Icy Strait Exclusive Wildlife and Bear Search Tour

Luke and the others on the team kept in touch and led us to a couple of wonderful bear sightings, and a 3rd bear darted across the road just ahead of our vehicle.

This excursion was a blast. Hoona is a large island with an abundance of big brown bear scattered through out. The town itself is small so if you don't do this tour you are very limited to what you will experience at this stop. We ventured 32 miles deep into the interior looking along streams and the mouth of a salmon filled river. We saw several occupied eagle nest, and at least a dozen or so Sitka blacktail deer with their spotted fawns in tow. Alaska had experienced a untimely dry spell that has slowed the salmon spawn being able to make their journey upstream. This lack of the bears abundant food source had caused the bears to spread out more and become more territorial in their search so we didn't see as many as we hoped for but that is the nature of wildlife. When one did get spotted we exited the van and our guide led us down to the rivers edge where we did get to watch for a solid 10 minutes at about 30 yards away, and to experience a true wild bear in its element at that distance with nothing but a creek to separate us was an amazing experience that made it worth while. The guide was extremely knowledgeable of the areas resources and local folklore stories. It was a great trip and we would highly recommend.

It is difficult to see the bears looking out from the bridges without advancing along the paths

It was a beautiful place. Our tour guide taught us a lot and we had a great time.

We had a great time even though we didn't see any bears. Our guide tried real hard to find them!

We saw lots of bear piles but no bears. Nice ride and beautiful scenery.

We had an awesome time on our wildlife and bear search. Our guide Hot Shot was amazing. He told us stories of his culture and of his life in Hoonah. It was a real blessing to have him as our guide. Our favorite part was the flexibility of the tour, using the wildlife to guide where we should go. We saw 2 young bears (old enough to be on their own) fishing down at Freshwater Bay. Following the wildlife even led us to a river where others were on a fishing excursion. They were so gracious and generous to let the 3 teens on our tour all get a chance to "fight" a salmon and reel it in. One of our favorite excursions of our trip.

Even though we did not see any bears the day was worthwhile. Our guide Mike taught us about Alaska and the Tlingit culture It was extremely interesting

Our tour guide was excellent. He was really in touch with local nature. We have seen two bears quiet far away even do still memorable moment for us!

Our guide was wonderful. Even though we did not see any bears, our guide tried his hardest to search for us.

Just 6 of us paid a lot less than any cruise ship excursion to be guided by the amazing Mike - a first nation Tlingit Alaskan - for four hours in search of wildlife. Unfortunately, the bears were in hiding (the salmon run was late this year), but Mike showed us a range of other wildlife - seeing the bald eagle sitting in its nest was amazing, for example - and told us stories about his heritage, the Tlingit people, the area and its wildlife. We had a great time with him and would definitely recommend this tour. In fact, we'd do the same one again!

No bears as the salmon were not yet running. But we saw a lot of the island. Our guide was a local and told us a lot of the history of the area. We sampled salmon berries and wild strawberries. Lots of bald eagles. Beautiful area. Note that we did finally see a small black bear on the streets of Anchorage. Go figure.

Although we visited quite early, in June, we were very fortunate to see a number of bears in different locations plus other wildlife such as deer and eagles. Our very knowledgeable driver provided lots of interesting information. A great tour.

Luke is the bear whisperer! GREAT tour!!!

Very nice guide and great time seeing the island of Hoonah and we even saw two bear cubs playing in the water.

We had such a fun time exploring Hoonah in search of bear...we were lucky to see three! Our guide, Luke was great...funny, knowledgeable and so nice to our 6 year old daughter. Thanks for a memorable time in Hoonah!

Luke, the tour guide was very entertaining and informative, but unfortunately we did not see any bears. This was a major disappointment.

The guide hot shot was great, he tried and tried

Great driver for this small group. Interesting information about the area and the culture, including a drive by his residence where his children were in the little pool. He made every effort to find bears and successfully discovered two active juveniles.

Needed binoculars to view bears Only went to one area Realise now that different times of year affect bear sightings

Enjoyed this tour. It was a small group, which I really liked. Saw a brown bear. Still early in the season, prior to salmon run.

