Salmon Excursion

[darnoc23]

Hi All,

Will be in the Alaska cruise on July with ports on Keitchican, Skagway, and Juneau.  Anyone know of any tours to watch the salmon run and bears not cruiseship excursions.  Will have kids with me and they want to experience watching the salmons.  Thank you.

[SDPadreFan]

Problem is the salmon only run at specific times (of their choosing). The same can be said of bear spotting. If the salmon are actively running, then the bears will be in attendance. Otherwise - spotting them is not a guaranteed event. If you are lucky - you may see the salmon in Ketchikan Creek that runs thru town while you are there (but I don't think you'd necessarily see bears in that location.

 

You might see the occasional bear in other locations but it would generally be a chance encounter.

[karatemom2]

Herring Cove a little ways outside of Ketchikan is a place we have seen bears many times during the salmon run. You will need to rent a car or take a taxi to get there. If you opt to rent a car, we have always used Alaska Car Rentals there. 

[darnoc23]

Thanks for the responses.  So there isn't a tour that takes you to the Salmon run and bear exploration?  There's a bear excursion in Princess, but costs $300 a person.  TIA.

[SDPadreFan]

All excursions are expensive in Alaska. Those folks (and companies) really only have income earning potential from May-Sept, and for certain excursions, even shorter than that do to the weather. That at least, is some of the basis for the pricing. My sister had an excursion scheduled for her family a few years back to helicopter out to a sled dog camp (talk about pricey - over $2000) and it got canceled because the dog camp had to shut down earlier in the season due to heavy snow. At least she got her money refunded, no problem. But I'm sure disappointment for her 9 year old grandson.  So unless there is a salmon run occurring, bear encounters are chancy at best. Question - does the bear excursion with Princess have a guaranteed bear siting clause. If so - then you may have to just bite the bullet and pay the big bucks. If not - then you could be looking at spending @ $900 or more for a nice day in the woods. I've seen YouTube videos of bears sometimes being spotted (at a distance) along the shoreline near a glacier. If your ship offers a glacier excursion on a smaller boat, that would be not only a possible chance to see a bear or two, but also a great way to see the glaciers up close (compared to the cruise ship). On our Carnival cruise, we are doing an off ship excursion on a tour boat when our ship cruises the Tracy Arm Fjord to see the twin Sawyer Glaciers. So the ship will stop in calm waters, and we will board the tour boat to get a closer encounter with the glaciers, smaller icebergs, waterfalls, etc. The ship will continue on the same path up the fjord, we will just get much closer to the action than the cruise ship.

Edited June 12, 2022 by SDPadreFan

[SightCRR]

If they want the salmon without the bears check out 

DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, 2697 Channel Dr, Juneau, AK 99801

Ladd Macaulay Visitor Center — DIPAC

It is about 10 min taxi ride from the main Juneau piers. 

sightcrr

[darnoc23]

5 hours ago, SightCRR said:

If they want the salmon without the bears check out 

DIPAC Macaulay Salmon Hatchery, 2697 Channel Dr, Juneau, AK 99801

Ladd Macaulay Visitor Center — DIPAC

It is about 10 min taxi ride from the main Juneau piers. 

sightcrr

Thank you!!  This is perfect!

[camella]

On 6/11/2022 at 7:14 PM, karatemom2 said:

Herring Cove a little ways outside of Ketchikan is a place we have seen bears many times during the salmon run. You will need to rent a car or take a taxi to get there. If you opt to rent a car, we have always used Alaska Car Rentals there. 

We are going the first week in July.  Do you think there will be a salmon run that early?  I had heard they usually run (or at least the time to see the bears catching them) is in August.  Can you recommend a place to sit and watch that will be safe?  Thanks!

[lobsternight]

Ketchikan go to Creek Street.  Short walk from ships, all in town, head towards Orange Bridge behind where they do Loggers Show.  There is a nice boardwalk there with little shops.  You can look down at the salmon and most likely the seals.  Its free, safe, and a charming little place.  Seen salmon there on numerous July cruises  

[karatemom2]

9 hours ago, camella said:

We are going the first week in July.  Do you think there will be a salmon run that early?  I had heard they usually run (or at least the time to see the bears catching them) is in August.  Can you recommend a place to sit and watch that will be safe?  Thanks!

It may be a little early. We cruised over 4th of July a couple times and once saw no salmon and another time spotted just a few. But it’s not the same every year so maybe you will get lucky and it will start early this year. 
 

The pullout to Herring Cove takes you down a small road and there is a little area where you can pull off and watch for bears. You will see the tour buses and taxis stopping. There is no place to sit. It’s generally safe as you are viewing the creek area where the salmon are from a distance. Plus there are usually multiple people stopped there at any given time.