Bear Excursions?

[mtnhappy]

We would really like to go on a bear excursion in Sep 09. We looked at some options to go to Katmai while doing our own land tour before the cruise, but they are a bit pricey. The Princess bear excursions are cheaper though.

 

Are any of the Princess bear excursions worthwhile in early Sep?

Particularly, the Wilderness Bear Watch, Photo Safari by Land and Sea, Alaska Bear Adventure, and Neets Bay Bear Cruise?

 

Has anyone seen bears on these trips in Sep?

 

Does anyone have any other ideas/recommendations for bear excursions that aren't too, too expensive (either while on the cruise or separately on land)?

[Budget Queen]

In your second week of Sept timeframe, you can be too late on the inside passage. I've been to Neets, which is a very good area for black bears. NEVER consider any "unnamed" location, via ship excursion. You need to do your homework on specific areas and what the peak times are. ( I never consider any of these costly tours outside of peak). Of your list, Katmai is where I would go. :) Are you including Denali Park- just about a 100% chance of brown bear viewing on the cheap "bargain of Alaska" shuttle bus.

[swong13]

Wow. I was just going to ask the same question about bears in September. I was considering the Icy Strait excursion "Whales, Wildlife, and Brown Bear Search" the second week in September. The land portion of this excursion is at Spasski River Valley. What are my chances of seeing bears on this trip?

 

Thanks!

[Budget Queen]

Wow. I was just going to ask the same question about bears in September. I was considering the Icy Strait excursion "Whales, Wildlife, and Brown Bear Search" the second week in September. The land portion of this excursion is at Spasski River Valley. What are my chances of seeing bears on this trip?

 

Thanks!

 

I would instead suggest you consider independent. The ship tour goes to a fixed area, with a platform. With an independent, you have the full flexability of many search areas to consider. I was fortunate to be able to step out on the opposite shore of a river and watch a brown bear, with only one other visitor and the guide.

 

With this being a combo tour, adding a boat tour for a whale watch?? You are going to be very limited in your bear viewing, unless this is a 6-7+++ hour tour??? Hoonah, has very good sightings. Contact local vendors and inquire about the season. I believe you are still in "season" in your timeframe??

[swong13]

I would instead suggest you consider independent. The ship tour goes to a fixed area, with a platform. With an independent, you have the full flexability of many search areas to consider. I was fortunate to be able to step out on the opposite shore of a river and watch a brown bear, with only one other visitor and the guide.

 

With this being a combo tour, adding a boat tour for a whale watch?? You are going to be very limited in your bear viewing, unless this is a 6-7+++ hour tour??? Hoonah, has very good sightings. Contact local vendors and inquire about the season. I believe you are still in "season" in your timeframe??

 

Budget Queen-

 

Thanks for the information. The combo excursion is a 5 hour trip. Any suggestions for independents that I should contact?

 

 

I was planning on doing one kinda expensive excursion. If I don't have a chance to see a brown bear, then I may do the fly-in flyfishing trip out of Juneau. They fly you up to a river and drop you off. They come back to get you several hours later. On this trip, I hope that I DON'T see any bears. :-)

 

-Steven

[seahawkfan]

I was talked out of going on the fly-in flyfishing trip this past September. It just so happens that a few guys behind us standing in line to get back aboard the ship went. Listening to their stories and seeing their pictures, I truly regret not going. They did see plenty of bears and had a few walk up and take their fish. Next year we have more time in Juneau and no-way I'm going to get talked out of going again.

[Budget Queen]

Budget Queen-

 

Thanks for the information. The combo excursion is a 5 hour trip. Any suggestions for independents that I should contact?

 

 

I was planning on doing one kinda expensive excursion. If I don't have a chance to see a brown bear, then I may do the fly-in flyfishing trip out of Juneau. They fly you up to a river and drop you off. They come back to get you several hours later. On this trip, I hope that I DON'T see any bears. :-)

 

-Steven

 

5 hours isn't a lot of time. I've gone with http://www.teckkoutfitters.com/ for bear viewing, highly recommend them.

