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Welcome to Homer, Alaska, on Kachemak Bay. Made famous as “The End of the Road” in Tom Bodett’s tales, Homer is at the 
end of the Sterling Highway, 200 miles south of Anchorage, surrounded by wilderness and ocean. A home base for great fishing (“The Halibut Fishing Capital of the World”), kayaking, bear viewing, hiking, foodie and art vacations, Homer is quickly becoming known as the Eco and Adventure tourism capital of Alaska.
The Homer Spit (“spit” is a geological land form) features the longest road into ocean waters in the world, and was named one of the best 100 beaches in the United States for its incredible views and variety of wildlife along the 4.5 mile multi-use trail that runs from its base to its tip – the true end of the road on Alaska’s Highway 1.
On the city’s outskirts, the Wynn Nature Center encompasses acres of spruce forest and wildflower meadows, with hiking trails and ocean views. Across the bay, Kachemak Bay State Park has miles of trails amid mountains and glaciers, plus marine life, moose and bears. The quaint waterfront community of Halibut Cove has an extensive boardwalk and houses on stilts. Nearby, Gull Island is a bird sanctuary sheltering several nesting species, including puffins. Homer is a gateway to Katmai National Park and Preserve to the southwest, known for the many brown bears drawn to the abundant salmon in Brooks Falls. Our Homer Alaska Travel Guide has everything you need to start planning your Homer Alaska vacation. Also visit more great Alaska beach locations by <<Clicking Here.>> Need to know what to pack for your Alaskan Vacation? << Click Here >>
Homer Weather (When to Visit)
A common time to visit is May–Aug, when temperatures are mild to cool, and daylight extends late into the evening. Hiking and boating are popular summer activities. Homer is known as a fishing hub, especially for halibut. While some fishing trips run year-round, others operate Apr–Sep. Skiing, ice fishing and ice-skating are popular during the cold winter months (Nov–Mar). The Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival (May) marks the annual migration with bird-watching hikes and boat excursions.
Homer Attractions
Homer Spit
With glacier-studded mountains and crystal-clear water surrounding you, the tiny businesses and miles of beaches that make up the Spit also make for one of Homer’s most beautiful features. Take long walks, take photos, check out the boats returning with their huge catches, or cast a line for salmon yourself at The Fishin’ Hole-located near the boat harbor-which is stocked with kings and silvers. Test out your sea legs with a fishing charters for halibut and salmon, head out on a guided sea kayaking trip, or hop a ferry across the bay to the quaint boardwalk-lined town of Halibut Cove. The Spit also offers some of the best eagle viewing in the state – up to several hundred during certain times of the year! Extreme low tides (say a minus-15 foot) expose interesting sub-sea flora and fauna on beaches and harbor piers.
The Pratt Museum
The award-winning Pratt Museum is a community gathering space featuring science, art and culture. Recognized with the National Award for Museum Service and the Governor’s Award for the Humanities, the museum has garnered many additional awards including the Award for Excellence in the Museum Profession from Museums of Alaska. The Pratt Museum hosts indoor exhibits of natural history, Native cultures, art, homesteading, quilts, fishing, and marine ecology with live aquaria. Live remote video shows pelagic seabirds at a rookery in Kachemak Bay.
Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies
The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies offers hands on Naturalist-Led experiences providing a personal connection to one of the most ecologically diverse and productive places in the world. Activities for all ages and abilities! Spend a day on a naturalist-Led full-day tour to the Peterson Bay Field Station located across Kachemak Bay from Homer. Tour groups are small and personal. Explore tide pools, coastal forest trails, birds, touch tanks & more. Kayaking and overnight stays in cozy yurts also available.
Alaska Islands & Ocean Visitors Center
A state-of-the-art center focused on marine life. Discover the wonders of marine life through interactive exhibits and enjoy naturalist-led walks to Bishop’s Beach on Kachemak Bay. Their friendly staff will offer tips on wildlife viewing, wildlife refuge information and points of interest. Join them for one of their naturalist-led walks or activities (June through August), or take a self-guided tour of the Visitor Center, featuring sculpted re-creations of wildlife and settings, and interactive stations, simulating a journey through the nation’s most far-reaching wildlife refuge.
Bishops Beach
Two blocks from Old Town at the end of Bunnell Street you will find Bishops Beach. A picnic shelter with grills, restroom facilities, Beluga Slough trailhead, and beach combing are just the beginning of the fun to be had at Bishops Beach. Easy walking distance to shops, restaurants, and art galleries in Old Town, and to the Islands and Ocean Visitor center via the Beluga Slough Trail, as well as the miles of beach.
