Aurora birds and bears tour Ketchikan

Hi All,

I found this small local tour company owned and operated by a lifelong Ketchikan local and was wondering if anyone has toured with them?

They are a van/small bus tour.

Thank you,

Red

Name and WEB site address please.

DON

What is your date? And where are they taking you?

Aurora Tours Birds and Bears are their offical name.

The owners name is Rich, they don't have an offical website, just a Facebook page.

Trip advisor has only a few reviews, One bad the other few good.

His Facebook page has lots of nice videos and testimonials.

He will be meeting us in Kethcikan we we get off the ship early June. We are there from 7-1 pm.

It will be a 3 hour tour and he says he will take us around to local spots to see bears, Bald eagles and Totems.

He is a local and a Tlongit Indian.

I love localism tours when I vacation, and he seems like he knows what he is doing.

Thank you for any help!!

He will be meeting us in Kethcikan we we get off the ship early June. We are there from 7-1 pm.

It will be a 3 hour tour and he says he will take us around to local spots to see bears, Bald eagles and Totems.

From what I've read on Cruise Critic and our own experience with an early July cruise, early June is too early for bears in Ketchikan. They tend to show up when the salmon is running. We did see a grizzly bear on the shore as we cruised Glacier Bay on that trip but it was at quite a distance. When we were there in early August the salmon were running but we saw no bears in Ketchikan. We did see one at Mendenhall Glacier catching his/her lunch.:D

From what I've read on Cruise Critic and our own experience with an early July cruise, early June is too early for bears in Ketchikan. They tend to show up when the salmon is running. We did see a grizzly bear on the shore as we cruised Glacier Bay on that trip but it was at quite a distance. When we were there in early August the salmon were running but we saw no bears in Ketchikan. We did see one at Mendenhall Glacier catching his/her lunch.:D

Thank you for the Info!

Has anyone toured with this company?

We toured with Rich May 20, 2018. The tour was good, he had a lot of good information. We saw eagles, but no bears. He tried to go to the place with bears when there were not many people around, so made a good effort.. He drove around the town, showing us the new subdivision, new school & library, and industrial area. If you are not interested in this part, I'm sure he can skip it. The only thing we ran out of time for was to go into the Totem park (an extra charge). All in all, I think you can not go wrong with Rich.

Hi All,

 

I found this small local tour company owned and operated by a lifelong Ketchikan local and was wondering if anyone has toured with them?

 

They are a van/small bus tour.

 

Thank you,

 

Red

We toured with Rich May 20, 2018. The tour was good, he had a lot of good information. We saw eagles, but no bears. He tried to go to the place with bears when there were not many people around, so made a good effort.. He drove around the town, showing us the new subdivision, new school & library, and industrial area. If you are not interested in this part, I'm sure he can skip it. The only thing we ran out of time for was to go into the Totem park (an extra charge). All in all, I think you can not go wrong with Rich.

Seems like the time that you wasted seeing the new subdivision, school and library and the industrial park could have been spent at the totem park. I would call it bad planning in his part - unless you were really interested in subdivisions, libraries, schools and industrial parks.

DON

We toured with Rich May 20, 2018. The tour was good, he had a lot of good information. We saw eagles, but no bears. He tried to go to the place with bears when there were not many people around, so made a good effort.. He drove around the town, showing us the new subdivision, new school & library, and industrial area. If you are not interested in this part, I'm sure he can skip it. The only thing we ran out of time for was to go into the Totem park (an extra charge). All in all, I think you can not go wrong with Rich.[/quote

 

 

Thank you so much for your response, I am glad you had a good tour, I am much more interested in seeing Creek street, then I am and seeing subdivisions and libraries and schools.. I've been in some contact with him off and on over the last few months so a couple of days before the tour I will let him know the things were interested in seeing.. Glad you had a great time and thank you for the response!

In his defense, he is very proud of his town and how tourist dollars are making his community better. We did not speak up so I can’t complain. I was just pointing out the details.

Seems like the time that you wasted seeing the new subdivision, school and library and the industrial park could have been spent at the totem park. I would call it bad planning in his part - unless you were really interested in subdivisions, libraries, schools and industrial parks.

 

DON

We toured with Rich May 20, 2018. The tour was good, he had a lot of good information. We saw eagles, but no bears. He tried to go to the place with bears when there were not many people around, so made a good effort.. He drove around the town, showing us the new subdivision, new school & library, and industrial area. If you are not interested in this part, I'm sure he can skip it. The only thing we ran out of time for was to go into the Totem park (an extra charge). All in all, I think you can not go wrong with Rich.[/quote

 

 

Thank you so much for your response, I am glad you had a good tour, I am much more interested in seeing Creek street, then I am and seeing subdivisions and libraries and schools.. I've been in some contact with him off and on over the last few months so a couple of days before the tour I will let him know the things were interested in seeing.. Glad you had a great time and thank you for the response!

 

A "tour" of Creek St. ? Frankly, this is a simply do it yourself walk. Can't imagine any "tour" for this. Easy to add a stop at Dolly's House and ride up on the Funicular (if running) and down the Married Man's Trail, (or round trip the trail) A look at the Fox lodge and beautiful Wallace Totems out back is well worth the time.

 

A "tour" of Creek St. ? Frankly, this is a simply do it yourself walk. Can't imagine any "tour" for this. Easy to add a stop at Dolly's House and ride up on the Funicular (if running) and down the Married Man's Trail, (or round trip the trail) A look at the Fox lodge and beautiful Wallace Totems out back is well worth the time.

 

Let me rephrase that, we want to get out of the city a bit and look for bears, eagles and other wildlife.

We also hope to see Totem poles, Creek street and other local spots.

This is my third trip to Ketchikan, my first time I did a float plane over the Fjord's and the second time mostly wandering around. Went to the totem heritage center and the lumber jack show.

This time I am traveling with family and friends that have never been there. And also have mobility issues, I realize that Creek street is within walking distance of the dock however one of our parties is having a very difficult time walking and is not quite at the point of a wheelchair.

We are doing a float plane ride in Juneau so we did not want to repeat that.

I was doing my best to find what appears to be a nice tour that would be easy for somebody with mobility issues that would only have to get in and out of a vehicle a few times yet give them an opportunity to have a nice overview of the city and the potential for wildlife viewing.

I am, of course open to any and all suggestions and appreciate any input!