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9 Days • Anchorage → Seward → Homer → Alyeska → Anchorage

Join us for an immersive 9-day coastal birding adventure through some of Southcentral Alaska’s most spectacular landscapes. From migrating shorebirds and seabird colonies to glaciers, whales, marine wildlife, estuaries, and coastal mountains, this workshop combines focused birding with the incredible wildlife and scenery that make Alaska unique.

Your Trip Is All-Inclusive

Once you arrive in Anchorage, everything is taken care of. Your workshop includes all accommodations, all meals, ground transportation, airport transfers, boats, scheduled activities and excursions, and gratuities for accommodations, activities, and included services.

The only travel expense not included is your flight to Anchorage at the beginning of the workshop and your flight home from Anchorage at the end.

We’ll also provide a hotel in Anchorage on your arrival and departure days to make traveling to and from Alaska as easy and comfortable as possible.

Day 1 — Welcome to Anchorage

Arrive in Anchorage and settle into our starting hotel, where you’ll meet your fellow workshop participants and guides.

This evening will be an opportunity to get acquainted, review the itinerary, discuss the birding opportunities ahead, and prepare for the days to come.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Anchorage

Day 2 — Anchorage to Seward & evening sunset tour

After breakfast, we’ll depart Anchorage and make our way south toward Seward along the scenic Seward Highway.

Rather than simply traveling between destinations, we’ll use the journey as our first full day of birding, making stops at productive coastal, wetland, and woodland habitats along the way. As we travel south, we’ll have opportunities to explore several birding hotspots and look for species along the route while taking in the dramatic scenery of the Kenai Peninsula.

We’ll arrive in Seward and settle into our hotel before heading back out for an evening sunset tour. With the long Alaskan summer evenings, we’ll have the opportunity to explore the coastline during some of the best light of the day, looking for birds and marine wildlife while enjoying the surrounding mountains and coastal scenery.

The evening tour will give us a chance to experience Seward after the day’s travel and birding has wound down, with opportunities for wildlife viewing and photography in the soft evening light.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Seward

Day 3 — Seward & Kenai Fjords

We’ll start the morning with a birding-focused boat tour into Kenai Fjords, giving us the opportunity to experience Alaska’s spectacular marine environment while searching for seabirds, migrating species, and marine wildlife.

As we travel through the fjords, we’ll look for puffins, murres, kittiwakes, cormorants, sea ducks, and other coastal species, while also keeping an eye out for whales, sea otters, sea lions, and other marine wildlife. The surrounding glaciers, rugged coastline, and towering mountains make this an unforgettable setting for both birding and photography.

After returning to Seward, we’ll have lunch before shifting our focus from the water to land-based birding and wildlife exploration.

The afternoon will be spent exploring coastal habitats around Seward, including beaches, tidal areas, wetlands, and coastal forest. We’ll take our time walking through these habitats and searching for shorebirds, waterfowl, seabirds, and forest species.

As the day continues, we’ll follow the best birding opportunities and wildlife activity in the area, with plenty of time for photography and observation.

We’ll finish the day with an evening ground-based sunset tour, exploring the Seward coastline during the long Alaskan evening light. This will give us another opportunity to look for birds and wildlife while enjoying the scenery without having to get back on the water.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Seward

Day 4 — Seward to Homer

We’ll depart Seward and begin our journey west toward Homer continuing to take advantage of productive birding locations along the way.

Upon arrival in Homer, we’ll check into Land's End Resort, located at the end of the Homer Spit.

With views across Kachemak Bay toward the surrounding mountain ranges, it’s the perfect place to unwind after our travels and enjoy the coastal scenery as well as the local bird shore festival.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Land’s End Resort, Homer

Day 5 — Gull Island & Odyssey Lodge

After breakfast, we’ll leave Homer and make our way toward Odyssey Lodge, with an exciting birding stop at Gull Island along the way.

Gull Island is an important seabird nesting site and one of the highlights of our time in Kachemak Bay. The island supports nesting colonies of Black-legged Kittiwakes, Common Murres, Tufted Puffins, Horned Puffins, Pelagic Cormorants, Double-crested Cormorants, and Black Oystercatchers, along with other coastal and migratory species that use the island and surrounding waters throughout the year.

