Happy Puffin Tours: “a Way to Share Alaska”
Dan Alfalla
When Dan Alfalla arrived in Alaska in 2017, he embarked on a new life. He started sailing and realized that his small-scale, tailor-made sailing trips would become “a way to share Alaska with visitors.” So, he founded Happy Puffin Tours, based in Seward. This personalized form of tourist sailing makes the company unique for its multi-day sailing trips that cover remote locations.“I want to begin by acknowledging that Happy Puffin Tours operates in Seward, Alaska, the traditional and contemporary homeland of the Sugpiaq/Alutiiq peoples. We honor their past, present, and future stewardship of these lands and waters,” Dan Alfalla tells Sol de Medianoche.
Daniel Alfalla is the son of Puerto Rican parents. “I grew up in New York,” he says, “but I maintain strong connections with my family. I’ve lived in Alaska since 2017. I came here from New York, via Virginia.” And here, in Alaska, he began his new life journey. “The small-scale, tailor-made sailing adventures that make up our niche business are quite different from fishing expeditions and large tourist boats,” Alfalla says. “The main advantage is that Alaska sells itself. It’s on the bucket list for people all over the world. It also has a concentrated season. I work very hard during the summer. It’s a small window for nautical tourism. You can dress for the cold. The main difficulty is keeping the boat seaworthy in the harsher northern climate.” Dan’s two teenage sons work with him throughout the summer. “They help as kayak guides. I also have a partner who runs his own bareboat charter, Rez-Bay Sailing, which is also a sailing school.” Happy Puffin Tours has customers from all over the world. “Last year, we had guests from Japan, Australia, Dubai, all over the United States, and even occasionally Anchorage,” Alfalla says. “We feel that Happy Puffin is unique in its niche of multi-day sailing tours that cover places as far away as we do. There are certainly many different types of tours offered by other small boat captains in Seward and other communities around the state,” he says. Dan’s Latinx heritage ‘has been a driving force behind my social work and involvement in Alaska,’ he says. “When I first moved here, I founded SoBroSol, a nonprofit organization to encourage leadership in artists from Latinx and BIPOC communities. I later stepped down as executive director of SoBroSol and transitioned it to a very capable leadership team. The mission has expanded to foster entrepreneurship among Latinx and BIPOC communities, and I still serve on the board.” “Happy Puffin Tours has been a wonderful opportunity to explore other parts of Alaska. As a small operation, we can offer personalized experiences to Latinos and people from different communities,” he concludes. |