Icy Strait Point - May, bears and whales?

[Coral]

Through all of my cruises in Alaska - I have some how missed this port.

 

Looking at a May cruise. What are the chances of seeing bears and whales? What vendors does one recommend? I know the cruise line offers an excursion that does both.

 

I have always seen bears in Alaska during my travels but have never done a bear excursion. I know in May, seeing bears when the salmon are not running in Ketchikan is not common.

 

I have seen a ton of whales in Juneau and in Tracy Arm. Are there more whales is Icy Strait Point compared to Juneau? How do the sightings compare between Icy Strait Point and Juneau? And bears - are there more sightings later in the season or does it not matter?

[JRoyston]

We did a cruise at the end of May- beginning of June 2019. We saw a bear at Icy Strait Point on the bear expedition (although we didn’t see it by the river or on the trails, it was as we were back at the minibus!). We also saw bears by the Medenhall Glacier. 

[Italy52]

Glad to see you haven't given up hope for a May cruise.  We used to cruise to Alaska during the early season but had to change that time frame due to home schooling our granddaughter.  I did go over our past May Icy Strait pictures to see what our whale watching experiences were like.  Here are a couple of pictures from our May 21, 2018 trip.  We got very lucky this particular excursion as the whales were putting on quite a show every where we went.  It was a truly remarkable day.  As you know, whales have a mind of their own so we are always thankful for whatever encounters we have.  Our vendor was Glacier Wind Charters --- fantastic vendor that is very well run and makes you feel like family.  We have gone out with them for many years and looking forward to our trip with them in July.  I think I also have a bear picture from the same excursion.  We found the bear near the shoreline during our whale watching excursion.  I will list it in a separate post.

 

 

[Italy52]

Coral, here is the bear picture I mentioned in my post above.  Sorry, the actual date of this picture was May 31, 2011 and it was taken on another whale watching tour with Glacier Wind while we were combing the shore line.

 

[Coral]

@Italy52Thank you. I had come across your posts on Glacier Wind Charters. Good to have the recommendation from you. Pictures are amazing!

 

I have always been lucky to see bears in odd places but have never sailed past mid July to actually take a bear excursion in Ketchikan. 

 

If I go - I plan on doing AdventureBound in Juneau - I have always seen whales with them so I won't do a dedicated whale watching trip.

Edited January 8, 2023 by Coral

[Italy52]

3 minutes ago, Coral said:

@Italy52Thank you. I had come across your posts on Glacier Wind Charters. Good to have the recommendation from you. Pictures are amazing!

 

I have always been lucky to see bears in odd places but have never sailed past mid July to actually take a bear excursion in Ketchikan. 

 

If I go - I plan on doing AdventureBound in Juneau - I have always seen whales with them so I won't do a dedicated whale watching trip.

If you every get the opportunity, Bear Watching at Anan Creek with Michele from Island Wings was fantastic!

[Coral]

6 minutes ago, Italy52 said:

If you every get the opportunity, Bear Watching at Anan Creek with Michele from Island Wings was fantastic!

I know. I will probably have to wait until after I retire (and who knows when she will retire). My work (education) gets really busy once bear season starts and school starts mid-August which is impossible for me to travel then.