Flightseeing - Juneau or Ketchikan

[dakrewser]

We've been to Alaska a number of times (this will be our 6 cruise there) but we're bringing along our son & his family and thought that chartering a plane (e.g., a Beaver) might be fun and cost effective. So I'm looking for recommendations of charter companies in Juneau and/or Ketchikan to do glacier/mountain or Misty Fjords flights. Tell me about your flight!

[dakrewser]

bump

[Wanderbug]

I'm going flight seeing in Ketchikan next week. I'll post about it when I get home.

 

This is the company I'm using.

 

http://www.alaskaseaplanetours.com/mistyfjords.htm

[whale-watcher]

although Misty Fjords is beautiful, I would give the edge to Juneau or Skagway. Flying over glaciers and icefields is truly awesome...especially if you can include a glacier landing! Note that there is a glacier flyover option for Misty Fjords, but it means a longer and much more expensive flight, and I think the glacier viewing is more limited.

[floatinrocks]

Scenery is scenery everywhere. I want to see something I've never seen before...........blue ice, glaciers and calving. Any suggestions????? We're in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway on our cruise.

[Stuart Suss]

If your ship is not going to Glacier Bay or College Fjord, your best opportunity to view blue ice and calving glaciers will be in Juneau: Glacier Tour to Tracy Arm Fjord and Sawyer Glacier with Adventure Bound Alaska. You will need to be in port by 8:00 AM and not leave before 8:00 PM. This involves 10 hours on a boat, but it may be the best excursion value in Alaska. Contact Winona in advance and let her know you are arriving on a cruise ship. They adjusted the departure time in the morning for the benefit of passengers from my cruise ship.

 

Even if you are going to Glacier Bay or College Fjord, small boat tours like this in Juneau or the tours out of Whittier get you much closer to the glaciers than you can get on a large cruise ship.

[floatinrocks]

Stuart, thank you so much. I have a huge problem though, we are only in Juneau from 7 am to 1:15 pm and then cruising Sawyer Glacier from 2 pm on that day. Would cruising Sawyer Glacier allow me to see blue ice???? I really want to land on a Glacier and see the crevasses (spelling?).

 

We really cannot afford the price of a helicopter ride though.

 

What would be my best option then?

[Stuart Suss]

If your cruise ship is visiting Sawyer Glacier, you will see the blue icebergs and the calving glaciers. You will just not be as close to them as you would be on a small boat. Given your limited time in Juneau, this is your only option. However, you are much better off than passengers on other vessels who have a limited time stop in Juneau and whose ship does not visit Tracy Arm and Sawyer Glacier.

 

I do not know of any way to wak on a glacier except through the expensive helicopter tours. Perhaps others have more information.

[Lanaki]

We've been to Alaska a number of times (this will be our 6 cruise there) but we're bringing along our son & his family and thought that chartering a plane (e.g., a Beaver) might be fun and cost effective. So I'm looking for recommendations of charter companies in Juneau and/or Ketchikan to do glacier/mountain or Misty Fjords flights. Tell me about your flight!

 

We have charted a plane in Juneau from Ward Air to take us to Admiralty Island. I had a lot of positive referrals for them on CC and they are indeed very easy to deal with. They seem to charge a flat rate per the size of the plane. We can add two people and share the cost since there are only two of us and the plane is a 4-seater.

 

http://www.wardair.com/

 

Hope this helps. Happy planning!

[floatinrocks]

Thank you Stuart, you may have just saved us a lot of expense when our ship will show us what we want to see.

 

Lanaki, We will be there August 26th. Have you asked for people to join you from your Roll Call???? Our Roll Call is just not busy, in fact, it's downright dead. LOL

 

Thanks for the link I've sent a question to WardAi asking for specifics.

Very undecided at this point but truly do appreciate all the help from you CCers.

[Lanaki]

Lanaki, We will be there August 26th. Have you asked for people to join you from your Roll Call???? Our Roll Call is just not busy, in fact, it's downright dead. LOL

 

I have posted to our Roll Call but there are very few people on it at this time. (I started our Roll Call.) So no luck so far. Even checked the port schedule but no other ship in Juneau at the same time as us. Which is actually a good thing so I'm not complaining. :) The other thing is that even without sharing the plane this excursion is coming out to be the same or less then the same excursion through private operators.

 

Hope Ward Air can help.

[all is good]

Just took the Misty Fjords flight out of Ketchikan last week. We used Southeastern Aviation which was a nice enough company but the trip was not worth the cost. We flew thru snow capped mtns and landed in a lake for 15 min. But the snow capped mtns I saw out of our commercial plane flying into Seattle! There was no mystery to the Mysty Fjords like I thought there would be! I would definitely save the money to go whale watching again with Dolphin

Tours or go to Tracey Arm Fjord out of Juneau. Just my preference!

[AdoptAtty]

We flew out of Ketichikan with Michelle from Island Wings. Our family was her first charter of the season. I was so beautiful! My father flew for over 45 years and owned his own planes... he was very complimentary of Michelle's flying.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Michelle

 

 

This is returning to the Ketichikan Harbor

[Sailorgirlseattle]

We just did the Taku Lodge flightseeing tour out of Juneau last week and it was great! The seaplane flies out of downtown Juneau right by the cruise ship docks, then flies you over five different glaciers before landing at the lodge for a salmon dinner (or lunch, or brunch). To be honest, I'm terrified of flying, but the view of the glaciers from the air was so spectacular that it was worth it to me to do the flight. We could see back to how the glaciers keep going on up into the mountains, we could see the uneven surfaces of the tops, and one of the glaciers had these amazing bright blue water ... ponds? pools? puddles? ... all across its top. I've never seen anything like that! We booked the trip through the cruise line. I believe there were also flight-only versions available to see the glaciers by seaplane, as well.

[flames9]

Yes we took a floatplane tour of the glaciers in Juneau and it was great. 40 minute flight for $210 a person. Was fully narrated and was awesome! Pricey, but worth it. Everyone had a window seat. Plane was a single engine de hailand Otter. best Seats were the rear ones--as the wing didnt "interrupt" ur pics

[jerry20001]

There is flightseeing out of Skagway over Glacier Bay too. There is still a lot of fresh snow on top of the glaciers which should be changing with the "heat wave" this week. Temperatures are predicted to be in the upper 70s to 80 degrees which should melt enough snow to better expose the dramatic sights. I have twice flown Glacier Bay and it is simply stunning to see from the air. All air travel is weather permitting and if you have the opportunity on a good day, I consider it an experience of a lifetime.

[Sailorgirlseattle]

Yes we took a floatplane tour of the glaciers in Juneau and it was great. 40 minute flight for $210 a person. Was fully narrated and was awesome! Pricey, but worth it. Everyone had a window seat. Plane was a single engine de hailand Otter. best Seats were the rear ones--as the wing didnt "interrupt" ur pics

 

LOL! I sat in the jump seat for the first leg of my trip and I have all kinds of "interrupted" pics ... and I love it! Proves I was in a PLANE! :eek:

 

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