Day 1: Arrive Kodiak Island

For those who choose to arrive early, a representative will accompany you to explore Kodiak’s native and Russian heritage. Destinations may include the National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Center, St. Paul Harbor, Pillar Mountain Overlook, Baranov Museum, Alutiiq Museum, Holy Resurrection Russian Orthodox Church and Fort Abercrombie State Park, where guns were readied to defend against an invasion during WWII. Meet your fellow travelers this evening at an informal orientation dinner.

Day 2: Kodiak Island

This morning, explore Kodiak’s coastal waters and rocky shorelines on a private boat trip. We journey to Kodiak’s protected inner island, past tidal pools and offshore kittiwake rookeries, amid sea lions, otters, puffins, bald eagles and oftentimes whales. Kodiak is remote, not often visited by travelers to Alaska, and our sense of a unique encounter with nature is palpable as we glide through the rockbound coves. We will enjoy a picnic lunch ashore and spend some time on the coastal trail lined with wildflowers and Sitka spruce trees. This evening we will have a gourmet home-cooked dinner aboard the boat.

Day 3: Hallo Bay, Board Ship, Bear Viewing

Early this morning we take a floatplane (weather-contingent: we may depart earlier or later in the trip if conditions require) from Kodiak to Kukak Bay, to meet our ship. The plane pulls up right alongside, and we disembark to board the vessel that will be our floating home for the next several days. We cruise slowly along the shore toward Hallo Bay, where we commonly find coastal grizzlies – known as brown bears – foraging for food. As we are mobile, we can cruise to wherever the bears are, following them from bay to bay.

Days 4-6: Exploring Coastal Katmai, Among the Grizzlies

While we’ve all seen footage in nature documentaries of Alaskan brown bears in the wild, nothing prepares us for the drama of an actual encounter with these magnificent beasts, just yards away. They are North America’s largest land predators, and an adult male can weigh 900 lbs. As we cruise just off the coast, bears often dot the shoreline.

We go ashore by skiff for an even closer view, exploring the beaches on foot. It’s not uncommon to find massive grizzlies in great numbers; our previous trips have seen as many as 30 to 40 of them at once. And far from dozing lethargically, these bears put on quite a show in their efforts to fill up on enough protein rich food to prepare them for a long winter in hibernation. They fight to capture salmon in their jaws, swiping out at a slippery fish with talons as long as a man’s fingers. They dig for clams in the sand, and browse on sedge grass. Depending on the time of our visit, we may even see bears mating or cubs gallivanting on the shore. On our other trips we watch grizzlies from viewing platforms or vehicles. Not here. In coastal Katmai we are on foot, carefully wandering the area in our small group under the cautious guidance of our Expedition Leader. As a result, this trip offers a wildlife encounter that will thrill you beyond expectation. On Day 6 we plan to return to Kodiak by floatplane in the evening, arriving at our hotel at approximately 7 p.m.

Day 7: Kodiak / Home

Return home today from Kodiak. We recommend that travelers do not book an early-morning flight out in case inclement weather prevents us from flying back to Kodiak on the evening of Day 6 as planned.

Bear Viewing
Unlike bear viewing at other spots in Alaska, on this trip we watch grizzlies from our small boat and from the ground. Of course grizzlies are unpredictable and can never be guaranteed, but the ship operator has been running scientists and a select few photographers to this region for over 10 years and has never missed seeing them. Furthermore, the unpredictability of the bears can lead to dangerous situations. These are wild animals and we can never fully understand their behaviors and motivations. We ask travelers to pay attention to the rules set forth by our staff and to understand that this trip can, potentially, present harmful situations.

Special Photo Tour
On the Special Photo Tour we have an extra afternoon/evening of bear photography on Day 6 plus an additional full morning of bear photography on Day 7. We depart the ship at approximately 1:00 pm on Day 7 and arrive back in Kodiak about an hour later (all depending on weather). We will overnight in Kodiak and travelers are free to depart any time on Day 8. We suggest that travelers do not take an early morning flight home in case inclement weather prevents us from flying to Kodiak on Day 7 as planned.