Chichagof Island Tour: Brown Bear Search
Description
Embark on a small-group, 3-hour land based tour of Chichagof Island. The community of Hoonah, with a year round population of approximately 850, is located in the northern part of Chichagof Island. The vast majority of the island is pure, uninhabited, Alaskan wilderness teeming with wildlife! Chichagof Island has the highest population of bears per square mile of any place on Earth.
Tour Options
Itinerary
Shop at Hoonah's #1 Gift Store! Gifts, Snacks, Drinks!
Highlights
What's included
Pickup Locations & Times
PLEASE ARRIVE 15 MINUTES BEFORE YOUR TOUR IS SCHEDULED TO DEPART, OUT OF COURTESY TO OTHERS WE LEAVE ON TIME. If your ship is docked at the Ocean Landing Dock, proceed ashore to the Icy Strait Adventure Center. Once inside the Adventure Center walk through the building and exit through door number “2”. (This is clearly marked). Follow the signs on the gravel path to the Excursion Hub. The total walking time is 6-8 minutes, please allow extra time if you are not a fast walker. We ask that you check in for your tour 15 minutes early and we leave on time. If your ship is docked at the Wilderness Dock, walk up the ramp and to the right. Ride the FREE Green Transporter Gondola(4 minute ride) to the Adventure Landing. Exit the Gondola to the Left and follow the signs to the Excursion Hub, a 3 minute walk. Please check in with our Representative in the Blue Shirt/Jacket when you arrive at the Hub! If you are arriving via AK Seaplanes or AK Marine Hwy please call us before your trip to make other arrangements.
Traveller Ratings
Important Information
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Tour Time is Departure time. Please meet 15 minutes prior at the Icy Strait Excursions Hub
- Each Child on tour must be accompanied by an adult
- No Smoking
- At time of booking, cruise ship passengers must provide ship name
- Children Under the age of 8 are not permitted on this tour
- While we endeavor to find bears on this tour we cannot gurantee sightings
Reviews(186)
Cora, as a member of the Klinit tribe was a wonderful guide. She was full of knowledge and determined we would see bear. We totally enjoyed our time with her.
Nice morning. Great directions from the booker. Nice gentleman driving our small group. Unfortunately we didn’t see any bears. A couple of deers. Some bird life. But that’s ok. They are wild and you just take a chance.
Cora was an amazing, experienced and patient guide, all total we seen 6 Coastal Brown Bears and had the best day.
WOW our guide Claire, a local whose heritage is local ... was INCREDIBLE! At the beginning of our tour I was somewhat concerned we'd be driving through the woods just looking at bear skat as you cannot predict wildlife. However, we met CHARLIE the Brown Bear and was able to watch him for 45 mins... after we saw an additional 2 bears. PERFECT location for a better opportunity if you want to see a live bear... it was quite exciting once you did!!
This was a great experience! We booked last minute so I was a little nervous. Our tour guide, Cora, was very informative and told us about everything we were driving past. We only got to see two bears and two deer but we learned so much. She didn’t have another tour after us so she took us out a little longer than it was scheduled!
We "got lucky" because our guide was prepared. Spotted more bears than expected for this time of year and lived to tell the tale with pictures and video
Didn't see anything and it was just a three hour bumpy bus ride. Tour guide was 30 minutes late at picking us up. Wouldn't recommend this trip.
Finally got to see a brown bear in the wild! A great way to explore the island. Very knowledgeable local guide. Would do this tour again!
No one on cruise ship or locals could give directions to starting place listed on confirmation. Dropped off for return at handicap assist transport bench - no assistance transport vehicle ever showed up making it difficult to get back to ship
Thank you for your feedback. We're sorry you experienced difficulty locating us. However, the confirmation email sent through Viator contains specific meeting and check-in instructions, including directions to our location. These instructions are found under the "Additional Information" or "More Info" section of the booking confirmation. For future guests, we strongly recommend reviewing these instructions before arriving in port. Hoonah hosts multiple tour operators serving cruise passengers each day, and having the provided directions readily available makes finding us very simple. While we understand that arriving in an unfamiliar destination can sometimes be confusing, expecting random individuals in port to know the location of a specific independent tour operator is not always realistic. The booking information provided is intended to ensure guests can easily and confidently find their way to the correct meeting location. We would also like to clarify that we have no affiliation with the Port Care Cart service. That program is operated entirely by the port and is not part of our operation. If there was an issue related to the Care Cart service, we are sorry to hear that, but unfortunately it is outside of our control. We appreciate your feedback and hope you otherwise enjoyed your visit to Hoonah.
Nice van tour of the island and area. We booked the tour in hopes of seeing bears or other wildlife as that is the focus of the tour and the area. Saw 2 deer and a snow bunny on the 3 hour tour. Other than scat, no sign of a bear or anything of interest. Driver/Guide did not seem that surprised we did not see bear, which surprised us. Maybe you will get luckier but temper any expectations, at least early in the season.
We are very sorry the bears elluded us during your tour. It does happen fvrom time to time. We hope you learned a lot about Tlingit culture and the Hoonah people while out with us. Safe travels!
