and other girls, but it still made me feel better nonetheless. This was a review written on May 16. Here is what Mark said on tripadvisor, in part:
Don’t let the idea of cold water scare you away from the chance of a lifetime!
Water temp was low-mid 40’s but with the 7mm hood, gloves, and wetsuit the only time I was ever chilled was undressing after the trip.
LOW 40s?!?!?!?! 😱 It’s definitely comforting to hear from someone who went snorkeling in water temperature that was in the low 40s! So I guess this means the water temperature was around 42 to 44 degrees probably… 🥶🥶🥶 and he was FINE!
This review was written on May 16. My tour was on May 15, so similar to the previous review, she presumably went on the tour around the same time of year I was planning to, if not before. Here is what Ashley said on tripadvisor, in part:
With all the gear the water was not cold.
This review was written on May 11, so even earlier than my tour date. Although of course it’s important to keep in mind, conditions can change from year to year! Here is what Ryan said on tripadvisor, in part:
They helped find the best wildlife, and their gear sure did keep me warm, even in May.
And here’s a review written on May 6. There was so much excitement in this review I had to include more of it than just about the water temperature. 😂 Here is what Linda from Canada said, in part:
The water was fairly choppy, but they made sure we had a fantastic time!
We got to see all sorts of marine life.
Absolutely wonderful!!!!
We were never cold, the wet suits kept us very warm!!!
Highly recommend this tour!!!
And finally…
This is a review that was written on April 18 and the “date of experience” is also listed as April so I guess she went snorkeling in Alaska in April?! (Yes I did notice when booking my tour that you could book snorkeling tours in April!!) Here is what Anna from Kansas said, in part:
Unique experience and not that cold!
Such a unique experience to snorkel in Alaska!
My biggest fear was the cold water.
Between all the wetsuit gear they provide and the beautiful scenery and sea life to check out, the cold didn’t bother me!
And then, just days before my snorkeling tour date of May 15, once again I began to have some doubts.
And once again looked for reviews, this time looking to see if anyone had gone snorkeling in the past couple of weeks.
And… there was a review!
And once again it was super positive!
And really, there are many more reviews from people who seemed to have done the Alaska snorkeling tour in May!
You can read the tripadvisor reviews and “filter” for the month of May.
Even if you will be going in the summer, since May will (almost certainly?!) be colder than June, July, or August, it can give you confidence in going snorkeling in Alaska in the summer too!
So reviews are extremely positive.
That said, it’s also important to manage your expectations!
The few negative reviews there were revolved about visibility and the type of marine life seen.
To both, you should to keep in mind… Alaska.
Weather in Alaska is unpredictable, and there’s no guarantee that you will have good weather conditions for snorkeling.
Similarly, marine life do what they want, so there’s no guarantee that you will see anything, and what you do see will be specific to Alaska.
There was a review or 2 commenting on how the things they saw were lame. (paraphrasing)
Well, for me, I know from snorkeling in Hawaii and snorkeling in the Florida Keys, it doesn’t take much to get me excited about spotting something underwater!
So one’s happy snorkeling experience may be another’s disappointing snorkeling experience!
So, it really does depend on you individually whether or not YOU will have a happy snorkeling experience in Alaska!
And honestly, swimming in cold water is a bucket list experience on its own, even if it is with a wetsuit!
So even if you don’t see as much as you hoped, there’s that!
HAPPY SNORKELING IN ALASKA!
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