Traitors Cove Bear Viewing in Ketchikan booking from $499.00

Traitors Cove Bear Viewing

Overview

Island Wings Air Service is owned and operated by Alaska veteran pilot Michelle Masden, who started flying in 1977 and began her business in Ketchikan in 1993. Island Wings takes the time and makes the effort to help you realize your Alaskan dreams. Share our love of flying through our vast Alaskan wilderness. Experience the freedom of flight over the wild grandeur of the mountains, the islands and the endless sea. In business since 1993, Island Wings takes the time and makes the effort to help you realize your Alaskan dreams. Our focus is the quality of your experience. From the handling of your reservation, to the equipment we operate, to the places we visit; we don't compromise and neither should you. The total time for this tour is 4.25 hours including: the flight, three hours onsite at Traitors Cove Bear Viewing Observatory, and fifteen minutes for the pick-up and drop-off.

City: Ketchikan

Tue 17 Sep

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Starting at $499.00

Make a reservation

Tue 17 Sep

Starting at $499.00

Make a reservation

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What's Included

We operate well maintained six-passenger DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes

Guaranteed window seats for all passengers

Voice activated, noise cancelling headset for each passenger

Interactive narration with your Pilot

Pick-up and drop-off by Island WIngs van from the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau on Cruise Ship Berth 2

US Forest Service Special Use Permit for Bear Viewing within Tongss National Forest

All inclusive tour

Additional Info

Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
Suitable for all physical fitness levels
Please wear layered clothing and comfortable walking shoes.
All passengers MUST provide us a contact phone number when booking or call us at (907) 225-2444 to confirm a tour time.
Passengers travelling via cruise ship MUST provide their cruise ship name to us so that appropriate arrangements can be made.

What To Expect

Tongass National Forest

Between July20th and September 30th you can visit the bear viewing observatory at Traitors Cove. Fly by floatplane along the beautiful waterways of the lush Tongass National Forest across Revillagegedo island to a US Forest Service maintained trail and the Margarete Creek Bear Viewing platform. Bears can be seen plunging into the rushing water to retrieve their meals of wiggling salmon. This is a perfect opportunity to photograph Alaska's real fisherman in action! In addition to bears feeding, you will also see bald eagles picking over the scraps left by the bears and of course, the real stars of the show, the salmon as they battle their way upstream to spawn. Your journey will be accompanied by the Island Wings bear guide who will provide information about the flora and fauna along the way. Combine a short hike, beautiful scenery and a magnificent wildlife experience in one trip. This is a four hour tour that includes a floatplane flight, a one mile drive by van on a US Forest Service road and a short hike along a boardwalk trail to the viewing platform. Be sure to wear comfortable walking shoes and bring plenty of camera batteries! The US Forest Service restricts access to Margarete Observatory by permit. As a result, only small numbers of people have the opportunity to visit this beautiful site, so book early! The four hour Traitors Cove bear viewing tour includes: a thirty minute flight each way and three hours at Traitors Cove. All tours include complimentary ground transportation to and from our dock which adds fifteen minutes to the beginning and the end of your tour. For this four hour tour you will need to budget four and a half hours total time. Season: July 20th through September 30th.

Cancellation Policy

All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.

Traveler Photos

Reviews (29)

lmracing

Jan 2020

I booked this trip with Island Wings for a party of 6 (me, my husband, and two couples that were traveling with us). Our day was simply incredible! Our pilot was fabulous (with 3 of us in the plane also pilots, our standards are HIGH), the views were sweeping and the scenery left us speechless...all before we even made it to traitors cove. Once ashore, we had a freaking fantastic guide to view the bears and were able to spend over an hour on the platform alone with only our group watching EIGHT BEARS (including 3 cubs) fish for their dinner. Really, this excursion takes the cake and Island Wings is THE BEST!

Andy C

Jan 2020

This is an unusual 5 star review in that we didn't actually take the trip. Our cruise ship encountered a mechanical problem and disappointingly couldn't stop in Ketchican. We had pre booked and paid for the trip prior to travelling for the six people in our party, which was clearly a large amount of money to lay out. On boarding the ship we were advised that Ketchican was to be taken off the itinerary so made contact with Island wings who agreed to refund the whole amount and did so immediately. Many of the cruise passengers had booked various independent trips and weren't so lucky as us with some passengers receiving nothing back. Therefore, thank you Island Wings, we were desperately disappointed not to take your trip but will definitely book with you if and when we return to Alaska.

Cortiz79

Nov 2019

We had the opportunity to take this tour in early September while on our Disney Cruise. From pick up at the dock to return, it was a great experience. Jensen picked us up promptly and drove us to the float plane. We lucked out and had perfect weather. Michelle was our pilot and she was really patient and easygoing yet professional. Our kids (6 and 10) just wanted to listen to themselves over the headset. The floatplane ride was so smooth. We had taken a helicopter the day before in Juneau, and I much preferred the floatplane ride, it was so relaxing. Once on traitors cove (we were the only people there) we took a short easy hike to the viewing platform. We were there for almost and hour with little luck, so Jensen recommended walking to other sites, on the way we encountered a couple of bears that were just being lazy and lying around. Jensen was very knowledgeable and we always felt safe. We spotted another huge bear right on a small waterfall. We then returned to the platform and saw a couple more bears catching salmon and feasting. Such a memorable day! We would definitely recommend this tour for families!

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