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 24 Dec

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You can choose the date already on the booking website

Starting at $499.00

Make a reservation

Tue 24 Dec

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)

599annie

Aug 2019

We booked this trip after a lot of research. We were met by Jensen and were happy to learn that we were the only passengers on that day! Jensen was warm and friendly from the start . Michelle is an excellent pilot and really made us feel safe. Jensen was our guide to the bear viewing platform and is a very knowledgeable about the bears we were about to see. There is a short, very enjoyable walk to the viewing platform where we saw our first bears. We were the only people present and were able to enjoy several exclusive hours watching several bears before another party arrived. We were able to remain long after the other party left . Jensen was a top guide with a great sense of humour. Overall I would not hesitate to recommend this trip as we had an amazing time and loved every minute!

Response from Host

Sep 2019

Dear 599annie, Thank you for the great review on your trip to Traitors Cove! I'm happy to hear that you felt safe flying with me and that you enjoyed your time watching bears with Jenson! He has a quirky sense of humor and keeps us laughing most days! Our tours are longer than any of the other companies who offer Bear Viewing tours to Traitors Cove. The reason for this is, as you know, the bears come and go, come and go, form the viewing area. If people are not allowed to stay very long on the platform, they run the risk of not seeing any bears at all. Most companies are trying to fit more trips in per day so the tours have to be shorter. Thank you so much for flying with us! Wishing you many more "WOW" moments in your travels! Michelle, Jensen, Adam, Shona & Kelly

Gadi B

Aug 2019

This trip was an incredible experience from start to end. Michelle is a very good pilot (I was terrified to fly and came back completely calm) and transmits her love about flying and about all the nature in this place. Jensen is a fantastic tour guide making the experience much better. What I liked most from this specific tour is that there was a long time to see the salmons and bears. When we arrived to the watching point there were no bears at all; we thought we had very bad luck and we wouldn't see any. Together with us at the observing platform there was another group from another company; they were there just about 30 minutes, saw one bear and left. We saw more than 12! We could see how young bears are learning to catch, old ones catching instantly and how young respect the old when they had an encounter. We love nature. This was watching bears from a close distance in their environment without disturbing them, which is fantastic. Michelle and Jensen, thank you very much for making this a perfect experience.

Response from Host

Aug 2019

Dear Gadi B, Thank you for your lovely review on our tour to Traitors Cove Bear Viewing! As you have experienced wildlife is wild and there is no controlling when the bears come and go from the viewing platform. The only way to ensure my guests have the best possible opportunity to view bears is to give them ample time at Traitors Cove. Other companies offering tours to Traitors Cove have much shorter viewing times on site. I'm glad to hear Jensen was a fantastic guide for you! His quirky snese of humor and knowledge about the flora and fauna of Southeast Alaska make him a good fit for the job! Thank you again for flying with us! May you have many more enjoyable travels! Michelle

Matt S

Aug 2019

Lady Esther is a beautiful 1959 built Beaver , we were flown to Traitors Cove by Michelle ( the owner thanks Michelle) i was lucky enugh to be " co pilot" just about managing to get my 6ft 4 inch frame under the flying controls and keeping clear of the pedals !! , MIchelle gave a bit of a commentary during ur flight to the Cove , were we landed and transferred with our Guide Jensen into Bear country !! Jensen was excellent , he gave us a safety briefing before we started our litte forest trek, and told us what we needed to do if we encountered a Bear ( which is what we had come to see ) we were lucky enough to see 7 seperate Bears during our three hours of watching, it felt as though we were there only about an hour. Overall this was a magical experience, one i would love to repeat if it wasnt too far away. All the while when booking the tour i dealt with Shona, by e-mail or phone and she was wonderful, everything went without a hitch and i have been extremely impressed with the whole operation of Island Wings Air Service.

Response from Host

Aug 2019

Dear Matt S, Thank you for the exceptional review! Yes getting into the co-pilot seat requires a bit of what we like to call "airplane yoga" especially for the taller folks! It's more of a seat you "wear" rather than relax in. Worth the effort though for people who rarely get the opportunity to sit there! Happy to hear the bears cooperated for you!! Wildlife has that "wild" aspect to it so we cannot control how many bears each group will see there. We do however allow our passengers to stay on site at Traitors Cove longer than any of the other tour operators, which in turn allows for the best possible viewing opportunities. This is Jensen's second year guiding at Traitors Cove, we are so happy to have him as he is doing a wonderful job for us! Shona' has been with working for me for 13 years now, she is the one who keeps the schedule straight and us pilots and guide's out of her office and in the field where we belong....out of her hair! I hope all of your adventures in Alaska were equally magical! Thanks again for flying with us! All the best, Michelle

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