Shore Excursion..Juneau

[Arizona-Cruising]

Was looking at surprising the DH with a tour in Juneau. Has been wanting to do a tour with Bear viewing. Found this one on the Ship list and was wondering if any members have been or could give advise. It is almost a 7 hour excursion looks good so far.

 

Whales, Bears & Glaciers Adventure with Alaska Galore Tours.

 

Thanks

[dannyr]

Not long back off the Island Princess doing Alaska, and we saw bears up at Mendenhall taking the walking track out towards the waterfall - no tour required.

 

The tour that we did was the Helicopter onto the Taku Glacier with Era Flightseeing ( https://www.eraflightseeing.com ). The Princess Price was fairly compeitive as it included the transfer to their base and the tour guide / pilot was awesome.

 

We had enough time in Juneau to get the public bus to Mendenhall, look around (and see bears), get the public bus back to the ship, get the Grey Line coach (provided) to the helicopter depot, have an hour flight (including 20 minutes on the Glacier), and still have a decent look around Juneau once we got back into town.

[IECalCruiser]

Not long back off the Island Princess doing Alaska, and we saw bears up at Mendenhall taking the walking track out towards the waterfall - no tour required.

 

The tour that we did was the Helicopter onto the Taku Glacier with Era Flightseeing ( https://www.eraflightseeing.com ). The Princess Price was fairly compeitive as it included the transfer to their base and the tour guide / pilot was awesome.

 

We had enough time in Juneau to get the public bus to Mendenhall, look around (and see bears), get the public bus back to the ship, get the Grey Line coach (provided) to the helicopter depot, have an hour flight (including 20 minutes on the Glacier), and still have a decent look around Juneau once we got back into town.

YMMV but we took the $7.00 bus and saw bears near Mendenhall. The ice has melted back and created a stream with salmon that the bears have found. A mama bear had sent her three cubs into a tree and then went fishing. We were on a walkway but less that 20 feet away from the bear.

 

 

 

 

[Luvmyrotti]

My husband and I did this tour 2 years ago on the Island Princess and LOVED it!! While you can see the smaller black bears by going to Mendenhall glacier as previous poster indicated, on this tour we went to Hoona Island, where we saw a huge brown bear quite close up as he crossed our path on a dirt logging road (we were safely inside a vehicle). The excursion also includes whale watching on a smaller boat, so you can get up fairly close to sea life. We say a mother whale and her calf playing around in a patch of seaweed, we saw a group of eagles feasting on a fish on a small shoreline, and the glacier flightseeing on the way back to Juneau was cool. I cannot recommend this excursion highly enough.

[Budget Queen]

My husband and I did this tour 2 years ago on the Island Princess and LOVED it!! While you can see the smaller black bears by going to Mendenhall glacier as previous poster indicated, on this tour we went to Hoona Island, where we saw a huge brown bear quite close up as he crossed our path on a dirt logging road (we were safely inside a vehicle). The excursion also includes whale watching on a smaller boat, so you can get up fairly close to sea life. We say a mother whale and her calf playing around in a patch of seaweed, we saw a group of eagles feasting on a fish on a small shoreline, and the glacier flightseeing on the way back to Juneau was cool. I cannot recommend this excursion highly enough.

 

Hoonah, is excellent for brown bear viewing.

[katisdale]

Another choice if you are in Skagway late enough is the "Evening Wildlife Adventure". We did this tour and loved it. You take a ferry from Skagway to Haines and then tour the island on a school type bus. We saw hundreds of eagles, a few whales from the ferry, about 20 to 25 otters and 5 big brown bears hunting Salmon. It was great.

[Arizona-Cruising]

Thanks for the great opinions.:D

IECalCruiser: What Month did you do your cruise and walk about at Mendenhall? Great Pictures!

katisdale: We did that tour couple years ago, loved Haines and plan on going over to there in Skagway, fun little town just to cruise around.

Luvmyrotti :)

Looking forward to our trip this year and will let everyone know how it goes.

[IECalCruiser]

IECalCruiser: What Month did you do your cruise and walk about at Mendenhall? Great Pictures!

We were there in mid August. The salmon run in the creek in downtown Ketchikan was very impressive at that time also.