We’ll spend time observing the island and surrounding waters, looking for birds in flight, on the water, and along the nesting cliffs while taking advantage of the incredible photographic opportunities.

After our Gull Island excursion, we’ll continue on to Odyssey Lodge and settle in. Following lunch, we’ll take a relaxed property hike to get familiar with the area and introduce everyone to the habitats we’ll be exploring during our stay.

Later in the afternoon, we’ll head out toward the surrounding glacier-fed estuaries and tidal mudflats, where changing tides create productive feeding grounds for waterfowl, shorebirds, and other coastal species. We’ll explore the mudflats and shoreline while looking for birds taking advantage of the exposed tidal areas to forage and feed.

After returning to the lodge for dinner, we’ll head back out to Gull Island for an evening sunset photography session. The long Alaskan evening light will provide a beautiful backdrop as we photograph seabirds returning to the island and moving through the surrounding waters.

This will be our first full day immersed in the unique coastal ecosystem surrounding Odyssey Lodge.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Odyssey Lodge

Day 6 — Gull Island & Grewingk Glacier

We’ll start the morning with another opportunity to visit Gull Island, taking advantage of the morning activity around this incredible seabird colony. We’ll spend time watching the birds as they move between the island and surrounding waters before continuing toward one of the day’s major highlights: Grewingk Glacier.

From Gull Island, we’ll make our way toward the trailhead for the Grewingk Glacier Trail. This beautiful, approximately 5-mile round-trip hike takes us through a diverse coastal landscape toward spectacular views of the glacier and surrounding mountains.

Along the way, we’ll keep our eyes open for the variety of birds, wildlife, and plant species that inhabit this coastal ecosystem. The hike will also give us an opportunity to experience Alaska beyond the shoreline, with the landscape changing as we make our way toward the glacier.

After completing the hike, we’ll return to the lodge for some time to relax, recharge, and enjoy the property before heading back out for the evening.

Later in the day, we’ll make our way to Homer to attend the final ceremony of the Shorebird Festival, joining other birders and nature enthusiasts in celebrating the incredible shorebird migration that brings so much life to the region.

After the ceremony, we’ll begin our journey back toward the lodge. Before calling it a night, we’ll make one more pass by Gull Island to take advantage of the evening light.

With the sun getting low over Kachemak Bay, we’ll have another opportunity for sunset photography, capturing the seabirds against the mountains, water, and evening sky.

We’ll then return to Odyssey Lodge for the evening and our final night in this remarkable coastal environment.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Odyssey Lodge

Day 7 — Homer to Alyeska

After breakfast, we’ll begin our journey north toward Girdwood and Alyeska Resort.

The drive offers another opportunity to explore Southcentral Alaska’s changing landscapes and make birding stops along the way.

We’ll arrive at Alyeska and settle into the resort before spending the evening exploring the surrounding marshes and mountains.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Alyeska Resort

Day 8 — Alyeska, Turnagain Arm & Alpine Birding

Our final full day of the workshop takes us into a completely different side of Alaska’s coastal ecosystem. Alyeska and the surrounding Girdwood area sit where the Chugach Mountains meet Turnagain Arm, creating a unique combination of coastal, wetland, river, boreal forest, and alpine habitats.

This diversity is what makes the area such an exciting place to finish our birding journey. After spending much of the workshop focused on marine environments, shorelines, and tidal flats, Alyeska gives us the opportunity to explore forest and mountain bird communities alongside the coast.

We’ll spend the morning exploring the wetlands and coastal areas around Turnagain Arm, looking for waterfowl, shorebirds, Bald Eagles, gulls, and other species that use the shoreline and surrounding wetlands. The changing tides can expose extensive feeding areas along the mudflats, creating opportunities to observe birds actively foraging along the coast.

As we move inland toward Girdwood, we’ll transition into boreal forest and river habitats, where we’ll search for species that prefer the dense spruce and mixed forests rather than the open coastal environment. Depending on seasonal activity, we’ll be watching and listening for songbirds, woodpeckers, thrushes, sparrows, and other forest species.