Best Homer Tours & Activities by Viator
Viator.com – Tours, sightseeing tours, activities & things to do
Alaska Bear Country Day Trip to Katmai or Lake Clark by Airplane
Looking for an amazing wilderness experience with wild Alaskan brown bears? Get one on this small-group 6-hour tour from Homer that takes you by plane deep into Katmai National Park or Lake Clark National Park, in the middle of one of the world’s largest population concentration of brown bears. Enjoy an easy-to-moderate 3-mile hike with a guide, and watch bears in their natural habitat, with no barriers, fences or platforms separating you from the wildlife on this truly wild tour. Learn more about the Alaska Bear Country Day Trip.
Classic Bear Viewing Tour
Take a bush plane flight to either Katmai National Park or Lake Clark National Park. With your naturalist pilot/guide, hike to different spots in the park to view and photograph wild bears in their natural habitat. Enjoy an outdoor picnic and a fly-over of more of Alaska’s postcard-worthy scenery on the way back to Homer. Learn more about the Classic Bear Viewing Tour.
Flightseeing Tour and Wilderness Bear Viewing in an Alaska National Park
What do bears do on a typical day in the wild? Find out on this flightseeing tour from Homer. Hop aboard a bush plane and land either in Katmai National Park or Lake Clark National Park. A naturalist-guide takes a small group on a hike to prime viewing locations. For three hours, observe bears play, fish and more in their natural habitat. Come away with exciting photos of these animals in unguarded moments. The tour lasts 4.5 or 7 hours, depending on which park is visited. Learn more about the Flightseeing Tour & Wilderness Bear Viewing.
Premium Bear Viewing Tour
Experience Alaska’s wildlife on this all-day guided adventure by bush plane. After an optional hotel pickup, enjoy a quick safety briefing, sign a waver, and visit Katmai or Lake Clark National Park. Land on a beach, find an optimal viewpoint, and watch as bears play, mate, eat, and fish in their natural environment. Learn more about the Premium Bear Viewing Tour.
Best Homer Restaurants
AJs Old Town Steakhouse & Tavern $31 – 50
Located in the heart of Old Town and known locally as the “Historic Waterfront”. They believe in amazing food, fun specialty drinks, and great entertainment! They value their guests and believe in goodwill and hospitality. Telephone: 907-235-9949 Web: AJs Old Town Steakhouse & Tavern.
The Little Mermaid $11 – 30
They use Local ingredients and strive to make as much as they can fresh, in house and from scratch. They bring a certain passion to your table, supporting a chain of local producers and businesses who bring that same passion to their farm, brewery, coffee roasting, distillery, and fishing boats. Telephone: 907-399-9900 Web: The Little Mermaid.
Captain Pattie’s Fish House $11 – 30
Welcome to Captain Pattie’s! They hope you’ll take a look around and discover “The best seafood restaurant in Alaska!” proclaimed by Alaskans and tourists alike. They have an extensive menu filled with fresh local caught seafood. For those that fear the sea, they also have delicious steak and chicken entrees as well. Telephone: 907-235-5135 Web: Captain Pattie’s Fish House.
Lighthouse Seafood Grill & Smokehouse $11 – 30
They serve delicious food using only the freshest ingredients sourced locally whenever possible. Their Alaska halibut fish & chips is the best around at an affordable price along with other local, delicious seafood such as salmon, shrimp and calamari. Smoke master Ralph smokes the brisket, pulled pork and ribs in the smoking shed. Telephone: 907-226-2003 Web: Lighthouse Seafood Grill & Smokehouse.
Cosmic Kitchen $11 – 30
Everyday they make fresh salsas, grill their marinated chicken and steak and offer a homemade soup and daily specials. Their beans, rice, sauces and most soups are vegetarian. They use peanut and canola oil. The paper plates and napkins used at Cosmic Kitchen® are made from sugar cane and are compostible. They recycle their plastic, papers, bottles and cans. Telephone: 907-235-6355 Web: Cosmic Kitchen.
Best Homer Bars
The Salty Dawg Saloon
The Salty Dawg Saloon is a well-known landmark on the Homer Spit in Homer, Alaska. The bar is known for the thousands of dollar bills signed by visitors and tacked to the walls. This practice started many years ago, when a visitor tacked a dollar on the wall, explaining that his friend would be by later. The dollar was intended for buying the friend a drink. Telephone: 907-235-6718 Web: The Salty Dawg Saloon.