[sherryf]

Don't count on seeing bears at Mendenhall. I've been there 3 times and have never seen a bear there. Last year there was a ranger blocking off a section of the boardwalk trail because there was a mother bear with cubs in that area, but we couldn't get in to see.

 

In my 4 trips to Alaska, I've seen only 1 bear... well, maybe 2 if you count the moving black dot I could see through my binoculars while leaving Glacier Bay last year. Honestly, I've seen more bears in my own backyard! If you really want to see bears, don't depend on chance viewings. Book a specific bear excursion.

[IECalCruiser]

Don't count on seeing bears at Mendenhall. I've been there 3 times and have never seen a bear there. Last year there was a ranger blocking off a section of the boardwalk trail because there was a mother bear with cubs in that area, but we couldn't get in to see.

 

In my 4 trips to Alaska, I've seen only 1 bear... well, maybe 2 if you count the moving black dot I could see through my binoculars while leaving Glacier Bay last year. Honestly, I've seen more bears in my own backyard! If you really want to see bears, don't depend on chance viewings. Book a specific bear excursion.

Although I posted the photos, I have to agree that it is very hit or miss unless you are on a specific tour. We were fortunate enough to see the bears at Mendenhall, a great salmon run in Ketchikan, a pod of dolphins swimming outside of our window in the Bayou Cafe at dinner and numerous whales (best viewed through binoculars) as we left Glacier Bay but we were fortunate.

[Luvmyrotti]

Hoonah, is excellent for brown bear viewing.

 

Sorry, I tried to upload my photos of the brown bear we saw, but couldn't get them to attach.

 

Our guide, a local young man who had been raised on Hoonah, indicated that with only 900 year round human residents on the island and the approximately 3500 bear residents, it is likely that the brown bear we saw had have never seen humans before our encounter. He was absolutely beautiful, and, as the top of his local food chain, in no way afraid of humans. It was an amazing experience. The whales, porpoise, sea lions, bald eagles and glacier ice fields were all amazing as well. Really nice locals overseeing the tour as well.

[caribill]

Sorry, I tried to upload my photos of the brown bear we saw, but couldn't get them to attach.

 

 

If you are trying to upload them as an attachment (the paper clip symbol), they must not exceed 2MB each in size.

 

Were your photos under 2MB?

[Luvmyrotti]

If you are trying to upload them as an attachment (the paper clip symbol), they must not exceed 2MB each in size.

 

Were your photos under 2MB?

 

The one I was trying to attach was 2926 KB. I'm not super tech savvy so if you know of the best way to attach, I'll give it a try.

[Sharbar]

Sorry, I tried to upload my photos of the brown bear we saw, but couldn't get them to attach.

 

Our guide, a local young man who had been raised on Hoonah, indicated that with only 900 year round human residents on the island and the approximately 3500 bear residents, it is likely that the brown bear we saw had have never seen humans before our encounter. He was absolutely beautiful, and, as the top of his local food chain, in no way afraid of humans. It was an amazing experience. The whales, porpoise, sea lions, bald eagles and glacier ice fields were all amazing as well. Really nice locals overseeing the tour as well.

 

Sounds like a great tour...... Where was it and with what co.

 

Thanks,

Sharbar

[ElsieToo]

We did Princess' Taku Lodge and Salmon Feast a few years ago, and it was EXCELLENT. The sea plan flight over glaciers was a whole lot of fun, the trails around the lodge were easy to navigate with lovely waterfalls, and after they finished cooking the salmon on the outdoor grills two bears wandered over to nose through the scraps that had fallen to the ground below. We all got a great view of the bears, as we were safely inside the lodge, but the windows were only about 20 feet from where the bears were poking around. They were probably there for around 20 minutes, before heading back to the woods. The food itself was excellent, as well, and everyone we travelled with still says that excursion was the highlight of our entire vacation.

[Luvmyrotti]

Sounds like a great tour...... Where was it and with what co.

 

Thanks,

Sharbar

 

It's called the Whales, Bears and Glaciers tour. The tour company is Alaska Galore, but I think they are sort of a conglomerate of tours that then work with Princess. The actual operators were a few locals who live and work on and around Hoonah. It was a wonderful tour.