The scenery was beautiful! Mike had interesting stories to share. It was hard to hear him in the back of the van. We saw indications of bears, but no bears.

Unfortunately, we did not see a single bear. Only one eagle and a robin. But our tour guide was good and took us for a great beer so we could drown our sorrows.

Our excursion was 6/12/2019 @ 9:30AM. Directions to find the pickup point were excellent. The coach was comfortable and the guide was great, telling us stories about the area, plants and animals. I felt being in the smaller coach we had a better chance of seeing the bears unlike the larger busses however, we did not see any bears. The guides from different vehicles did work together to try to find bears. The salmon were not running yet, making it more difficult to find the bears. We hiked down a trail to get to an area that may have bears however, the children on the tour were loud. (When hiking, one makes noises to scare bears away...) Heard stories of other people who saw bears this day: one big bus tour saw bear, while the big bus just before did not and a bird watchers excursion saw bear. The company and guide were not bad just the luck without the salmon. LO

Coming in June then is it necessary to be lucky to see bears. An experience we will always remember because we saw 6 of them. Luke, our guide, did an excellent job.

not great, no bears seen after 4 hours of bumpy rides.

Loved getting to see the island! Even got to see some bears! Tour guide was very friendly and knowledgeable.

Great tour - met promptly & driven around the island for 5 hrs looking for wildlife. Mike our driver/guide was very friendly & informative about life, culture & wildlife in the island. Glad we put money into local economy rather than cruise company

Our guide was pleasent and. A local. We saw a bear on our way out on our search and another on our return.

The tour was very good value for money. An excellent guide who was attentive, interesting and knowledgeable.

Good Day following a giant male Brown bear!

The best excursion of our vacation. . We saw 5 bears. Two 2 year old cubs came quite close and gave us the opportunity for some great photos. Mike, our guide was wonderful. His stories of the wildlife and of his family and grandmother were as good as seeing the bears. This excursion was far superior to the excursion offered by the cruise line. 12 people were on our tour instead of 40 plus on the cruise ship tour. Mike's local knowledge was a real bonus. It was once in a life time experience for my wife and I. Thanks.

We did see two bears so that was a plus. This was a 5 hour tour in total. My husband and sons had to sit in the very back of van and were very hot and miserable and unable to see most of the 5 hours. When we finally got to false bay where there was a bear, we only stayed barely 10 minutes. I am rating this excursion two stars for the bears we did see. Disappointed

Saw 6 bears however in every case guide let other vehicles pass so we were viewing from a distance and through other vehicles

Mike our tour guide went above and beyond. He is a born and bred local and has a lot of local knowledge. We went in may at the beginning of the season and saw a bear and a cub in the distance. Then we continued on and had a female bear grazing right beside us on the side of the road which you really could not ask to get any closer. One way to improve this would be to install a microphone for the driver as some people could not hear much from the back. This also made this great is that this was not a huge tour bus but a small van.

Very Nice "Search" tour for Brown Bears! You are searching to see something. No bears tied to tree's or anything like that. This was a long, but very enjoyable tour. For myself it made me realize how much and comfortable we are in the lower 48. I would repeat this tour on my next trip to Alaska. This tour is for you if you wanna go for a ride deep in the woods and see a bear or two.

Mike our guide was very knowledgeable regarding the islands flora and fauna. He was in close contact with colleagues who gave accurate bear siting details, which meant that we had fantastic views of 5 bears! In one location, we sat for 30 minutes watching 2 siblings eating, within 20 metres of the van. We also watched a large male bear chase a female bear, along the road in front of us. I would highly recommend this activity.

We saw 6 bears in their natural setting close up so were very happy. The driver was friendly, courteous and knew where to go. He was safety conscious of us and considerate of the bears. The island was beautiful too and not yet blighted by hordes of tourists. All up we had the best experience of our extensive Alaska/Canada trip.

Jeff our driver did an excellent job describing the area and showing us around and his part would score a solid 5 star. Unfortunately, we only saw 1 1/2 bears. The 1/2 bear was because it was deep in the woods and I couldn't see it from my seat on the van. Jeff took us by the airport where we saw a large bear from a long distance. Bring binoculars. The tour name says "search" and we did search.