AJs Old Town Steakhouse & Tavern
Located in the heart of Old Town and known locally as the “Historic Waterfront”. They believe in amazing food, fun specialty drinks, and great entertainment! They value their guests and believe in goodwill and hospitality. Telephone: 907-235-9949 Web: AJs Old Town Steakhouse & Tavern.
Kharacters Alaskan Bar
Best bar with an atmosphere of fun. The bartenders are great and it is very easy to make new friends. They have entertainment most nights, bands, D.J.’s, craft nights and quiz nights. Head to Kharacters and meet a few. Telephone: 907-235-1455 Web: Kharacters Alaskan Bar.
Alibi Bar & Cafe
They’re a great place for casual food with friends or family between 4-9pm and when it gets dark great for various entertainment every night of the week! Telephone: 907-235-9199 Web: Alibi Bar & Cafe.
Best Homer Hotels
Homer Inn & Spa
This boutique Inn gives the visitor an intimate, oceanfront experience. Rooms are individually designed with hand crafted expressions, welcoming touches, and all the modern conveniences. Situated on the bluff above gorgeous Kachemak Bay, they’re conveniently located to all the things you’ll want to do… the art, the food, and the adventure that is Homer, Alaska.
Ocean Shores Hotel
The Ocean Shores Hotel in Homer, Alaska is located on four acres of ocean front property with panoramic views of mountains, glaciers, Kachemak Bay, St. Augustine Volcano and miles of uninterrupted beaches. From your spacious modern beachfront room you can enjoy the magnificent views of the mountains and ocean through a large picture window or from your room balcony.
Baycrest Lodge
Baycrest Lodge offers rustic, yet classy, lodging in Homer, Alaska. This property sits 550 feet above sea level with incredible, unobstructed, views of Kachemak Bay and the Kenai Mountains. All units have private hot tubs, porches with seating and gas BBQ grills, gas fireplaces, LED flat screen TV’s, full kitchens, custom blackout curtains, local spruce furniture and decorative steel detail made by owners, in-floor radiant heat and leather furniture.
Alaskan Suites
Located on Bluff Point in Homer, Alaska, with unobstructed views of Kachemak Bay and Cook Inlet, this resort offers a delightfully modern cabin experience. All cabins have a fireplace and offer a rustic feel with modern features, like free Wi-Fi, kitchenettes, flat-screen TVs, and covered porches with views of the bay, beach, glaciers, and volcanoes. Relax after exploring the area in the hot tub, take your pet for a walk on nearby trails with fantastic views of the bay, or chill on the lawn in front of your cabin and watch the wildlife.
Juneberry Lodge
Boasting scenic views of Kachemak Bay, this rustic and authentic log lodge is located in Homer, Alaska. Decorated with historic Alaskan artifacts, Juneberry Lodge provides a daily continental or full English breakfast. Featuring free WiFi access, each guest room here includes handmade log beds with custom quilts. The private bathrooms include a shower and free toiletries. A shared lounge and library, a spacious terrace with outdoor furniture, and an expansive garden with frequently visiting wildlife can all be found at Juneberry Lodge. Barbecue facilities are also available.
Ahhh, one of the places I’d absolutely love to visit. Really, any part of Alaska. The views are spectacular and I love that crisp, chilly air 🙂
You’ve done such an amazing job with all of the content. It’s laid out beautifully and you’ve left nothing out. Keep up the amazing work.
Thank you Holly 🙂 Alaska is very unique and different from the rest of the U.S. Definitely a place everyone should vacation to. Thanks for stopping by beach travel destinations.
Hi Leahrae. I like the sound of Manns charter tours: “If we can’t have fun the boat won’t leave the harbor.” Great motto. The fish sizes shown in your photos look pretty impressive, so this would be a must-do activity. I am surprised to learn that the bear tours search for brown bears. I imagined that there may be a few polar bears around Homer, but I guess it is not cold enough for them. The views from the hotel adds look great. Thanks for an informative article once again.
You are welcome Andrew and I am glad you enjoyed reading and learning about Homer Alaska. And you are correct, no polar bears in Homer.
Those views are amazing. As I read more about Alaska, the more I want to do a trip to all the towns you write about. Homer seems so quaint, beautiful, and fun. Alaskan Suites seems like the place to stay. I want to rent one of those cabins with the water view. Thanks for letting me know about all the places, keep the articles coming!
