Hello again. I thought I should post a more specific question since I'm narrowing things down. Sorry if that's not etiquite. Anyway, doing more research on bear viewing, talked to a couple of the fly-in lodges at Lake Clarke and the experience seems alot more natural than Brooks falls and really fun and not that much more expensive if you stay overnight, but it's so hard to say. My two questions are 1) Can you really see the bears at Lake Clarke Preserve as close as you can at Brooks Falls? 2) How on earth can you safely get that close with no barrier? If anyone has done both experiences I'm curious as to which you would recommend for a first time visitor?

you might look at Halo Bay as well.

safety and bears, just wait until you climb on to one of the 1950 bush planes- not sure which one made me feel the most uncomfortable. not to mention the landings. you might land on a bumpy field, on a beach, or in the water. All very interesting.

We went to Katmai for bear viewing. It was the highlight of our 2.5 week vacation in Alaska. I wish we had done an overnight lodge.

1) Can you really see the bears at Lake Clarke Preserve as close as you can at Brooks Falls?

Silver Salmon Lodge will provide this, if you are there when the bears are either eating sedge in the meadows near the lodge (early) or during a salmon run. Some of the other Lake Clark resorts are more hit or miss (perhaps emphasizing fishing over bear-viewing, for example), from what I've been told.

2) How on earth can you safely get that close with no barrier?

The bears are "habituated", meaning they don't see people as either a threat or as food, so for the most part they ignore you and go about their business. Typically your guide will set up on a small mound in a meadow or on the bank of a stream and the bears will wander around naturally, coming pretty close if the guide picked the right spot. Often the same guides are there practically every day in the same spots so the bears are used to it.

Typically everyone is kneeling or sitting and if a bear gets too close then the guide will stand and maybe wave his arms and talk to the bear and it will veer off. I've been within 5 yards several times (the closest my telephoto will focus, so I know the distance precisely) and never really felt threatened.

FYI, no one has been injured on these bear viewing in either Katmai or Lake Clark. The only fatalities the past 80 years at Katmai were when Tim Treadwell pushed his luck too far and he and his girlfriend were killed and eaten. Everybody pretty much agrees he was much too cavalier and most were surprised he lasted 8 years before running into the wrong bear in the wrong place. But never a problem with the guided trips.

If anyone has done both experiences I'm curious as to which you would recommend for a first time visitor?

Brooks in July if you want to watch the bears snatching salmon in mid-air at the falls. This is more or less unique. Somewhere else (either LC or Katmai) if you want a less crowded, more relaxed experience, but likely with fewer bears. The day trips, especially from Homer, work well if you're not sure how much of this you want.

I highly recommend the small book (100 pages) "Bear Viewing in Alaska", which is about $10 on Amazon and has info on all these places. Written by a bear biologist who guided at Wolverine Creek and worked at Brooks and now works on the 'bear boats', it has all the info you need, with a lengthy list of Q's to ask before signing on the dotted line.

Great! Thanks! I was thinking of Hallo Bay too, but it seems there is more of a chance of getting canceled due to weather. Should I put this in the mix?

one other suggestion- search all of these places on youtube and you will get a little of an idea of what people experience.