Very friendly and professional. Unfortunately I didn't see any bears, although a couple in our van did see the back of one as it ran away into the woods from our approaching van. Spent the four hours or so driving around with everyone trying their best to spot a bear, ride was a little bumpy, would suggest ones prone to motion sickness to take tablet! Toilet stops are very limited and facilities basic - as would be expected out in the bush! We did see a couple of deer which was good. Driver stopped to show us some of the local plants too. Had a nice time but disappointing bears stayed hidden. We were just too early in season.

Luke our guide was excellent. As well as his knowledge of the bears, he gave us insight in to life in Hoonah. It was a very authentic experience.

We saw three bears about 1/4 mile away, too far for meaningful veiwing, and one large bear within 50 feet, but with an obstructed view. Unfortunately we saw no deer or eagles on this tour...it was a bust!

Saw bears in May when bears are more difficult to find because the salmon are not running and berries are not ready. Guide was knowledgeable and was able to locate bears. Was able to get close to bears that were near the logging roads.

What a great company. Our guide was great and the van was comfortable. I think our guide went above and beyond to find us bears. Even though we didn't see any, it wasn't because he didn't try. We certainly saw recent bear evidence. The scenery was beautiful. I really enjoyed our journey.

It was a great trip with a wonderful guide. Would recommend it to anyone.

No bears sighted! We were told the weather was too warm for the bears to come out and fish. I was disappointed - ALOT, as the reason I chose the Pearl ship was because it went thru Icy Strait Point. Supposedly 14,000 bears on that island and we didn't see any! The guide was good and knowledgeable. The 4 hr. trek thru the woods was interesting. I'm still glad I did the tour and I realize the bears are wild and there is no 100% prediction on these tours.

We were halfway down the van and could not hear the commentary - Mike should have had a microphone. Nothing was provided on the over-3 hour excursion, not even water. It was disappointing not to see a bear. The road we had to take was very rough and uncomfortable.

This was more awesome than I ever expected. We saw 5 different bears. 2 of the bears got really close. Even though they were close I felt very safe with our guide. It was amazing!!

Our guides took us real close to some brown bears and I must say this was one of the best tours I have ever been on.

This tour didn't really live up to its description. We just seemed to drive to one spot and luckily there was one bear there. Didn't seem like it was based on any local knowledge of where the bears were. We also ended up in the same place as three other buses so wasn't really like a small group. We were all in a convoy. We know wildlife is hard to spot but being as talked up as it is we thought there would be more spotted.

Very well organized excursion. Luke was our tour guy who really knows the town of Hoonah and where the bears are. We saw Mama bear and her two cubs catching and eating fish. Beautiful views!

We saw lots of bears and felt safe behind our guides with rifles. Our bus was small and intimate compared to other tours that weren't allowed off the bus.

Luke, our guide was amazing!!!

Awesome! Our guide Jeff was a proud & passionate 'local' who was very informative and knew exactly where to find the bears.

Our excursion was more than we expected. Fabulous experience seeing eagles, bears and cubs and the landscape. In fact it was the best thing I have done in my life. Thank you to Luke Mikey and another gentleman I didn't get his name. But they were full of local knowledge and made our experience one to remember for the rest of our lives.

Got to see the bears. Great excursion. Would definitely recommend.

Enjoyed our tour. We continued to keep looking until we finally saw bears. Our tour guide kept us out an hour extra to ensure we saw bears. Very nice and informative.

Guide was great , we saw 5 bears

this tour was good however we were 6 hours on the bus with no water or stops to purchase water. This could of been improved.

A fantastic tour with a great guide. It was a small group and we we travelled to a few spots before we found some bears. the tour was relaxed and fun. Mike, our guide was informative and friendly, I loved this trip.

Great tour. Staff worked hard to find wildlife. They were truly concerned with safety.

Mike was very knowledgeable and entertaining. Finding bears is not an exact science, but Mike was determined to find some for us, and he did. We were blessed with beautiful weather, so it was a good day.,

Our excursion with Luke was great! We saw several bears, cubs and the bears were snacking on salmon! Luke shared some local info and gave us a great morning! Thanks again for a great trip!

