center for alaskan coastal studies

These folks will get you out into the wilderness for a day and you will learn all kinds of great stuff about the Alaska coastal ecosystem.

A well-done trip - water taxi to Petersen Bay location, hikes with knowledgeable naturalist guides, customized to group size, ages and fitness levels. Perfect for flora/fauna geeks and photographers.

This Center was a great place to learn more about the area. They had a temporary exhibit with nature photographs that was especially nice. They also previewed a film about the 1964 earthquake that was very interesting.

We did the full day tour and loved it. We are a couple in our late 20's early 30's. There was so much to see in the tidal pools. They have rubber boots in every size that you can borrow for free to keep your feet dry. So many starfish of all shapes/sizes/colors and my favorite the octopus. Liz is an amazing guide. The walk through the forest was also very nice and the blueberries were so good. There were 3 children on our tour and they loved it as well. This is one of our top 2 activities we did on our amazing Alaskan adventure.

This place is wonderful. They do a great job explaining the area and they have great things to do for children and adults. Highly recommend to visit while in Homer Alaska!

We had a terrific day hiking and sea kayaking with the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies. We spent the first half of the day on hikes on the island -- my younger son and husband had a terrific 6 mile hike with Hannah, who answered my 12 year old's many, many questions. My older son and I did a hike with Jess (not as long) -- and she wowed us with her knowledge of plants and animals. The staff at the center are so knowledgeable, and committed to education.In the afternoon, Kim took us for a great sea kayaking outing. We were really novices, and she put us immediately at ease. We saw a number of eagles, and got very close to a sea otter! Overall, a very worthwhile day. This is a quieter, less flashy attraction than many tourist options in Homer, but a terrific way to get close to nature and learn from very knowledgeable, committed guides.

We went on the Dock Tour with Katie and it was great! For $5, it was a great value to learn where to look for sea creatures. We saw sea anemones, shrimp, sea urchins, and a few different kinds of small fish. We met at the Center's yurt on the Homer Spit and took a short walk over to the dock.Katie is a native of Homer and was very knowledgeable about all of the fish and creatures we saw. She was great with the kids and gave us tips for finding sea stars when the tide was low. They also do kayak tours and guided hikes, and I'm sure they're great too.

My husband and I wanted to get up close and personal with the environment of Alaska. This tour/hike did just that. It was a relaxing and very interesting. After our hike and lunch, we were picked up by our water taxi and taken across the area to Peterson Bay to our kayak tour. Excellent guide/teacher and very friendly. It was a great combo!

We arrived for a tour at the Yurt on the Spit @ 4:00. Ashley found loads of marine life under the dock and was amazing with children. We held a huge True Fish (starfish)and a green urchin, and felt some sort of sea slug. We saw 3 types of anemones and many more marine creatures. It rained the whole time and she was still amazing. You lay down on docks in the tour, so wear rain gear you can wipe down even if it's not raining.

We had a wonderful time hiking and exploring the tide pools. We learned a lot about Alaskan wild and plant life. It was a great way to spend the day with the kids. We spent the other half of the day kayaking with St. Augustines, maximizing our time exploring the other side of the Kachemak Bay. Highly recommend this combo tour for families with kids.

We did not quite know how to prepare for our adventure to Peterson Bay, but we were fairly successful. Our day to Peterson Bay we nicknamed "Day Camp" to the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies (CACS) Field Station, one of three of their organizations locations. We brought our box lunch, as they had instructed, and parked our car at the lot next to the Salty Dawg Saloon (lighthouse). We checked-in at 7:45am ish at the CACS Yurt at the Homer Boat Harbor, and shortly thereafter boarded a pre-arranged water taxi for our trip to Peterson Bay. It was raining when we boarded the boat, so we were glad that we wore our lightweight rain pants, wind and waterproof jackets, rain hats, waterproof hiking shoes with Smartwool socks. Waterproof hiking shoes worked the best on the slippery, muddy forest hike and the tidepool stroll. The vis on the boat ride was dark and dreary and foggy but beautiful nonetheless. We traveled about 20 minutes across Kachemak Bay, to the Peterson Bay Field Station.Our "camp" guide Katie, was a great interpreter through the Boreal Forest Hike to Lost Lake, which we did in the morning due to the time table of low tide. As we hiked through tree roots and muddy trails through the forest, we saw glimpses of China Poot Bay, rotting spruce trees with shelf fungus and berry bushes galore. How many people can snack on organic blueberries as they hike in the forest? After eating our lunch indoors, due to the light rain, we hiked to China Poot Bay for a tidepooling experience. The sun came out drying out the lion mane jellies and barnacles along the tide pool rippling rocks. A large bald eagle greeted us at the tidepools, as if it was his beach.In the tide pools we saw anemones, silver salmon, sea stars and barnacles waving their arms as the tide came back in. All very educational and enriching. Before we left we explored their tide pools with hermit crabs, sea stars and chitons. A great place to research and learn more about the local fauna, flora, birds and marine life.On our boat ride back to Homer, we spent a small amount of time at Gull Island where we saw diving cormorants and kittiwakes with nests.Another bonus it that we got a 2 for 1 day tour through the 2014 Alaska Toursaver Book.

We stumbled upon the center's "Creatures of the Dock Tour" after being pointed there by a volunteer at the Homer Visitor Center. For only $5, you can go on an hour long educational walking tour around the harbor and explore all the creatures that live under the docks. We lucked out and had Carla as our guide, and we were the only two people in attendance, so we received a private tour. We wandered the harbor, spending most of our time laying flat on the dock and peering over the edge to get up close and personal with everything living below. We saw (and held) everything from various tube worms to tons of different anemones, to starfish and crabs and jellyfish and sea urchins...and many many more! It was a wonderful opportunity to learn about what lives within such a bustling fishing harbor, and the dual fragility and durability of the complex ecosystem within.

Our guide, Liz, taught us so much about tide pools, and we learned about flowers and trees on our hike. Our kids loved the touch pool. Seeing puffins on Gull Island on the way back was a perfect ending to a great day!

I've lived in Alaska for 35 years and continue to make the trek over to Peterson Bay and the Alaska Center for Coastal Studies any chance I get. Recently took another group of relatives over and found the place is still so magical, a perfect way to get a taste of what "real" Alaska is like. The unique experience to touch creatures in the wild and in tanks, hike on nearly pristine trails, and learn about Alaska's plants and animals is found in few places in the US these days. The long drive to Homer is a bonus!!!

My guide Jess was able to answer every question I had and led me on a beautiful hike. The tide was too high to go tide pooling but we made the best of it. I was eating berries off trees and grass/plants out of the ground. It was awesome! I highly recommend it. China Poot Bay/Beach was my favorite.