The Shoup Glacier Day Tour offers an intimate experience inside one of Alaska’s most beautiful marine state parks.Your day begins with a scenic water taxi ride from Valdez across Prince William Sound to Shoup Bay, where we launch our kayaks and begin paddling up a fjord recently revealed by the retreat of Shoup Glacier. Along the way we pass a nesting colony of black-legged kittiwakes, paddle beneath waterfall-lined cliffs, and keep watch for wildlife such as sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, and occasionally even whales moving through the Sound. As we travel deeper into the bay, the coastline becomes wilder and the glacier comes into view. We’ll paddle among ancient ice that has recently calved from the glacier, land on newly formed beaches, and enjoy a relaxed lunch with sweeping glacier views. It is not uncommon to hear the distant crack of glacial ice and watch pieces fall while we sit quietly taking it all in. At the end of the paddle, our water taxi returns to meet us for the scenic ride back to Valdez. The amount of time spent paddling can vary slightly depending on wildlife encounters and how often we slow down to enjoy the scenery during the boat ride.