Traitors Cove Bear Viewing

We booked the Traitors Cove Bear Viewing excursion directly through Island Wings and had a wonderful experience with them from beginning to end. Booking directly was incredibly easy, communication was great, and everything felt organized and well-run. Our pilot, Adam, was fantastic. I was so glad we ended up flying with him because he seemed to know his plane like it was an extension of himself. The flight was smooth, comfortable, and absolutely beautiful & he had great taste in music, which somehow made flying over the Alaskan wilderness even more incredible. The floatplane portion alone ended up being a genuinely memorable part of the excursion. Once we arrived at Traitors Cove, Annika was our guide and she was wonderful. She was incredibly friendly, knowledgeable, and engaging. I especially loved that the guiding didn't begin and end at the bear viewing area; even on the walk there, she was pointing out different plants and teaching us about the area and ecosystem around us. You could tell she really knew and appreciated the environment we were exploring. Unfortunately, the one thing nobody can control is wildlife, and we didn't see a single bear. Of course we were disappointed (you don't book a bear-viewing excursion hoping not to see a bear!) but that's the reality of seeing animals in the wild, and I wouldn't hold that against Island Wings at all. We still got to watch salmon jumping their way upstream and even had an eagle fly by, and Annika continued to make the experience interesting and worthwhile. Obviously I wish the bears had decided to show up for us, but I would still recommend Island Wings without hesitation. From the easy booking and communication to Adam's incredible flying and Annika's knowledgeable and friendly guiding, they did everything within their control to give us a great experience. And if I ever find myself back in Ketchikan during bear season, I might just have to try again - apparently I have unfinished business with the bears at Traitors Cove. 🐻😂

We had such an incredible time on this tour. We arrived via cruise ship with weird dock timings and Shona was so helpful and even moved the time of the tour slightly so we were still able to go. We were picked up from the port in a van by the lovely Anikka and taken to the plane where we met the pilot who was Adam. We had a very smooth flight out to traitors cove where we were then driven by our guide to the start of the trail and told about bear safety. On the walk to the viewing platform we were told so much about the beautiful rainforest. Due to the very hot weather and lack of rainfall our expectations were managed as the salmon were unable to get upstream so there weren’t many bears around. Other tour groups moved to another location in the forest and didn’t see any bears on their trip, but due to the knowledge and patience of our guide we stayed where we were and were lucky enough to see a sow and her three cubs which was absolutely incredible. Would definitely recommend this tour!

You've come as far as Ketchikan, it's worth it to splurge and spend a day with Island Wings. Michelle clearly runs a very smooth and responsive service, and we were not only impressed with the quality of the tour (we did the Traitors cove bear viewing trip, which didn't disappoint seeing the wildlife and all of the beautiful scenery). Bullets: It was easy to book, and they were easy to reach to confirm a detail on the day of our trip. Annika drove us in the van to and from the plane to the cruise port, and also led us on our trail hikes to and from the viewing sites, demonstrating her knowledge of the wildlife and nature. This included how to safely manage a chance encounter with black bears, which DID occur on our hike in, but was never a threat given her expertise and planning with us. Wiley was our pilot, and again, he provided everything we needed to know about a float plane, the flight itself, and his takeoffs and landings were like a smooth kiddie park ride. On our return, he even took us on a quick pass of a beautiful fjord, which was a cool bonus! On takeoff and landing, Michelle's crew moved fast and were clearly expert, efficient, and focused on protocol and passenger safety. Finally, when we returned, despite doing this for decades and flying the 1st of her 2 planes to our destination that day, Michelle came over to Wiley's plane, shook everyone's hand, and thanked us for choosing her service. Her sincerity clearly says something about her character and reflected her entire crew who provide this 'once in a lifetime' experience. We will be returning to Island Wings next time we are in Alaska!

This is the second time we have taken this tour. The first time was in 2017. It's a fabulous bear viewing tour. The tour provider only flies to island when it is safe. The actual bear viewing is longer than any of the other tour providers we saw. You get plenty of time. What a great company...one of our favorite tours of all our travels and our family really liked it also.

A brilliant day out. This was a highlight. We saw seven bear!!! Including mama bear and her cub. Our pilot was Adam and our guide Jake and they were both knowledgeable friendly and relaxed. The float plane ride is fun! So glad we went with them!