This was a fantastic experience! Our guide Mike was very knowledgeable and worked very hard to find us bears to see. We saw bears with their cubs, bears fishing and catching salmon and probably 10-12 bears over all. Some bears were probably within 20 feet of us but Mike made sure our safety was a priority! Highly recommend the excursion!!

Guide was very knowledgeable and made a rainy day into a great tour.

We saw a mama bear catch a fish, she had two cubs with her. Our guide was very knowledgeable and made the excursion very exciting.

This excursion was so informative. Our guide was part Native Alaskan and knew quite a bit about the medicinal qualities of plants and the behavior of animals. We saw bears with their cubs fishing for salmon. We had a great day!

Although we only saw 1bear our tour guide, I think his name was Randy, a Norweigan, made the trip very enjoyable and informative. We would definitely go on future trips with him!

This excursion was okay. Beautiful scenery, but we only saw 2 mama bears with three cubs. I understand the animals are not staged, however.... It was exciting, but a lot of money for just a few bears.

I loved seeing the sights of the woods up close, but we didn't see any bears. Which I know is not guaranteed. Our guide was great and tried real hard for us, he had a lot of knowledge about the area and animals

Great day and mike our guide was great. He was full of information and really wanted our small group to see bears which we did. Fantastic tour

Luke was great, beautiful day in Hoonah

Great adventure! Our tour guide Jeff was EXCELLENT! This was probably our favorite of all because Jeff really explained about the area, the culture and gave us many opportunities to take pictures. My daughter and I throughly enjoyed this tour......absolutely the BEST!!!!!!

Tour guide is knowledgeable and it was a good trip. We saw a bear -it wasn't salmon season yet so we didn't see more.

No bear, lots of traces of them though

Our guide, Mike, knew where the bears hung out so we were able to see a mother and her cub cross the road in front of us and follow their journey through the brush. It was unseasonably warm and we knew the bears would be trying to stay cool so we were quite happy. Saw quite a few eagles too.

Mike our tour guide was friendly and fun. Took a while but we finally spotted a mother bear and her two cubs. Also saw some deer and eagles. Fun way to get to see the scenery and wildlife without having to put much effort.

Our tour guide Mike was great! He was very knowledgeable about the area, as he grew up there. He extended our trip to ensure we saw bears, and we finally got the best view of a mama with 2 year old cubs. Our friends were amazed at the photos that we came back with. This is a must do, if you are docked at Icy Strait.

Guide was great. We saw bears up close.

We saw a couple of brown bears and had a great time. There were only 8 people on our tour and our guide Luke was knowledgeable and funny.

We had a fantastic time on this tour. The driver was very informative, and did all he could do to help us find bears. We ended up seeing 2. He was very committed to making this trip enjoyable and successful. This was one of our favorite tours of our entire trip.

Luke was a fantastic guide. We were a few minutes late but he was very understanding. Due to Luke's knowledge of the area, we saw 7 bears, including two sets of cubs with their mother sow. We were very close up, but Luke ensured our safety at all times. He also took us on a short, beautiful hike as well. We would definitely recommend this tour. The passengers on our cruise ship were very disappointed with their cruise ship bear watching excursion. We are very happy we chose a small company, which also supports the local community of Hoonah.

We got to see a bear close-up and the guide was knowledgeable and helpful. He provided us with a good history of the town and we drove through. However, the trip was a very long car ride with us mainly looking out the window for bears.

Our guide Mike was exceptional! His knowledge of the area made it possible for us to see six bears, it was incredible! He had great information about the area and the wildlife and was an all-around genuinely nice person. We couldn't have asked for more!

Our tour guide "Luke" made sure we found bear [mama bear and two cubs] but also gave us a window into life in Alaska. He was knowledgeable regarding the area, the outdoors and the culture. We were able to ask him all of the things we wondered about. Loved it!

Excellent tour, we found bears!!! Our guide Mike was very informative, we learned all about the flora and fauna and the local way of life, and did I mention those bears? He did not hurry us at any stage and we were able to spend as long as we wanted up close and personal with a mother bear and her 2 cubs. Great value.

