The main reason to go to Seward has always been Resurrection Bay. This agreeable little town started life as a place to fish and to get off boats arriving in Alaska, then continued as a place for Alaskans and visitors to get on boats and see the bay and Kenai Fjords National Park. With the growth of the cruise industry, Seward again is a place to get off the boat. Most cruises that cross the Gulf of Alaska start or end here, with their passengers taking a bus to or from the airport in Anchorage. That flow of people has brought a lot of tourist development to town, mostly of a quality that hasn't damaged the town's character.

Located by the broad fjord of Resurrection Bay, Seward is a mountainside grid of streets lined with old wood-frame houses and newer fishermen's residences.The growing tourism industry is bringing more traffic, but most of what's new has been good for the town. The largest addition, the Alaska SeaLife Center, is a research aquarium that's also open to the public. Combined with Seward's excellent ocean fishing, the national park, the wonderful hiking trails, and the unique and attractive town itself, the new center helps make Seward well worth a 2-day visit.

Seward's history is among the oldest in Alaska. The great Russian governor Alexander Baranof stopped here in 1793, named Resurrection Bay, and built a ship, which later sank, probably because Baranof's workers didn't have proper materials. Gold prospectors blazed trails from here to finds on Turnagain Arm starting in 1891, and in 1907 the army linked those trails with others all the way to Nome, finishing the Iditarod Trail. Today that route is discontinuous south of Anchorage, but you can follow it through Seward and hike a portion of it on the Johnson Pass Trail north of town .

SeaLife Center
The center is a serious research institution and an interesting aquarium of creatures from the nearby Alaska waters. You may have seen puffins diving into the water from a tour boat; here you can see what they look like flying under the water. Seabirds, harbor seals, and sea lions reside in three large exhibits that you can see from above or below. There are some smaller tanks with fish, crab, and other creatures, a touch tank where you can handle starfish and other tide-pool animals, and exhibits on changes in the Bering Sea and on jellyfish. Another exhibit updates the status of Exxon Valdez spill damage to birds and marine mammals; Exxon settlement money made the center possible. The center is not as large as a big-city aquarium, however, and you're not likely to spend more than an hour or two here. Programs for kids and adults happen all day: To make the most of the admission price call ahead so you can catch one that interests you, such as a behind the scenes tour or session on ocean research.