Best Port for Bears Viewing Tour in Juneau

[botbien]

We need to rebook our cruise and the new itinerary includes a stop at Icy Trait Point instead of Ketchikan. We originally planned a bear viewing tour at Ketchikan, but it is out of the picture now. 
 

It appears that ISP is popular for whale watching. So we may do the whale watching in ISP (instead of Juneau as originally planned) and do a bear viewing tour in Juneau. 
 

Pack Creek Bear Watch Tour offers 5.5 hrs trip to Admiralty Island for $799/ person. They have good reviews, but this is more than what I am willing to pay for this excursion.  Are there any other bear viewing tours in Juneau?

 

Thank you. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by botbien

[Jnsplace1]

I know it's not exclusively bear, but check out Glacier Winds for whale/wildlife watching.  https://www.g-wind.com/

As a note: I've heard 50/50 on the bear tours.  If you are counting on seeing them, I think that % of seeing them is less than whales.

 

Good luck!

[martincath]

You  may want to flip those back around. Juneau and ISP are both 100% for whales, but ISP is one of the best grizzly-finding areas - Chicagof Island has among the highest population density of grizzlies in the world. Thus, they do land-based, MUCH cheaper bear tours out of ISP - and while success is not guaranteed with bears, at about 1/7th of the price of your Juneau flight it's a ridiculous bargain!

 

[ronrythm]

At our stop in ISP, I went on a bear tour and we saw several bears. When we got back to the ship, a group of whales were bubble net feeding in the channel. So we got both!😁

Enjoy

Ron

[mapleleaves]

There is a listing of vendors for 'Pack Creek Outfitters'  on the US Forest Service web site.   

Regardless of where you go for the bear viewing, make sure you're traveling during that area's peak season.  Too much money to blow on a shoulder season.  Pack Creek peak starts July 5 which coincides with the start of a salmon run.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tongass/recarea/?recid=78650

Edited February 13, 2020 by mapleleaves

[botbien]

On 2/11/2020 at 9:14 AM, Jnsplace1 said:

I know it's not exclusively bear, but check out Glacier Winds for whale/wildlife watching.  https://www.g-wind.com/

As a note: I've heard 50/50 on the bear tours.  If you are counting on seeing them, I think that % of seeing them is less than whales.

 

Good luck!

Thank you so much. It’s good to know. 

[botbien]

On 2/12/2020 at 6:35 PM, ronrythm said:

At our stop in ISP, I went on a bear tour and we saw several bears. When we got back to the ship, a group of whales were bubble net feeding in the channel. So we got both!😁

Enjoy

Ron

Wow... that was awesome. You were very lucky. 

[botbien]

On 2/12/2020 at 7:09 PM, mapleleaves said:

There is a listing of vendors for 'Pack Creek Outfitters'  on the US Forest Service web site.   

Regardless of where you go for the bear viewing, make sure you're traveling during that area's peak season.  Too much money to blow on a shoulder season.  Pack Creek peak starts July 5 which coincides with the start of a salmon run.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/tongass/recarea/?recid=78650

Great point. This is the reason why I have been checking for the bear excursion before rebooking our trip.  It’s likely that our trip will be between 7/18 - 7/29. 
 

Thank you for your advice. 

[botbien]

On 2/12/2020 at 1:38 PM, martincath said:

You  may want to flip those back around. Juneau and ISP are both 100% for whales, but ISP is one of the best grizzly-finding areas - Chicagof Island has among the highest population density of grizzlies in the world. Thus, they do land-based, MUCH cheaper bear tours out of ISP - and while success is not guaranteed with bears, at about 1/7th of the price of your Juneau flight it's a ridiculous bargain!

 

Thank you Martincath. I did not know about grizzly population in Chicagof.  It’s good to know.