We’ll also take time to explore the mountain environment around Alyeska, giving us the chance to look for birds associated with higher elevations and the dramatic Chugach landscape.

Throughout the day, we’ll move between these different habitats rather than staying in one location, allowing us to experience the remarkable range of birdlife found within the Alyeska and Turnagain Arm region.

As evening approaches, we’ll make our way back toward Alyeska for our final night together. We’ll have time to enjoy the resort, review some of the highlights from the workshop, and reflect on the incredible variety of birds and habitats we’ve experienced throughout coastal Alaska.

Meals: Included
Overnight: Alyeska Resort

Day 9 — Alyeska to Anchorage & Departure

After breakfast, we’ll make our way back to Anchorage, completing our coastal birding journey not before stopping at a few more spots along the way.

Once we arrive in Anchorage, you’ll have the flexibility to either continue directly to the airport for your flight home or stay an additional night in Anchorage if that better fits your travel plans.

If you choose not to use the included final Anchorage hotel night because you’re continuing on with your travels, we’ll refund the cost of that unused night.

Meals: Included
End of Workshop: Anchorage

What’s Included

Your workshop price includes:

• All accommodations

• All meals throughout the trip

• Airport pickup and drop-off

• All scheduled birding activities and excursions

• Professional guides and workshop instruction

• All transportation between destinations

• Gratuities for accommodations, activities, and included services

• Anchorage hotel on your arrival day

• Anchorage hotel on your departure day, if needed

Not Included

The only flights you are responsible for are:

• Your flight to Anchorage at the beginning of the workshop

• Your flight home from Anchorage at the end of the workshop

Once you arrive in Anchorage, your accommodations, meals, transportation, activities, and gratuities are all covered.

8-Day Costa Rica Wildlife Photography Itinerary

Experience six unforgettable nights immersed in the wild beauty of Costa Rica’s Osa Peninsula, where wildlife isn’t simply something you go out searching for—it’s part of your everyday surroundings.

This 8-day journey is designed specifically with wildlife enthusiasts and photographers in mind. You’ll hike through primitive rainforest, looking for wildlife around every corner. From photographing toucans and hummingbirds to encountering monkeys, sloths, and countless other species, each day offers opportunities to experience and capture Costa Rica’s extraordinary beauty.

We’ll also explore the incredible biodiversity and ecological importance of the region surrounding Corcovado National Park, learning more about the wildlife and the rainforest they depend on.

Most importantly, a portion of the proceeds from this trip will go to the White Hawk Foundation, which is dedicated to preserving land and protecting the rich biodiversity of the Osa Peninsula. By joining us, you’re not only experiencing this remarkable ecosystem—you’re also helping contribute to its protection for generations to come.

Day 1 — Arrive in San José

You’ll drive in San Jose and settle into your hotel taking the evening to relax, refresh, and get ready for the journey ahead. Your hotel and transportation are included, so everything is taken care of from the moment you arrive.

Enjoy a comfortable evening in San José before you head toward the Osa Peninsula the following morning, where the rainforest, wildlife, and photography adventure truly begin.

Day 2 — Travel to the Osa Peninsula & Arrive at the Lodge

After breakfast, you’ll be picked up from your hotel and transported to the airport in San José for your flight to Puerto Jiménez.

Once you arrive in Puerto Jiménez, our team will meet you at the airport and take you on the approximately two-hour drive to the lodge. As we travel deeper into the Osa Peninsula, you’ll get your first glimpse of the remote landscapes and wild surroundings that make this region so special.

Once everyone has arrived at the lodge, we’ll enjoy lunch together, meet the group, and get settled into our accommodations. Take some time to relax, explore your surroundings, and get your camera gear ready.

That evening, we’ll head out for our first wildlife photography adventure. We’ll make our way to the beach to catch the sunset and explore the coastline, keeping our eyes open for whatever wildlife may be roaming the shore as the day comes to an end.

The adventure officially begins.

