Sitka Is the Alaska Port Most Cruises Never Bother With

Sitka sits on the outer coast of Baranof Island, facing the open Pacific instead of the sheltered Inside Passage. That is exactly why a lot of cruises skip it. Getting there means a little more open water, and some ships would rather stay tucked inside.

Their loss. Sitka is the most beautiful town in Southeast Alaska, and it is not close. Snow capped mountains on one side, the Pacific on the other, and a small harbor town in between.

Here is the part most people do not know. Sitka was the capital of Russian America. The Russians named it New Archangel, and it became the capital of Russian Alaska in 1808. When Russia sold Alaska to the United States in 1867, the transfer ceremony happened right here in Sitka. You can stand on the spot where the flags changed. St. Michael’s Cathedral, finished in 1848, was the first Russian church built in America, and its copper onion dome still anchors the middle of town.

The culture runs deeper than the Russian chapter. Sitka was a Tlingit village long before anyone else showed up. The Tlingit called it Sheet’ka, and Sitka National Historical Park protects the site of the 1804 battle between the Tlingit and the Russians. The trails there are lined with totem poles, and it is the kind of place you walk slowly through without meaning to.

Insider tip. Sitka is not on the road system. You reach it by air or by water and nothing else, which is part of why it never got overrun the way some ports did. That isolation is the whole point. The wildlife shows up because there is room for it. The Alaska Raptor Center and the Fortress of the Bear are both short trips from downtown, and the salmon fishing here is some of the best in the state.

One more thing worth knowing. Because Sitka faces the open ocean, many ships anchor and tender you ashore rather than dock. That means your time in port can shift with the weather. Build in a buffer and do not book a tour for the first fifteen minutes off the ship.

September is the tail end of Alaska season, which means fewer ships and softer light. If you want help finding an itinerary that actually stops in Sitka instead of sailing past it, that is literally what we do.

Fair winds and following seas,
Captain Steve