Bear Excursion in Ketchikan

[GatorMomInNC]

I will be in Ketchikan on 9/5 on the HAL Noordam.  Trying to decide the best excursion to see bears.  The one that SEEMS the best to me has very few reviews and is the most expensive.  You go by boat to Neets Bay, then walk to a viewing platform.  Bear Encounter by Land & Sea  .   

 

The other one is cheaper and has great reviews, but it seems like it is not so much in the wild.  Black Bear, Wildlife & Nature Walk

 

Has anyone done either of these and have a suggestion which is best to see bears?

 

Floatplane is not an option for me, sorry.  

 

[rwmiller]

We did a tour called Expedition Black Bear offered by Alaska Hummer Adventures. You take a boat to Traitor’s Cove and then a van to the viewing platform. There you see bears fishing for salmon. It is our favorite Alaska memory. If your schedule allows take a look at it. 
 

Bob

[GatorMomInNC]

Thanks.  I saw that and saw it positively reviewed on some other sites.  It departs 30 minutes after we dock, however, so I am hesitant to book it and risk missing it....

 

[rwmiller]

6 hours ago, GatorMomInNC said:

Thanks.  I saw that and saw it positively reviewed on some other sites.  It departs 30 minutes after we dock, however, so I am hesitant to book it and risk missing it....

 

You might try contacting the company about options. When we did it they met us at the ship. They need a minimum of 4 people to run the tour and may be looking for more customers. 

[CgnEg]

Following, we will be on the same cruise and wanted to know the answer as well.  The Wildlife walk is cheaper and offers a credit if you don’t see bears but I think the Neets Bear encounter might be a better choice?

[GatorMomInNC]

9 hours ago, CgnEg said:

Following, we will be on the same cruise and wanted to know the answer as well.  The Wildlife walk is cheaper and offers a credit if you don’t see bears but I think the Neets Bear encounter might be a better choice?

Yes, that was my thought.  I believe I found some reviews of the wildlife walk on you tube (so hard to sort out which excursion they are talking about) and it seemed to go to someplace a little less wild...I was hoping the Neets excursion might be a little more wild, off the beaten path.  BUT, based on some responses, I think it goes to a salmon hatchery, which I think I have also seen some you tube videos of....not exactly the wilds, but possibly a little more out in nature than the wildlife walk (I am hoping). 

I cruise a lot on Disney and they offer this excursion so I posted this question on a board just for Disney cruisers and got this response. 

Just finished sailing and did the excursion. Sea part was kinda boring since it was foggy and you're cruising fast to the area. But land portion was amazing. There are not that many bears there but we saw 2. They came out roaming and they were grabbing and eating salmon. It was kinda cool to see all of that. They also have a salmon hatchery which was jumping more there than I saw at Creek st. There were bald eagles there too.

[CgnEg]

Thank you for the info.  I know the bears can be seasonal when the salmon are running but I hope a few more are out due to hyperphagia.  This is our first cruise and we are looking forward to it.

[FLCREW]

We did this, Tongass National Forest - Anan Wildlife Observatory Site, 8 year ago and it was one of THE BEST excursion we have ever taken.  Not Cheap, but worth every cent.  Float plane there and then the walk to the observatory.  We are going to Alaska next year but Ketchikan is not one of our ports.  

 

[Blazza]

We also did the Expedition Black Bear offered by Alaska Hummer Adventures last year. We faced a similar issue re departure shortly after our scheduled docking time. They were very responsive over email and amended the start time to accommodate us. We were the first to book for the particular trip so it was relatively straightforward for them to make the change. I think they only sell 6 seats per trip and you can see how many seats are for sale on their fareharbor page. It was a fantastic excursion  

[rachelfran]

On 8/9/2023 at 1:41 PM, FLCREW said:

We did this, Tongass National Forest - Anan Wildlife Observatory Site, 8 year ago and it was one of THE BEST excursion we have ever taken.  Not Cheap, but worth every cent.  Float plane there and then the walk to the observatory.  We are going to Alaska next year but Ketchikan is not one of our ports.  

 

Yes I did this years ago with family air - best day ever .. 

[fredflint]

I basically did this trip to Admiralty Island and it was great, tour company has changed but just google  Admiralty Island bear watching.

 

Not cheap but I think we paid over 500.00 in 2001

 

https://beyondak.com/trips/fortress-of-bears-pack-creek/