Bear tours?

[rachelfran]

The last time I was in Alaska was 2013 and my husband and I did an amazing excursion in Ketchikan to the Anan observatory with a misty fjords extension. It was amazing and I highly recommend. We saw bears eating the salmon swimming upstream and lots of eagles.

I am considering returning there on this next trip (without my husband 💔) and wondering if that is the best option for bear viewing or if there are others options that  folks recommend? It'll be in mid July.

[oaktreerb]

There is a lot of information online at Alaska tourism sites.  You chose an excellent bear viewing experience on your previous trip.   Prime bear viewing areas differ throughout the season and that information is available online.  As you know, the bears follow the salmon.

 

Hopefully someone will see your inquiry and offer their first hand experience.

 

That’s a great picture!

[ABQrobin]

Our favorite excursion from our Alaska cruise last summer:

 

[homeofthehound]

We stopped in Ketchikan on Aug 17th. We used Alaska Shore Excursions to book their "Black Bear & Wildlife Exploration, 3.25 hours, $250 pp, 11:30 - 2:45pm". They in turn used Kawanti Adventures for the tour to the Rainforest and Bear Walk. Normally I wouldn't typically suggest companies but in this case, we were very impressed with the tour. For context our previous 2 tours in Juneau and Icy Strait Point had been cancelled on us (due to heavy fog and other tour participant's ship delays). When we arrived in Ketchikan, we had to tender 'due to ship congestion' 🙄 . The tenders were very slow and backlogged so we were late getting to the tour meeting spot. We figured we were 3 for 3 with our tour luck, but by fluke I saw someone carrying a Kawanti sign. After explaining the tender delay, we we put on a different tour van and whisked away to the Rainforest. After a personal shortened safety briefing we were on our way on the tour walk. Within less than 2 minutes we caught up to our original tour group because they had stopped to look at this bear!! We saw 8 bears and cubs, an eagle and a banana slug (yep its a thing!) during our walk. The tour guides were wonderful and on our drive back we were let off at the end of Creek Street (optional) so we could walk around and make our way back to the ship. The tour was low intensity and an appropriate amount of time (not too long, not too short). Happy Planning!

[Mainer3]

We are on Holland America's Noordam, and had hoped a bear viewing tour would be offered on Kodiak. The cruise line had none. We contacted several local tour operators in advance, and they had nothing that matched our in-port period.  One of them told us the only bears were on the other side of the island and could not be reached in the time we had in port.  Fortunately we visited the Kodiak Wildlife Center, which had a list of taxis and told us the bears were all over the island.  We found Joseph with Kodiak Alaska Taxi (907-512-9080 direct to Joseph), and he quickly took us out to where the bears were feeding on plentiful salmon, six miles from the center of town.  For about $40 plus tip including returning to the ship, this was the dream excursion we had hoped for!  We highly recommend it!

[Sarahg0915]

@ABQrobin was this through the cruise line or independent?

[Aquahound]

On 9/20/2023 at 11:27 PM, Mainer3 said:

One of them told us the only bears were on the other side of the island and could not be reached in the time we had in port.  

 

Wow.  As you learned, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Sheesh.

[ABQrobin]

10 hours ago, Sarahg0915 said:

@ABQrobin was this through the cruise line or independent?

Cruise line

[Ofmyheart]

On 9/21/2023 at 2:27 AM, Mainer3 said:

We are on Holland America's Noordam, and had hoped a bear viewing tour would be offered on Kodiak. The cruise line had none. We contacted several local tour operators in advance, and they had nothing that matched our in-port period.  One of them told us the only bears were on the other side of the island and could not be reached in the time we had in port.  Fortunately we visited the Kodiak Wildlife Center, which had a list of taxis and told us the bears were all over the island.  We found Joseph with Kodiak Alaska Taxi (907-512-9080 direct to Joseph), and he quickly took us out to where the bears were feeding on plentiful salmon, six miles from the center of town.  For about $40 plus tip including returning to the ship, this was the dream excursion we had hoped for!  We highly recommend it!

Thank you for this, we are on the Holland Westerdam in May and are going to see them. I will definitely contact him.