Day 3 — Wildlife from Your Doorstep

After breakfast, we’ll start the day with a hike around the property, exploring the trails in search of toucans, hummingbirds, monkeys, and other wildlife. This will also serve as an orientation to the property, giving you a better idea of the trails, wildlife hotspots, and places you can explore during your free time.

After our morning hike, we’ll return to the lodge for lunch and a discussion about the following day’s adventure in Corcovado National Park. We’ll go over what to expect and make sure everyone is prepared for our day in one of the most incredible wildlife environments in Costa Rica.

After lunch, you’ll have some downtime to relax, explore, or work on your photography. We will also be available to meet with anyone who has questions or would like help with their photography before we head out for another evening wildlife shoot.

Day 4 — An early morning adventure into Corcovado National Park

We’ll start the day early and make our way into Corcovado National Park, spending the morning exploring the rainforest and searching for the incredible wildlife that calls this area home. With the forest coming alive in the early hours, we’ll have the opportunity to photograph a variety of species as well as unique plants and trees and experience one of the most remarkable ecosystems on the planet.

We’ll return to the lodge in the early afternoon for lunch, followed by an editing session where we can work through some of the images we’ve captured so far. Afterward, there will be some downtime to relax, review your images, or simply enjoy the lodge before dinner.

As the afternoon begins to fade, we’ll head out to the lagoon for a sunset photography session. We’ll keep an eye out for kingfishers, egrets, herons, crocodiles, and whatever else may appear along the water as the sun goes down.

Day 5 — Morning lagoon kayak & evening landscape photography

Start the morning with a kayak adventure on the lagoon, giving us a unique perspective of the surrounding rainforest and opportunities to photograph wildlife along and on the water. 

After returning to the lodge, enjoy some downtime before we head out later in the day for a landscape and sunset photography session, capturing the beauty of the Osa Peninsula as the light begins to fade.

Day 6 — A deeper journey into Corcovado National Park

Today we’ll venture deeper into Corcovado National Park, hiking through the rainforest in search of one of the area’s most fascinating residents an endemic poison dart frog. The deeper we travel, the more opportunities we’ll have to discover wildlife and experience the untouched beauty of this incredible ecosystem.

We’ll enjoy a packed lunch along the way, taking time to appreciate the surroundings before continuing our hike. Our journey will take us along the beautiful coastline, combining incredible rainforest scenery with stunning ocean views.

After a full day of hiking and exploring, we’ll make our way back to the lodge in the late afternoon, with plenty of new experiences and photographs to look through.

Day 7 — Final Day at the Lodge

Make the most of your final full day in the Osa Peninsula.

Whether you choose to participate in another activity, explore more of the surrounding area, or spend time photographing from the lodge, today is yours to enjoy the environment at your own pace.

Take one last opportunity to capture the wildlife, landscapes, and moments that made this experience unique.

Day 8 — Departure

After breakfast, you’ll begin your journey back to Puerto Jiménez for your flight to San José.

A hotel in San José is included for your final night to accommodate your travel schedule and provide a comfortable place to rest after your journey from the Osa Peninsula.

If your departing international flight schedule aligns better with your arrival from Puerto Jiménez, you may be able to travel directly onward without using the hotel. In that case, a small refund will be provided.

Your Osa Peninsula wildlife adventure comes to an end, leaving you with photographs, memories, and an experience immersed in one of the most wildlife-rich environments on earth.

Can I bring a spouse, partner, or friend who isn’t participating in the photography workshop?

Absolutely! We know that for some guests, this may be the perfect opportunity to bring a spouse or friend along to enjoy Costa Rica together. Because space on the trip is limited, we can accommodate 1 additional guests per person for an additional $4,000. This includes their transportation, accommodations, and meals during the trip.

While you’re out with the photography group, your guest will have plenty of ways to enjoy their own Costa Rican adventure. They can relax around the pool, explore the lodge’s private rainforest trails and waterfalls, participate in yoga, book a massage or other spa treatment, enjoy the beach, or arrange additional activities such as kayaking or guided rainforest excursions directly through the lodge.