Our leader Mike was excellent, incredibly knowledgeable having grown up in the area. His continual references to local history and ability to answer every question asked was impressive. Equally impressive was how well your land team worked so well to ensure that we not only got to see everything, but actually exit the vehicle and take pictures. We saw a male Bear, a female bear with two cubs, two Bald Eagles Nesting and numerous deer. All of these were of course in there natural habitat. Really enjoyed this tour.

Fantastic tour

This tour was a very enjoyable way to spend time looking for wildlife and getting to know the locals. The guide was very informative and allowed us the best possible viewing spots when we encountered wildlife.

We very much enjoyed our tour. Luke tried valiantly to find bears but the timing just wasn

Wonderful, knowledgeable guides who took us to locations of bears. This was a great tour and I can

Wow wow wow! Mike was so knowledge it was like having an encyclopaedia with us, he was very friendly, and took our small group everywhere to see all that we could. We saw 3 brown bear cubs 120 feet across the stream from us then an adult male bear and then searched another area and saw another bear eating salmon. We saw red squirrels, bald eagles and deer as well. Fantastic experience that we will always remember, really recommend this fantastic tour, thank you Mike.

Absolutely brilliant. Luke was very informative and tried his very hardest to spot the bears for us. In all we got to see 13 bears which was just magical.

Pick up from near ship. Guide was very knowledgeable. Although the journey to visit the bears was quite long, the trip was worth it We saw at least 5 bears in their natural habitat. This compares with other local tours which take you to one site and leave you there for several hours. Upon return there was little time to visit the facilities and shops at Icy Strait which was a little frustrating. Would encourage anyone wishing to see bears to take this trip.

Awesome small group tour, Saw lots of bears with a fantastic local guide who went above and beyond to show us his islands bears. Only improvement may have been a snack and drink.

An small Group with a good man who knows where the bears are

Brilliant tour. Luke was a great guide. I got some great photos of the bears. Highly recommended.

We were given clear instructions about where to meet our transport so we found the bus waiting for us. A small group of passengers in a small but comfortable transport. We were driven around to spot bears primarily and was extremely excited to come across one. We managed to get a really close sighting from the safety of our bus. In addition we observed some other wildlife. Possibly the "bad side" was the amount of time we sat driving around trying to spot the wildlife. However our guide was very good and gave a good commentary on the local life. An enjoyable well organised experience. Thankyou.

Fantastic guide with valuable local knowledge and experience. He knew exactly where to go to see wildlife and exposed us to the beauty of Alaska in a way that far exceeded our expectations! It was amazing to see the bears fishing right before our eyes!

This was a once in a lifetime experience. We were 2 families of 8 people, all piled in a van and went searching for bears. Saw 6 bears in their natural habitat. It was awesome! So awesome. Highly recommended!!

Our guide was fantastic. We saw 7 different bears including two small cubs. We loved it! When we got back to our cruise we found out that the people who booked their bear search through the cruise didn't see any. This is the way to go.

Mike the tour guide was the best. He had awesome stories about his culture and traditions. We saw several different wild animals like bears, black tailed deer, eagles and salmon plus useful information about the local flora.

Any day you have a good guide and able to see a couple of bears and deer is a good day, no, a great day. We had a great time. The tour group was small - about 10 people. Gave us a lot of time to interact with the guide. Took us to areas that we just would not have been. Would do it again. Would highly recommend this tour. We had a blast. And the price was about 20% cheaper than the cruise line charge

After three hours of relentless searching- we finally found some bears. Thanks to our guide Luc- very responsible and caring person.

Out of all our ports of call, I enjoyed this the most! As it turned out, our group of 3 were alone on this tour with our extraordinary guide, Mike Mills. Mike was charming, knowledgeable about his home, and worked diligently to make sure we saw as much as possible. We had a second outing booked, but had I known how great this time would be, I'd not have booked anything other than this tour. The time in ISP is so limited!! It was our shortest time in a port. I wonder if that is due to limited dock space or just the fact that the island isn't stuffed with diamond stores put there by the cruise lines? Either way, if you enjoy searching for wildlife, do yourself a huge favor and book this tour and if possible extend it to as long as you can before your ship departs!! As I live in Alaska, my hope is that some day I'll be able to return to beautiful Chichagof Island! Thanks, Mike, for making our visit so special!

