Ketchikan Excursions - page 2

"Pure Magic Over Misty Fjords — Smooth, Scenic, and Unforgettable!" ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5/5 This floatplane tour was hands down the highlight of our Alaska trip! The scenery was drop-dead gorgeous from takeoff to touchdown, soaring right past 3,000-foot granite cliffs, glassy alpine lakes, and endless waterfalls. Our pilot was fantastic—warm, engaging, and full of great insights—and he kept the ride amazingly smooth the entire time. I was nervous about flying in a small plane, but the gentle takeoff and silky-soft water landing completely put me at ease. Every seat gets a full window view, making it an absolute must-do experience in Ketchikan!

Shad was friendly and a wealth of knowledge. We had so much fun learning about the salmon run and the local culture. We saw bears, eagles, waterfalls, the salmon run. Shad is thoughtful and provided binoculars and a stop to a salmon shop for samples. Highly recommend.

I booked this tour for 2 reasons. 1) Goal to see bears. Yes, I know there is NEVER any guarantee I was just hopeful. 2) I booked the 1 pm with the understanding they could return us to Ward Cove dock before our 4 pm app-aboard time for our departing ship. We confirmed this with our driver BEFORE we got on the tour. Our driver Al is a partner in the business called Discover Ketchikan and the tour we booked was the Ketchikan Rainforest Adventure Nature & Wildlife Tour on 8/12/26. The 12 passenger van was new and very comfortable. Our guide Al was knowledgeable about the local area and has a long history here. He explained to us that he was adjusting our tour to make it the best he could for us because it was currently high tide and that would make it difficult to see wildlife, like the bears. We visited many points of interest including the Salmon Ladder, a city park, a beautiful scenic public beach, a native totem pole circle area, plus he told us many interesting facts along the way as he pointed out so many interesting places. Towards the end we made in to Herring Cove to spot for bears. After staying about 10 minutes we were a bit disappointed we saw none, but he said we’d go on and return back in a bit to check again. Our next stop was a cute little waterfall nestled in the woods just off the side of the road. We were able to walk in several places and take some great photos. Al offered many times during our tour to take single, family and group photos for anyone who wanted them. He was photo knowledgeable and got so great shots for us! After leaving the waterfall we returned to Herring Cove and as soon as we pulled in another friendly tour guide grabbed Al and told him there was a bear out there! We were able to watch and video a single bear far across the water, under the walkway, in the tall grass milling about for a bit. Then it came to the waters edge and proceeded to swim across to a point closer to our side. It came up on the land split between us and walked around for a bit. Then someone announced they spotted another bear across the water under the walkway! Pretty soon the bear on our side decided to head back across. The bear on the other side by the walkway, seemed to be kind of interested in the bear on our side coming across. The first bear on our side, made it back across but down aways from the second bear, and found a spot to tuck in and chill. The second bear stayed farther away along the water. Pretty soon her two cubs that Al told us were about a year old showed up! They were very cautious because of the first bear, and there was a bit of standing going on and posturing. But ultimately, they were a blast to watch and take videos of! Turned out we had an excellent day with our guide Al. I would highly recommend this company and this tour with the understanding that seeing the bears or the eagles, which we did not see on this tour, is never promised. It’s purely by luck, nature’s will, the weather, time of day and all those factors. Regardless, we still enjoyed seeing the area of Ketchikan outside of town. Thank you, Al.