May through Mid June
May - Mid June
Katmai Coast Bear Viewing Tours!
The Katmai Coast is well known for its coastal brown bear viewing. Kodiak is the closest and easiest access to this part of the Katmai National Park – which is one of the least visited national parks in the country, in part due to the lack of road access. Most people that visit Alaska experience the Brooks Falls / Brooks Lodge part of Katmai Park. The coastal part of the park is rugged, untouched and a much more personalized experience. In May & June the bears tend to be clamming and grazing along the beaches and lowland areas. This is Kyle's favorite time of the season to provide you a bear viewing experience, because you never know what your will come across!
The experience: The tour starts off in Kodiak city, where you will board one of Kingfisher’s floatplane. Before the trip you may be outfitted with a pair of hip boots and a rain jacket at our hangar / office. The flight will take you West to the Katmai Coast on the Alaska Peninsula. This is about an hour flight and your aircraft will pass by the village of Ouzinkie, mountains, islands and bays. Ocean waters can be active with finback or humpback whales. Your pilot will narrate along the way on the voice activated headsets, pointing out interests along the way.
The pilot will splash down the floatplane in one of the saltwater bays –most likely in Kukak Bay, Geographic Harbor or Kinak Bay.
Most of the areas that are concentrated with bears are very tide oriented, and we try to plan the tour around the low and incoming tide. During this early season, the bears are slow moving an mythotical in their movements. It is not uncommon to find bears clamming nearby the shore, where we can view the bears from the pontoon of the aircraft. Bears tend to be very loosely concentrated nearby the beaches, and typically you will encounter only one or two bears at each location. Your pilot will survey the coast and may take you to several different locations during a single outing.
Every visit the experience is different since there is not just one area where the bears congregate – they tend to be all over. Plan on bringing a pair of binoculars and a zoom lens for your camera – sometimes the bears may be 100 yards away, other times they may come as close as 40 yards. Most of the time, we do not have to stray too far from the anchored floatplane to experience the bears. If the tides are right, we can sometimes watch from the float of the plane! After about an hour, you will return to the airplane and everyone will climb in for the flight back to Kodiak.
We typically visit Geographic Harbor at Low tide for bears digging clams starting May 1 until about June 20. Starting about June 1, we are able to offer another trip at High tide for bears in the grass flats at Kukak Bay. The departure time of these tours is very important for best bear activity, and the timing changes every day.
Please use the two buttons below to check the approximate tour times, as well as to request reservations.