This trip was above and beyond what my husband and I had hoped for! Two of his three Bucket List items on this Alaskan adventure were 1) flying in a float plane and 2) seeing bears feed in the wild. Boy did this tour deliver! (btw a glacier calving was #3-CHECK!) Although I was not looking forward to the plane ride, pilot Adam talked me through it (it's so much smoother than a big jet!) Our forest guide (I wish I remembered his name-he was incredible!) pointed out so many things and gave us so much info in the stunning Tongass Forest. The short hike (walk, really) is just beautiful, pictures don't do it justice. There was already a young male bear feeding when we arrived at the platform and for the next 3 hours it was a revolving door of bears! A precious mama and her two cubs, solo males coming and going-I never wanted to leave. Absolutely magical. Loved how the guides from all the tours work together to spot things for everyone on the viewing platform. Glad our tour stayed for so long. Some were just there for 45 minutes or so.

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The Marty Party definitely had an adventure of a lifetime today. Can I just say that Mother Nature was fully awake and cooperating for our tour in Ketchikan. The sky was a beautiful blue with no rain which is a rarity we’ve heard for that area of Alaska. We met Jake right after we arrived on our Disney Cruise at the visitor center which is a very short walk from the boat. From there he took my husband and I to the Island Wings office by van where we met Adam our pilot. We were the only passengers that day for the Traitors Cove bear tour. This was our first time in a seaplane and I must admit I didn’t feel the take off or landing at all. The plane can seat 6 persons. We’ve traveled all over the world and Adam was an excellent pilot. He has headphones equipped with microphones we wear to communicate. Jake was our tour guide and sat by me on the plane ride. We spotted a humpback whale from the plane as we flew to the forest service area. Next up, Jake took us in a van on the island to our next destination. There’s a small outhouse you can use before you make the short walk to the Traitor’s Cove platform. We watched for bears near the path as we walked since it is their natural habitat, We waited around the overlook platform for around an hour and then a momma bear and cub were spotted. Later, a large male bear came out to catch salmon in the stream. It was amazing. Even if we didn’t see a bear it would have been an extra special day because of the experience and the info that Adam and Jake gave us on the area. On the flight back, Adam pointed out mountain goats and beautiful sights from the air. We had an aerial view of the cruise ship in port and enjoyed several rainbows from the window. Overall, this was a 10/10 experience for us. Jake even gave us an excellent restaurant recommendation in town for dinner before we boarded the ship to leave. Thanks so much! We loved our adventure!

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Incredible Experience Michelle was really good pilot. We were kinndda scared about the flight but it was smooth ride and the bears sightseen was amazing we were lucky to see 4 bears and 2 cubs. I really recommend this tour.

I’m here to be skunk at the garden party. Every reviews says there will be bears on bears on bears and that’s why I booked. This excursion was pretty expensive but we were hyped to see bears. We got there and…ZERO bears. The guide knew, said there hasn’t been bears in days. We still spent a really boring 90 minutes at the viewing station doing absolutely nothing. I don’t blame the tour company because obv they can’t guarantee bears but just be warned that there could be zero bears and this excursion can totally suck.

We were on an Alaskan cruise and decided to book a tour outside of the CruiseLine excursions list with Island Wings based on the reviews on Trip Advisor. The reviews are spot on Island Wings was incredible, their communication, easy of booking, staff, pick up/drop off and the entire experience was EPIC. We were a family of 5 (2 adults, 3 kids 9,11,14). I was a little nervous about a float plane, never having been on one, but within minutes of getting up in the air, our jaws dropped. Michelle, the pilot, was extremely kind and reassured us we would love it...and boy was she right!!! The scenery, pilot, take off and landing, were smoother than most commercial flights I've been on. In addition, the view out of the float plane was something you couldn't even dream of on your own. The water, mountains, and greenery of the trees, simply spectacular. We were blown away by traitors cove. It wasn't crowded and we saw so many groups come and go with other excursion tours. We were beyond thrilled that our tour, through Island Wings, had you bear watching for 2 hours. The time flew by, we loved every moment, so many bears and even momma's with cubs. We are hooked!!!! Our tour guide at Traitor's cover was so knowledgeable about the bears and made sure we knew when and where to look. EPIC Experience! We all agree this was the best excursion we have ever been on. We are looking forward go heading back to Ketchikan for a few more days in the future and will definitely schedule another trip with Island Wings. Next time we may do both the bear tour and the trip to Misty Fjords. This experience was that good!! Thank you Island Wings.

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