Ketchikan wildlife tours look for bears, eagles and salmon from land: at streams, from boardwalks and from a bear-viewing platform. The road loops are short and cheap. The long trips carry you by boat or floatplane to where bears feed, for most of a port day.
Herring Cove for 20 minutes, where seals, eagles and bears are the draw, plus the salmon ladder and the Rotary Beach tidepools. Saxman's totems close the loop, with entry paid.
From $94 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Two hours on foot in the Alaska Rainforest Sanctuary with a naturalist, admission included. Bears, bald eagles and deer live in this forest, and the surfaces are marked wheelchair accessible.
From $110 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A coach to Clover Pass, an enclosed boat along the coast, then 90 minutes on a guided forest walk at the Neets Bay Bear Observatory, permits included. Not for children under five.
From $414 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Twenty-five minutes at Herring Cove, where bears come for the salmon from mid-July to late September, then the salmon ladder and the Totem Heritage Center.
From $80 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Herring Cove's viewpoints on foot for 20 minutes and the old salmon pools in City Park, twelve guests at most, with a guide who reads the day's conditions.
From $119 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Thirty minutes at Herring Cove with binoculars, looking for black bears, eagles and harbour seals, plus a beach and the waterfall at mile 10. Nine guests at most.
From $100 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
A 40-minute floatplane flight each way to Polk Inlet, then a short walk to a Forest Service platform where bears hunt salmon along the creek. Non-refundable once booked.
From $575 per person
Non-refundable: no refund and no changes once booked.
The Neets Bay trip goes by coach and boat, with the permits in the fare. The road loops reach Herring Cove in two hours.
Check availability from $414A wildlife tour here looks for animals from land: from a cove, a boardwalk or a viewing platform. Bears come to the streams for salmon, bald eagles work the shore, and harbour seals haul out on the rocks. The whale boats are a different trip, and they have their own page.
The tours split three ways by how far they go. The road loops drive south to Herring Cove in two to two and a half hours. The Rainforest Sanctuary tour walks you through one forest for two hours. And the long trips go much further: an enclosed boat to Neets Bay, or a floatplane to a bear platform on Prince of Wales Island.
The creek in town fills with spawning salmon in July and August, by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game's account. Bears and eagles follow the fish, which is why every tour here stops at a stream, a ladder or a creek.
Neets Bay is reached by boat, and the bear platform at Polk Inlet by floatplane. The coach, the boat and the permits are in the fare on the Neets Bay trip, so you only turn up.
A guide or naturalist leads every one of them. On the road loops that means knowing which stretch of Herring Cove is busy that week. On the sanctuary walk it means reading the forest floor with you.
The road loops run $80 to $119. The sanctuary walk is $110 with admission. Neets Bay is $414 and the flight to Prince of Wales Island is $575.
Both are wildlife trips, so the question is land or water. Here is how they differ in practice.
| A wildlife tour | A whale-watching boat | |
|---|---|---|
| Where you look | Streams, coves, forest and a bear platform | The Tongass Narrows and the Inside Passage |
| What you hope to see | Bears, eagles, seals and salmon | Humpbacks, orcas, seals, sea lions and eagles |
| Time | 2 to 4 hours 45 minutes | 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours 45 minutes |
| Fares | $80 to $575 a person | $178 to $209 a person |
| Wheelchair access | The Rainforest Sanctuary tour | None of the whale boats |
| Seasickness | Only on the Neets Bay boat ride | Every one is on the water |
If you want bears, stay on land and go as far as your budget allows. If you want whales, book a boat. If you want both on one day, the Neets Bay trip puts you on an enclosed boat along the coast before the bear walk.
Most start at or beside The Rock on Berth 2. The Neets Bay trip meets you at the Ward Cove Welcome Center if your ship docks there, or at The Rock if it docks downtown. The flight collects you from set meeting points in central Ketchikan.
Give the long trips the most room. Neets Bay takes 4 hours 45 minutes and the flight takes three, so book them for a long port day. The Neets Bay trip confirms within 48 hours, and so does the flight, which needs at least two travellers per booking.
No official source publishes bear-season dates for Neets Bay or Polk Inlet. The small van's guides put Herring Cove at its best for bears from mid-July to late September. Check the date you want in each tour's calendar before you plan your trip around it, and read the best time to visit Ketchikan for the month-by-month picture.
If you want whales, a land tour is the wrong trip: take one of the Ketchikan whale watching tours. If you have young children, the Neets Bay trip is not recommended under five, and the flight takes travellers from 13. The Rainforest Sanctuary walk takes children from three.
If your port day is short, skip the long trips and take a road loop: two hours to Herring Cove and back. And if you mostly want the totems, a city tour gives them more time.
Two hours and a quarter, 25 minutes at Herring Cove, the salmon ladder in season and the Totem Heritage Center with entry paid.
Check availability from $80Next: the salmon months on Ketchikan weather, and the meeting points on the cruise port page. Every tour sits side by side on Ketchikan Alaska Tours.