Inside Passage Tours
Tour One of Earth’s Best Cruising Routes
Explore the wildlife and spectacular natural world—whales, bears, seabirds, and more—on an Alaska or Canada Inside Passage cruise, with our expert, local naturalists and guides.
View Itineraries
The Inside Passage
Along the Alaska, British Columbia, and Washington Coast
The Inside Passage, also called the Inland Passage or the Inner Passage, is a stretch of protected ocean approx. 1,500 km long, that runs from Puget Sound in Washington State, USA, along the British Columbia, Canada coastline, to Skagway, Alaska, USA.
It is a popular route for cruises and marine transportation, due to its absence of open ocean swells and its relatively flat and calm waters.
On a Inside Passage cruise with Maple Leaf, you’ll sail on a 138-foot catamaran, an 88-foot converted tugboat, or a 92-foot classic schooner, with just 8 to 24 guests.
Tour the Inside Passage
This stunning coastline has several distinct areas. Each is worth a separate tour, which is why we have divided it up this way.
Experience the Inside Passage
See what an Inside Passage cruise is like through the eyes of our guests.
Tour Activities
Our small ship tours allow you to experience the best of the Inside Passage.
- Marine mammal viewing (whales, sea lions)
- Guided bear viewing in coastal rainforest
- Rainforest hikes
- Island-hopping
- Cultural exploration of coastal communities
- Hot spring relaxation
- Optional kayaking and fishing
- Bird watching
- Local dining opportunities
- Sailing
- Historical site visits
- Wildlife photography
What People Say
See what our guests have to say about our Inside Passage cruises.
Highlights of the Inside Passage
Where Mountainous Coast Meets the Pacific Ocean
The combination of the thousands of islands and the upwelling at the continent’s edge creates a rich coastal environment.
Teeming with Marine Life
Spot humpback whales, killer whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions, and other large animals to countless fish, seabirds and invertebrates.
Bears and Wolves Roam the Shores
Coastal rainforest provides habitat for grizzly/brown bears, and black bears including the rare spirit bear, an wolves.
Ancient and Natural Geography
There are some cities and towns along it too, including Seattle, Victoria, Vancouver, Prince Rupert, Ketchikan, Petersburg, and Juneau.
Emerging Expedition Cruise Industry
Led by local Canadian and American companies, allowing visitors to experience the region’s natural wonder by becoming part of it.
History of the Inside Passage
The Inside Passage boasts a rich history. Ice covered much of it during the last ice age, forming navigable fjords as glaciers receded. People have inhabited this region for millennia, attracted by abundant resources and waterways. Due to the fluctuations in sea level over this time, likely much record of human habitation is under water.
Coastal First Nations have skillfully traversed these waters in seagoing canoes for generations. In 2015, footprints dating back 13,200 years were discovered on Calvert Island, which could be the oldest to date in North America.
In Europe’s age of exploration, Russians, Spanish and English explorers sailed into the area and began charting it. In the late 18th century, Captain George Vancouver, extensively mapped the area. The United States’ purchase of Alaska in 1867 spurred exploration and marked the beginning of Alaskan cruises.
The Inside Passage Today
Today, the Inside Passage thrives as a marine route for cargo and passenger cruises between Seattle, Alaska, and points in between. It’s also a natural playground for private boaters and commercial cruises.
Recently, as people started to demand high-quality, experiential trips, the diversity of cruise ships has increased. Now, in addition to the large 2,000-passenger ships traditionally associated with cruise tours, you can enjoy active, small-ship cruises like those that we offer at Maple Leaf Adventures.
And while much of the area is in its natural state, citizens are working hard to protect it by law from destruction—protecting the rainforests, the marine life, the bears and whales and remote beaches.
Cruising by Expedition Ship
What’s your style of tour?
Compare Alaskan and Inside Passage cruises here:
Expedition Cruises by Small Ship: These are the trips that we at Maple Leaf Adventures have offered for over 25 years. On these inside passage cruises, you are part of a group of 24 or fewer guests, who experience the wonder of the coastline, its wildlife, its rainforests, beaches and cultures. You’ll go ashore frequently to experience the coastal world, as well as sailing the inside passage.
Inside Passage by Ferry: Both the Alaskan and British Columbian government ferry systems operate a transport network between coastal towns. Some people who wish to see the landscape but not spend time exploring it also choose to travel the inside passage this way.
Big Ship Cruises: These are the cruises most people think of when they hear the words “Alaska Inside Passage Cruise”. The ships are about 950 feet long and carry about 2,000 passengers. Unlike small Alaskan cruise ships, these big ships stop only at port towns. The experience is completely different from expedition cruises by sailing ship and is for people who don’t wish to experience the nature of Alaska as their top priority.
Our Inside Passage Tours
Expedition cruises by small ships that explore the scenic routes of the Inside Passage in a way that’s personalized and fun.
Desolation Sound and Fjords of BC
View ItineraryThis journey among the islands and fjords of the storied British Columbia coast includes Desolation Sound and the Broughton Archipelago, as well as neighbouring inlets.
Desolation Sound in Spring
View ItineraryExplore the stunning waterways, fjords and islands of Desolation Sound, one of the world’s most popular cruising destinations.
Great Bear Rainforest
View ItineraryFollow magnificent runs of wild salmon to the home of black, grizzly, and the elusive white-furred spirit bear.
Great Bear Rainforest and Kitlope
View ItineraryBird migrations, newly awakened grizzly and black bears grazing on green sedges—experience it all on a small ship adventure.
Great Bear Rainforest in Spring
View ItineraryBird migrations, newly awakened grizzly and black bears grazing on green sedges—experience it all on a small ship adventure.
Gulf Islands in Fall
View ItineraryIsland hop in the National Park Reserve, visit wildlife colonies, walk rainforest and rocky bluffs, and tiny islands not visited by ferries.
Gulf Islands in Spring
View ItineraryHere, snow-capped mountains ring an inland sea, full of intricate waterways among hundreds of warm islands.
Vancouver Island’s Inside Passage
View ItinerarySpend a week cruising up Vancouver Island’s diverse coast with a world-class crew.
Whales and Totems
View ItineraryExplore intricate passageways between idyllic islands in the Broughton Archipelago, one of the best places on earth to see whales.
Whales and Wild Isles of the Great Bear Rainforest
View ItineraryEmbark on a summer expedition across one of the richest coastal ecosystems in the world.
Wines and Islands
View ItineraryExperience Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands’ emerging wine regions.