[swong13]

Thanks Budget Queen and seahawkfan. I'll look into teckkoutfitters. I am still considering the fly fishing trip. Gotta admit I'm a little apprehensive about bears being close enough to eat my catch. I wonder if the guides are equipped to handle the bears. Maybe I'll take my camera on the fly fishing trip and have a combo fishing/bear photography trip.

 

-Steven

[seahawkfan]

The guides were heavily armed. Some of the bears in the pictures were pretty good size.

[Sea-level]

Southeast Alaska.

 

Since you mentioned doing this in later September, I can tell you that bears are starting to look for berries to eat about then and some regular spots for finding bears will be nearly abandoned.

 

Of course, there are exceptions to the rule like anything else.

[mtnhappy]

Thanks for the reponses. We are starting to look into some options to do a bear-viewing trip on our own and not on a cruise excursion.

 

Are most bear viewing guides generally armed?

 

What bear viewing trip/company is the best for bear sightings and "cheapest" for early September?

 

Talon Air, Alaska West Air, and Alaska Bear Tours seem to be the most reasonable. Has anyone done any tours with them?

 

Does Katmai still have many bears out and about at the Brooks Falls in early September? I've found conflicting information about the availability of bears then.

[Pssunshinegal]

Makes me very sad to see the words armed and bears in the same sentence. I spent a couple of days at Hallo Bay with no guns and an unbelievable experience with bears. Though not professional, I have attached pictures of us with the bears so that you can see the close proximity of us with the bears. Bear viewing is never cheap, but using an experienced company that really cares about the bears will really increase the value of your experience, as well as bypass the need for guns. I ended up with Hallo Bay because I had already booked with Brooks Falls and happened to call back with a question and found out that there was not a very good chance that we would see bears during my time frame. They did not offer this information without being asked, so make sure that you specifically ask about your chances. Hallobay.com has day trips, as well as overnights. There are several other companies that day trip to Katmai. One of the reasons that I highly recommend Hallo Bay, is that they follow the bears. They live among the bears, so they know where the bears are and know where the best viewing of bears would be.

 

Good luck and consider this as a once in a lifetime experience. If you can afford it, you won't regret it.

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/Jmorngstar/AlaskaBearTrip#

Janice

[Budget Queen]

I have only been on one armed bear watch and that was out of Hoonha privately and with the ability to walk along a river following a bear nearby. Completely different experience elsewhere and far less open exposure to bears, at Anan and Neets.

 

I agree, you may be making a mistake by making price your priority. The top tours that yield good overall consisitant viewing, cost. The so so trips are less.

 

You need to contact the vendors in the areas you are interested in and get their recommendations on timing and stats.

 

First week of Sept, has good sightings at Traitor's Cove and Neet's out of Ketchikan, both fly ins.

[coolrider]

I think that if a guide feels the need to carry a gun then I will not argue with that. Someone like Keith who has grown up in Alaska and has spent most of his life in the woods, raised his children there and has spent years watching and learning the behaviors of the animals I would have to trust his judgment. My experiences have been nothing but positive and I have had some nice encounters and felt safe and protected. Keith has a certain level of respect for the animals, but still takes precautions to keep himself and his clients safe.

[wvufan]

We went with Keith at Teckk this past September-he's the best (and was recommended to us by Brent Nixon who many know as the fantastic naturalist on some cruises). Unfortunately, the late salmon runs were over unusually early and the bear were not feeding at the streams. Instead, they were up in the hills eating berries. Well, we had a beautiful sunny day and thoroughly enjoyed the trip up the hills. Saw two brown bear. We were able to get out of the vehicle and observe and photo them for quite a while.

 

I would not hesitate to go back with Keith again. If bear are to be found, he's da man.

 

He related that in all his years he has only had to shoot a bear once in self defense and was obviously sincerely sad that he did. I felt perfectly safe.

 

He does not book through the ship. He was approached by a cruise line to do tours for them, but they wanted 55%. That is one of the reasons we avoid booking ship tours whenever possible.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE :D:D Bob and Phyl