Thanks for visiting Homer Alaska Travel JB! Glad you enjoyed 🙂
This is amazing!
You even put the restaurants in this guide! I really love to travel. I travel at least once a year. I have been to Korea, Hong Kong, China and Singapore. I plan to go farther next time, and I really like to go to Alaska. I am amazed on how beautiful it is, especially the brown bear watching. Since I haven’t seen a real bear yet. 🙂
I am traveling again to Japan this December and planning my next vacation next year. This is a big help as I am saving more money now to travel more. As they said, traveling is investing in experiences and I’ve been living to that.
Great Article, I hope you make more articles like this.
Jason
Thanks Jason, and I hope you can vacation to Alaska soon! It is definitely different than your more recent travels. Thanks for stopping by Homer Alaska Travel.
Thanks, Leahrae, such good vacation destination that you always have. I think Homer Alaska would be an amazing vacation spot and one that I would love to try myself someday. If it ever works out for me and my family to vacation on a far trip this is my dream one. The tour that I would love to try out here is the six-passenger helicopter trip to the Alaska Peninsula. Thanks for the information.
You are welcome Fred. Thanks for visiting Homer Alaska Travel and I hope you can make it to Alaska one day!
The seaside adventure sounds like a lot of fun! I love the ocean and would love to get to know the animals in the area.
And there is a lot of wildlife for sure! Thanks for visiting Homer Alaska Travel!
Informative and educational.
As I was reading through this post, I was thinking about how when growing up and learning about Alaska, the picture that was commonly painted was that of a cold, white desert.
When the Cruise Lines started heading up that way on a regular basis, I figured that their focus was to give people a close up view of whales and icebergs.
You do a great job of highlighting that Alaska is much more than a cold white desert featuring whales and their calves and calving icebergs.
An enticing invitation has been extended… Keep up the good work.
Thanks Mitch! I hope you can make it to this beautiful state one day soon. Thanks for visiting Homer Alaska Travel.
Your beautiful site is very quickly bumping Alaska up my bucket list. I have been planning a trip, and so glad I found your site. Great information!
Great Adrian, you will love Alaska. Thanks for visiting Homer Alaska Travel. If you need any additional information, please let me know.
I would absolutely love to go on a safari. I homeschooled my son and we took Oceanography. We studied various animals. We would love to see the sea-lions, birds, fish, and (maybe) bears. Thank you for this post.
We definitely have to get away.
I am glad you enjoyed, and yes who doesn’t love to see wildlife up close. You will get to see plenty of it in Homer. Thanks for stopping by Homer Alaska Travel.
I think I’m going to be planning my trip to Alaska soon!!! You’ve given some great information here that I’m really appreciative of and that I’ll be needing. I would love to see the museum! And I love food of almost every kind! Thank you for this 🙂
You are so welcome Kelly. I am glad I pushed in the direction of visiting beautiful Alaska. Thank you for visiting Homer Alaska Travel. Let me know if I can provide any additional information for you.
Thanks for posting! This has been super helpful as we are planning on heading to Alaska in June next year. Homer sounds like it has a lot of outdoorsy activities which we love.
Is Homer easy to get to by public transport and is it easy enough to get around the place by foot? Or would you suggest getting a rental car?
Thanks again.
Home is easy to get to Tim, and you can get around easily enough without a rental car for sure. You have to visit the Salty Dog for sure, and that you will need to take a taxi to which will be fairly inexpensive. Please let me know if you need any additional information.
Great article! I loved the reading!
My husband’s best activity is fishing. In fact, he was once a fisherman and every weekend he goes fishing too. I want to surprise him and buy two tickets to Homer Alaska. I have bookmarked your article so I can plan the trip easily. Could just tell me when is the best time to go fishing in Homer? I wouldn’t want my husband to be disappointed!
Thank you for this excellent post!
Hi Daniella, and thanks for visit Homer Alaska Travel. The best time for fishing is from May thru September, which is of course the nicest weather too. Please let me know if you need any additional information.
Like your webpage says, Homer is a great fishing destination! Your pics of the large fish are amazing. I bet it is real cold in Homer for the winter. Also, you give a nice selection of hotels, bars and restaurants there. The short summer must be very nice in Homer. The water is so calm! Another great video.
Thank you Mick, and yes there are actually some very nice hotels in Homer. A lot of Alaskans like to go there for a weekend trip or a fishing trip. You pretty much have everything, and it does seem a little unexpected for a small town in Alaska 🙂 Thanks for visiting Homer Alaska Travel.