West Point Village Seaplane Base is located on the western side of Kodiak Island, home to the infamous Kodiak bears. The waters of the Shelikof Strait that runs between Kodiak Island and mainland Alaska meet West Point Village, while the Pacific Ocean is to the south.
A jet charter airport in West Point Village takes visitors to an unpopulated part of Kodiak Island. Most of the island’s residents live in Kodiak, Akhiok, or Larsen Bay.
With easy access to the Pacific Ocean, Kodiak Island has been used as a commercial and military spaceport. Opened in 1998, the Pacific Spaceport Complex, formerly named the Kodiak Launch Complex, has hosted over 30 launches, the majority completed by the U.S. government.
Located in the middle of Kodiak Island, West Point Village is a centralized arrival point for visitors who want to visit Akhiok to the south, or Kodiak to the north. Only 250 air miles from Anchorage, Kodiak acts as the transportation hub for the area. The largest fishing port in the state, Kodiak is also home to a large U.S. Coast Guard base.
Commercial fishing and tourism are two of the area’s economic drivers. Kodiak’s commercial fishing port is in the top 25 ports for total pounds caught in the United States.
Tourists flock to Kodiak Island to take in the breathtaking scenery, recreational fishing opportunities, and the chance of spotting a Kodiak bear. Whale watching, kayaking and exploring Alaskan history also bring tens of thousands of visitors to the area each year.
