Hoonah is the largest T’lingit settlement in SE Alaska and was first occupied when the T’lingit clans had to evacuate from Glacier Bay in the 1700s due to advancing glaciers. The name Hoonah means “protected from the north wind” in the T’lingit language and the harbour is reckoned to be the safest and  best protected harbour in SE Alaska. 

The outer harbour has a single long pontoon with visitors berthing permitted on the outer side of it, but no other facilities. It is fine in calm weather but is exposed to afternoon sea breezes coming in from Icy strait.

The inner mole harbour is perfectly protected from all winds and swell with water and electricity on most pontoons and showers, toilets and laundrette in the adjacent harbour master’s block.

The Hoonah Trading company operates a single supermarket and hardware store with a remarkably good range of  stock and also run the fuel berth.

Whilst a new cruise ship facility has been built out at Icy Point, attracting over 100 cruise ships a year, the majority of cruise ship visitors don’t seem to get too much further than the large visitors centre at Icy Point which has been built on the site of an old canning factory. Only a few hardy souls make it into Hoonah itself which benefits from the best of both worlds. It profits from the economic benefits of tourism since the Icy Point complex is owned and run by the local community, but its town centre is protected from the worst excesses of cruise ship tourism and isn’t blighted with endless jewellery shops like Juneau and Ketchikan. 

Instead the town centre is enjoying a renaissance of Tlingit art and culture. The cultural visitor centre is interesting and one can watch local artisans at work carving totem poles and dugout wooden canoes. You can hire a jeep and drive through the network of local logging roads where sightings of bear are common.

There is a modern shiplift facility in Hoonah with facilities to lay up ashore. Whilst this has been been used by yachts in

the past to overwinter, the pricing regime has recently been changed to discourage laying up for long periods. Instead pleasure craft are encouraged to lay up alfoat in the very well porotected inner harbour over the winter and haul out for a short refit/bottom paint in spring. There is a boatwatch service operating in the harbour and those we spoke to who had used it whilst overwintering spoke in favourable terms about it. This is possibly the safest and most sheltered place to layup for the winter in SE Alaska.