Tutka Bay Lodge, Alaska

Tucked away in a private cove at the southern end of Kachemak Bay, nine miles from the charming seaside community of Homer, is a quiet place full of life. A place where you will be in awe of your surroundings, treated to warm Alaskan hospitality and faced with an endless array of activities to stroke your adventurous spirit. This is authentic Alaska.

Finding hidden away places that offer both relaxation and adventure is what we like to do. Tutka Bay Lodge does not disappoint as not only do they offer true Alaskan adventures but there is plenty of opportunity to relax and just take it all in.

The lodge’s staff has a collective goal:  to make your stay as comfortable and as exciting as you want it to be.  Every evening at dinner you will meet with a staff member (in my case it was the charming and ridiculously hilarious Gus) to go over what your options are and trust me…choosing what to do from their lengthy list of activities ain’t easy.

There are two ways to reach the lodge:  seaplane or water taxi from nearby Homer. My inner-aviator was thrilled to discover that I was offered to arrive by plane, so early in the morning I found myself at Rust’s Flying Service in Anchorage.  This charter company is run by the Rust family and they have been flying Alaska’s backcountry since 1963.  Okay.  So I’m in good hands.

The Lodge

The first thing that grabbed my attention as I walked up the long pier is the Alaskan-sized deck with serpentine arms that connect to all of the buildings and also doubles as a yoga platform and a helicopter pad. There is also a gazebo for after-dinner gatherings and my favorite building of all…the Russian style wood-heated sauna (banya). The absolute hottest and most amazing sauna I have ever encountered.

There are six private ocean cabins scattered about the ten acre property. Each one is unique, as they are all configured differently, but what they all have in common is comfort. My cabin was called The Loon and offered two bedrooms both with private bathrooms and a common living room. I thoroughly enjoyed watching things “happen” from my perch on The Loon’s balcony, especially spying salmon swimming by in the lagoon just below me at high tide.

Walking toward the main lodge I instantly felt a warmth come over me as I opened the door to the smell of (ever present) freshly baked cookies and inviting social areas to chat over a cup of tea. The beautiful dining room snugs up to huge glass windows so that nature is always a part of your experience. Be sure to show up every evening at 6:30 as the staff puts out a gorgeous spread of wines, beer, appetizers and cheeses (flown in weekly from Murray’s Cheese Shop in Manhattan). This is also a great time to swap your high adventure tales with the other guests and get ideas of what to do the next day.

Hospitality Extraordinaire

After all of the excitement of flying down to the lodge from Anchorage I decided to take it easy that afternoon and opted for a boat ride into the bay to get a better sense of my surroundings. I made a comment to the captain, Bri, that I was actually torn between going out on the water and staying behind to take a nap on the massive sundeck and without a moment of hesitation she grabs one of the comfortable (and heavy ) wooden rocking chairs from the deck, hauls it all the way down the pier and drops it onto the back of the boat. Ditto for the other passenger. I am stunned.

It was a gorgeous day out on the water and offered a great way to experience what makes Tutka Bay so unique. We spotted several humpback whale spouts, sea otters floating on their back s with their young snuggled up on their bellies, craggy coastlines, splendidly dramatic snow-dusted mountains and waterfalls. I was not robbed of participating in the true Alaskan experience, all from a rocking chair on the back of a boat.

Chicken of the Sea

After being presented at dinner with the next day’s adventure choices I found myself waffling between kayaking, pack rafting, hiking or deep-sea fishing for halibut. What to do? PANIC! Since Homer is the “halibut fishing capital of the world” I decided to sign up for deep sea fishing. The lodge arranged for a half-day charter with Salt Water Adventures and we hit it big with an affable and committed captain named Max (who thrived in trying to convince us his tall tales were true). It turned out to be an all-girl boat (except for Max and Ben, a lodge staffer) which was really amazing as we truly bonded over the experience. After a thorough safety briefing Max explained the process of how to go about catching our halibut (the process is crucial to your success). Not too long after our lines were in I noticed a heavy feeling in my pole so I yelled for Max to check it out and sure enough I had one on! First chicken of the day !

The locals make a distinction between the massive adults, called Barn Doors, and the smaller Halibut called Chickens. Make no mistake about Chickens, they can weigh up to 100 pounds. Barn Doors can weigh more than 500 pounds.

Me and my halibut! (photo credit: Juno Kim/ATTA)

Get Onboard with Award-winning Chefs

While Tutka Bay Lodge dishes up plenty of nature’s flavors from outdoor adventures she also dishes up flavors sourced from the surrounding beaches, forests and other nearby wild places that are masterfully presented at the dining table and at their critically acclaimed cooking school. Cordon Bleu-trained Chef Kirsten Dixon owns and operates the lodge with her husband, Carl, overseeing the collection of recipes that she is eager to teach in the 1940 Widgeon II – a repurposed crabbing vessel that also had a previous life as a WWII-era troop transport boat.

The Dixons purchased the Widgeon II from a local lodge owner who paid $1 to the city of Homer for the boat with the intention of turning it into a backpacker’s hostel by adding two wooden stories onto the deck and another three story structure at the back for sleeping quarters. The Dixons have given the boat a new life by creating a wonderfully rustic, nautical-themed outpost that is a perfect place for cooking classes. The long dining table is set with fresh bread, bowls of pistachios and aprons folded neatly on the backs of chairs. Towering over the table is a massive driftwood chandelier, a symbol of the lodge’s connection to the land and sea.

The Perfect Ending

Now that I had seen my surroundings by foot and by boat, it was fitting that my final day at the lodge was spent viewing the bay from above with Dusty, a helicopter pilot with Heli Alaska.

We took off from the main deck and flew up to Grewingk Glacier inside Kachemak Bay State Park. On the way we spotted enormously tall waterfalls, mountain goats, pristine rivers and rugged mountain peaks. It was surreal.

My last adventure of the day (and of my time at the lodge) was spent yet again with Dusty who flew all of the guests up to a ridge called Broken Knife (named for its ragged appearance). I have literally never experienced anything like this before: heart-stopping views of the gorge below, old-growth Sitka spruce in the distance, and meadows alive in color. For a moment I am so in awe that I don’t notice the cold air whipping at me from all sides. The staff brought up champagne and cheese and we all toasted to our gift. Our gift of Tutka Bay Lodge.