Horace did an excellent job in seeking the elusive bears. He also gave us a very good insight into int Alaskan life and an extremely good commentary during the tour.

Highly recommend this excursion. Very personal experience with a true local who knows where to look for bears. There were only four people in a small van. We went to areas that the big buses don't go.

An exceptional tour. Very easy to find guide and start your. Our guide was very accommodating and took us to areas where we could see bear and the island. Three bears were seen on this excursion. Would do it again

We had a great time with Luke, out tour guide. He was very informative and always looking out for our safety. We saw numerous brown bears along the park trail, and we saw many Bald Eagles at Luke's favorite spot. BEAUTIFUL!

Our guide has very interesting stories to share as we drove around in search of brown bear. We did eventually see one, several hours into our search, so that was exciting! The only reason I didn't give 4 stars.....it was hours before there was an opportunity for a restroom break, and then it was not treated as a big need. I desperately needed a stop. Also, it would be good to suggest that participants bring water & snacks with them as there is no opportunity for any level of sustenance along the way.

Mike was an excellent tour Guide who told us so much about the local wildlife, flora and fauna and all about the people who live local. It was a proper bear search and we did see a few ( it was only the start of bear season ) along with some deer, otters and more. Pure wilderness.

This was out first trip to Alaska and of course we're hoping to see bears. Our guide was wonderful. He went to great lengths to ensure we saw bears and we were not disappointed. We saw 7 bears on our excursion, two mothers with Cubs and a big brown male gear catching salmon in the stream. We were very close to him and got some great pictures. It was one of the highlights of our trip and I would thoroughly recommend this tour.

Excellent - saw 5 or 6 bears, one of them swimming

When out of his way to find bears for us this is the one to book

We were impressed with the bear sightings on this excursion. We saw bears hunting/eating fish at the stream not far from Hoonah! Our guide drove us to Freshwater Bay in hopes of finding more bears, and while we saw a few bears on the way to/from, chased one off the road even, we felt the drive was a little too long (2 hour round trip) and those of us that sat in the back had a rough ride.

Tour guide only talked when asked a question and then he gave a very short answer. He zipped down the road so fast that he scared bears away to get to a bridge. So, we only got to film one bear at the bridge.

This excursion was long and we saw one bear. However it was exciting to see the bear catch a salmon, eat it and then suddenly smell people. He displayed his annoyance by making noise and moving around in a very aggressive manner. Then he decided he would not bother us and walked off into the woods. It was great for pictures with a telephoto lens. Highlight of the day. One word to the employer of the driver. He was spitting because he was chewing tobacco. It was disgusting and a real turn off. Other than that we enjoyed the trip and recommended it

The tour guide was great doing everything he could to get a sighting, but with no success.

We enjoyed views of bears in their natural habitat, watching a brown bear eat salmon and treat the river as a personal spa.

A very good tour.

We booked this tour independently from Australia as we were booked on Celebrity Infinity. The tour was excellent, we saw coastal brown bears, Eagles, deer and salmon moving up the river to spawn. Our guide was great, local and very informative. The cost was about half of the ship tour. Highly recommend J.S. Gold Coast

Saw Bears

Definitely saw bears but hoped to have seen them closer.

What a great experience. Saw a big brown bear. well worth the money

What an extraordinary experience. We learned so much about bears and the Icy Strait community. We saw a beautiful female brown bear up close, but not too close - she was hunting for salmon. Great adventure and very reasonably priced.

Despite the bumpy ride on gravel roads, this trip was very enjoyable. We saw a bear fishing for salmon and deer and got lots of great photos. Also, my friend was in the van while we were all scouting another bear and saw a mother with her cubs catch a salmon and feed them. Good value for money

Excellent - our timing was perfect with the running of the salmon - we had the opportunity to see wildlife up close and personal (big bear in less than 50' from our observation point. Tour Guide was excellent!

We did see a bear and this is what the tour is for. If this could be combined with some small site seeing things rather than driving around for 5 hours this would be even better.