Bear Viewing in Alaska in early June... Any cost effective recommendations?
 

Looking to do some bear viewing on our 2nd trip to Alaska coming up at end of May/ early June... Very preliminary research shows options of going to Katmai NP for a day trip with a flight operator... Any overwhelming recommendations for which outfit is best?? Also, any cost effective ones? What I found were all in the range of $650 per person and we are 5 people, so that adds up real fast :(

We are open for any location or outfit... No restrictions yet... Flying into Anchorage and as long as it is within driving distance, we are fine...

We saw bears when we walked around Juneau. No charge.

> any cost effective ones?

Denali National Park. Cost is a LOT less than $650 per person, and you might very well get photos like this.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pr77x/16543600982/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/pr77x/16543601392/

There's a couple of different services that fly to Wolverine Creek at/near Big River Lake. They are searchable. Here's one of them: http://www.talonair.com/bearview.html. They fly out of Soldotna.

We spent an incredible day at Katmai National Park. We flew over there from Homer on the Kenai Peninsula in a sea plane, A highlight was watching the bears catch salmon in the waterfalls but they were seen in many other parts of the park including on the beach near where we landed. It was very pricey, $500. pp back in 2000, but we felt it was worth every penny, a highlight of all of our world travels. Katmai has cabins where you could spend the night as well. I do not remember the name of the company we used in Homer but their office was out on the Homer Spit.

I'm bookmarking because I'm interested too.

No, there are no options for Katmai that you would consider "cost-effective." The operators have a three-month or so long season to perform the revenue-generating portion of their business and meet their costs (fuel, maintenance, living in Alaska - that's not cheap either). The operators aren't living in huge mansions and laughing at the suckers from the mainland or foreigners who cough up the price of the trips, they make modest livings and like being in Alaska - ask your hoteliers when you get to the last frontier, they'll tell you that the operators aren't doing the backstroke in their cash-filled living rooms during the winter.

The flightseeing trips essentially guarantee you a look-see at the ursines. Trips into Denali do not. And trips to Denali cost other fees, albeit smaller ones (you need two nights in a hotel plus transport and meals).

That Talon Air page that sdpryde linked to has by far the least expensive bear viewing options I've seen (we looked into this last year when we took the hobbits to Alaska). If they hit you with the fuel surcharge, tho', all bets are off.

We went standby last year with K Bay Air out of Homer but I think that was still $500pp.

I would suggest Denali NP also - could be cheaper than Katmai and you will have a great experience there. You certainly do need to be on a tour, though, because the likelihood of seeing bears just wandering out in front of you is very very low. When you go with a tour you are not just paying for the transportation etc. but for the expertise of the guides and their experience. For that reason I would pay particular attention to how many years the outfit has been in operation, customer reviews etc., rather than just cost. A cheaper tour may not be your best option, if you are looking for an experience of a lifetime.

If you go to Denali you do not need to be on a tour. You just need to be on the Denali shuttle service.

see: http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/shuttles.htm