Ketchikan Excursions - Bear Watching

[nicknata]

Dear All, we are going on Solstice in July on a big family trip. One of the hopes my mum has on this trip is that she will see bears. looking at the excursion list, there are a few excursions from Ketchikan that is associated with bear watching and I am confused as to which one I should pick. Specially there are:

 

1. Neets Bay BearCruise $239

2. Neets Bay Bear Watch by Floatplane $399

 

3. Coastal WildlifeCruise $169

4. Bear Country and Wildlife Expedition$199

 

 

Has anyone that has gone on any of these that can share their experience?

 

I guess the difference between #1 and #2 lies mainly on the mode of transport and assume the rest is the same. but what are the difference between #1 and #3 and #4?

 

I understand sighting of bears is not guaranteed but does any of these tours give a higher chance of seeing one given the location they go to and the design of the tour?

 

Thanks in advance for any experience sharing you may have.

[CruisingChick]

I have never done those specific cruise tours but we went to Alaska in mid-July and never saw any bears.

 

We did go on a bear watch excursion in Icy Strait Point but again saw nothing.

 

I was told afterwards they are really hard to see unless it's around the end of August - September.

 

Your mileage may vary.

 

You should go over to the ports of call board - Alaska and see if you can find any information there.

[ghstudio]

We went to Alaska with friends. After the cruise, we went directly home...they went to Denali. They did bus tours into Denali for two days....saw nothing alive other than people. Took the cruise bus back to the airport to go home and as the bus turned into the airport, there was an open field on the left....they finally saw a moose, but never saw a bear!

 

Wildlife in Alaska is illusive. If you go when the Salmon are swimming upstream, you have a good shot at seeing bear. Any other time, it's a maybe.

[CHEZMARYLOU]

We took a boat trip to a salmon hatchery in July but I can't remember if it was a ships tour or private. Saw a number of bears and one sow and her cubs. I had done some research and came across this site with good info on where and when to go on a bear watch.

 

http://www.experienceketchikan.com/bear-viewing-in-alaska.html

[Miaminice]

We used http://www.alaskaseaplanetours.com in Ketchikan and it was AWESOME!

Moments I will never forget in my life...

 

Here´s a review of the cruise: http://travellove.one/Our-Trips/Alaska-Radiance-01---Vancouver/alaska-radiance-01---vancouver.html

 

[srdancer]

We did the 8 hour tundra tour at Denali in early Aug several years ago. Saw bears, moose, caribou, doll sheep and even a lynx. Luck of the draw. Many years ago we went to Yosemite and didn't see so much as a squirrel.

[phoenix_dream]

I can't speak to all the excursions, but we did a coastal wildlife cruise a number of years ago - it was not through Celebrity but I suspect it would be similar. The odds of seeing any bears on that type of cruise is slim and slimmer. We enjoyed the cruise a lot and saw some other type of wildlife like eagles and sea otters but no whales, moose, or bears.

 

When we went to Denali on our first Alaska cruise in the month of July we saw an amazing amount of wildlife on our bus tour - moose, grizzly bears, caribou, and many others whose names escape me right now. Both the moose and the bears were very close to the bus, and the caribou came right up to the road next to the bus. Awesome!

[Cruise Raider]

https://www.alaskacruises.com/about/best-bear-viewing-on-alaska-cruise.html

 

This site will give you some ideas on when / where it is best to actually see bears.

My brother and SIL took a ship's tour in Icy Strait Point (not sure if you are stopping there) and said it was fantastic. The bears are in the wild feeding in a river ... guests are on a platform for viewing. They said they actually got close enough to hear the bones of the salmon being crushed while the bears were feeding.

We went on a whale watching tour in that same port and saw a grizzly bear foraging for food on the shore line .... he gave us quite a show when he saw our boat come to a stop to watch. The tour that went on a bear watch that day saw nothing, though. We lucked out!

For a sure thing, if you stop in Sitka, Fortress of the Bear is one place we saw bears, although in captivity. Their enclosure was large and the proprietors switched it up all the time to make sure the bears weren't bored. They even made them hunt for their food as they would have to do in the wild. Again, people are on platforms above this enclosure. All bears that reside here were captured and set to be destroyed ... so at least this place gives them a place to live out their lives, albeit not in the wild.

 

The tours listed in your OP seem to be awfully expensive without any guarantee of seeing bears ... but that's just my opinion. Hopefully the attached site will help in making a decision.

[shofer]

We did the Wildlife Tour in Denali and did not see much of anything alive. However we saw bears from our bus in Skagway on our way to the Yukon.

 

For the best tour in Ketchikan book the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's tour. Run by the same guys from Deadliest Catch. http://alaskacrabtour.com

 

Did this on our own and it is probably the best tour we have ever taken. The boat was a 15 minute walk down the wharf from where our ship was docked. You will not be disappointed.

 

Sue

[Tricia724]

I agree with the other poster who recommended that you post this question on the Alaska Board under "Ports of Call." If you can catch Budget Queen's attention, she will tell you exactly which of those tours is your best bet (if any.) She has made many, many trips to Alaska, and it seems she has taken most of the excursions offered at one time or another. There are also several Alaska residents who post there who may be able to help you decide.

[ForeOU]

Island Wings, Anan Creek bear watching. Not offered by the ships. Absolutely incredible.

[nmg222]

Island Wings, Anan Creek bear watching. Not offered by the ships. Absolutely incredible.

 

Agree 100%. We did it in 2009 and still talk about it.

 

http://www.islandwings.com/anan-creek---traitors-cove-bear-viewing-tours.html

 

Scroll down to the Anan Creek tour and note the availability in July when the Solstice is in port.

 

If you don't see bears on this tour, it's because they've gone extinct.

Edited April 28, 2018 by nmg222

[prish]

Bookmarking for our cruise in July 2019. I was looking at whale watching in Icy Straight Point, maybe we could do a half day bear watching too...

 

In August 2009 we saw a mama bear with her cubs in Denali, also near the salmon hatchery on a ship's tour in Ketchikan, but it's just luck of the draw!

[Bearvet]

I found this very helpful http://www.experienceketchikan.com/bear-viewing-in-alaska.html

It shows where and when you'e most likely to see bears.

 

We're planning a floatplane trip to Anan Creek in early July! Our only problem is that we're in Ketchikan on July 4 and most vendors won't operate that day due to the parade and other festivities happening. We did finally find one vendor who would take us that day and booked them right away!

 

@Miaminice - Thank you so much for sharing your trip report! You had some amazing luck seeing wildlife! Your pictures and descriptions are awesome and made me even more excited for our June/July 2018 trip!

[nicknata]

Thank you all for your helpful sharing and advice.

I will look into the further info provided, and yes I have also posted this question on the Alaska port forum, too and got some helpful advice as well.

[kathynorth]

Bookmarking for our cruise in July 2019. I was looking at whale watching in Icy Straight Point, maybe we could do a half day bear watching too...

 

In August 2009 we saw a mama bear with her cubs in Denali, also near the salmon hatchery on a ship's tour in Ketchikan, but it's just luck of the draw!

 

We went on an independent 6 hr whale watching trip out of ISP in late July 2011 and it was one of the best excursions we've ever been on. Be sure whomever you go with will bring you to Point Adolphus and hover in that area. We saw too many whales to count. We could easily hear the whales call to each other. We saw mothers swimming with their calves; lots of breaching and diving. We also saw very large ship tour boats come in and out of the area 3 times. They saw it and left, while we experienced this event. It was incredible.