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Whether you are doing an Alaskan Cruise or making your own way through Alaska, you should definitely go Ziplining in Alaska in Ketchikan!

My first gig in the seasonal work world was being a Zipline tour guide for Kawanti Adventures. To this day, it’s my favorite job in the whole world.

To read about what inspired this move, click HERE.

Even though I did the same thing every day–rain or shine–it was always a new adventure. Nothing beats ziplining in Alaska, zipping through the trees with bald eagles and bears! With the lush undergrowth and salmon packed rivers below.

*Sigh*…. I will never forget the pure, unadulterated joy of those experiences.

The basics of the tour

From leaving the dock to doing the tour and returning to the dock, the Zipline tours take about 3.5 hours. If you book your tour through my site and you’re on a cruise, you’ll be able to catch a bus to Kawanti Adventures right from the port.

The zipline tour starts out at the base where the bus from the docks drops you off.

You sign the necessary waivers and load up onto a WWI unimog that drives you up through the forest to the Zipline Chalet.

Click HERE if you need help knowing what to wear for ziplining.

In the Chalet, the guides orient you to the safety rules and then gear you up. It’s here that everyone starts experiencing the pre-zip jitters! After that, you split into groups and go outside for the ziplining orientation.

Before you go on the tour, the guides will give you the schpeal on how to correctly zipline.

You’ll learn the form, how to break, how not to break, and all that jazz… But don’t worry! You get your chance to practice on a mini zipline.

Upon passing the practice zip your true ziplining in Alaska adventure begins!

They start you off with a couple shorter lines before you get on to a couple long, fun ones! On the Rainforest Zip, Skybridge & Rappel Adventure course, you zip right over the river, and if you’re lucky, you will be able to see black bears lounging around, eating fish and what not.

There are rope bridges that you cross that allow you the ability to get a better view of the ground and maybe spot a bear.

Seeing wildlife is not guaranteed but is a huge bonus!

On the Aerial Zip & Rappel Course, there is obviously rappelling but what I love most is the last zip line. It is fast, and it is fun. You will love it.

On each course there will be a photographer

They will have a really nice camera that will take your picture on the course. I would suggest buying these pictures. They’re great quality and fun to have, especially since it is not recommended that you take your own picture taking device on the tour. Many people lost phones to the forest floor.

By the end of the tour, you will be super pumped!

You have just had one of the most amazing experiences of your life, you will have bonded with your guide and the people on your tour, and you will want to go again! That’s all totally normal.

Because Ziplining in Alaska is the best!

The tour, however, officially ends in the gear room.

This is where your amazing guides will help you take off your gear and you’ll get your chance to thank them for their expert services.

Speaking as an ex-guide, I would encourage you to budget a tip into tours you’re planning on taking. A good tip for your guides (who will split it evenly so it doesn’t matter which one you give it to) is $20 and up. You don’t have to tip them this much or at all, but it is much appreciated.

I promise you, as someone who guided these tours multiple times a day for 6 months, it will be one of the most memorable experiences of your life.

You will love it, and I can’t wait for you to go and try it yourself. And even more than that, I cannot wait to hear about your experiences!

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Go forth my travelers, plan your road trip, fishing trip, sailing trip, or Cruise trip and go do this tour in Ketchikan, Alaska.

Click HERE to book your zipline adventure!