Upgrade for Alaska?

petrel wrote:
Homer is one of the best rated halibut destinations in AK, that is why I selected it. If you've got a recommendation for another, I would welcome it.

For me, Homer is too popular--I don't like huge crowds (I feel the same way about Skagway and would also about Seward if it didn't have the Kenai Fjords NP cruise tours). But everyone needs to at least see Homer and make up their own minds.

So, while shopping for halibut fishing charters, check out Ninilchik and Kasilof. Both are on the Sterling Highway between Homer and Soldotna. Just launching the fishing boat at Deep Creek near Ninilchik is an adventure the kids will remember for a long time. The boats are launched (and retrieved) over the beach and through the surf with a custom-built tractor-trailer combination. Plus the halibut fishing is superb and no more expensive than Homer. And, to make it even better, you can camp right there on the beach at the Deep Creek State Recreation Area. It's dry camping only, no electricity, but you won't need it if you have a generator. However, it's an extremely popular campground (is it any wonder with both beach camping and great fishing?), so you will want to reserve far in advance.

The Crooked Creek RV Park is located near Kasilof, right across the road from the Crooked Creek State Recreation Area, which also has a big campground. The RV park has a charter halibut and salmon fishing business, with their office right in the RV park office. Not the best Alaska RV park we stayed in and expensive for dirt/gravel sites, but every day we were there, there were multiple halibut strung up for photos before the guides cleaned and packed them for shipment to the Lower 48. If you are there at the right time, you can also walk over to the state park and fish for salmon in Crooked Creek or drive to the nearby Kasilof River State Recreation Site (day-use only, no camping) for even more salmon fishing.

It's hard to make a bad decision on a halibut charter on the Cook Inlet side of the Kenai. But some come with a few "extras" that make them an event, rather than just another boat trip.