Juneau - Float plane - Bear tour

[robinpow]

With nature there is never a guarantee, however if one does their homework, they might better the odds.

With that thought I ask.. Has anyone taken the tour on Chichagof Island? They call it the, "Bear Watching & Wildlife Viewing Adventure" and charge $469 for the 5 hour tour.

Would love to hear from anyone who has taken it!!!

I booked a last minute cruise, and only have 5 days to get everything set up.

[Budget Queen]

Chichagof Island does have a lot of bears. So, at least the location would have good chances. Is this a ship tour? (description sounds like it) Who is the vendor?

[robinpow]

As a general rule I don't do ship tours, but this one is. With only 6 hours in port, wouldn't want to risk having a break down and missing the ship. Of course the down side is you always pay more for ship tours. So this is why I'm asking, for that price I want that darn BEAR Photo. :)

[Budget Queen]

As a general rule I don't do ship tours, but this one is. With only 6 hours in port, wouldn't want to risk having a break down and missing the ship. Of course the down side is you always pay more for ship tours. So this is why I'm asking, for that price I want that darn BEAR Photo. :)

 

With your "priority", sorry, but, no guarantees of any sightings. It's a huge area and bears have a wide range. Being you don't know the vendor could be another concern for further information. You may want to specifically check http://www.traveljuneau.com and compare tours available. Sometimes cruiselines just copy vendor descriptions where it's pretty easy to find out who is operating.

[MayasWay]

Important to remember that wildlife viewing is hit or miss ... Just got off a cruise a few weeks back. Bear were sighted feeding just outside Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and at Ketchikan Creek just off the Creek Street deck, but spoke with some who took pricey bear watching trip those days and saw none.

[Budget Queen]

Important to remember that wildlife viewing is hit or miss ... Just got off a cruise a few weeks back. Bear were sighted feeding just outside Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau and at Ketchikan Creek just off the Creek Street deck, but spoke with some who took pricey bear watching trip those days and saw none.

 

It greatly depends what tours these "pricey" tours went. Usually out of Ketchikan the fly in tours are highly successful. I know with the vendor I chartered with last year, had 100% sightings at Traitors. The Rainforest Sanctuary, drive up is far less successful and the cruise lines offer a "mystery" tour and don't disclose the location, just a "nice" description. My basic recommendation, never take any tours without knowing exactly where it goes.

[robinpow]

Thanks everyone, think I have a game plan. Booking three trips two to Traitors Cove and one to Neets. Three trips in a period of two weeks, just maybe I'll get that bear shot. Of course will be packing the 4 leaf clover, a rabbit's foot, my good luck coin and have my fingers crossed. :-)

[wolfdarlin]

We just got off the Island Princess and had that one tour pre-reserved. Due to weather, they had to cancel the flight portion of the tour, which also meant they had to cancel the trip to Chicagof Island because there wasn't time to get us back using a boat. Turned out this tour was run by Harv & Marv.

They gave us the choice whether to go ahead and do the whale watching portion and then they would take us by bus to Mendenhall Glacier. They reduced the price to $199 each.

We decided to stick with them and, although, disappointed in missing out on the flight portion, we thought we got a fair price in the end. They were very good at the whale watching portion. We were out there a long time and saw countless whales. Then there happened to be a bear and two cubs at the glacier, which we got to see and watch a cub catch a salmon. We wished we would have decided to stay at the glacier longer. We heard later that we could have taken a shuttle back to town instead of catching the tour's bus.