Day 3 Diamond Princess Alaska Cruise - Ketchikan Neets Bay Bear Watching Trip

Ketchikan . 2012 . Sep 17

Neets Bay Bear Watching Cruise

(KTN-880) USD$229 per pax

Princess Cruises has an excellent logistics management team working tirelessly to ensure that every passenger’s needs are seamlessly well taken care of.   An envelope containing all our tickets for the shore cruises we reserved before embarkation arrived at our cabin the day before our first land excursion at Ketchikan.

The cruise ship docks at Ketchikan at 6.30am and leaves at 1.30pm, leaving us with time for only one land excursion.  But there were so many options  available – Misty Fjords cruise, Neets Bay Bear watching cruise, Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary walk, Zipline etc.  We were torn between bear watching and Misty Fjords. We evenutally chose to see the bears as it was cheaper and also due to the fact that it is not likely to be cancelled due to weather conditions unlike the Misty Fjords.

Bear-Watching starts now!

Leaving the comfort of the cruise ship for the early morning bear watching cruise.

Our small group bus drops us off at Knudson Cove Marina for the 45 min jet boat ride to Neets Bay.

Serenity at Knudson Cove in the early morning.

Boarding the jet boat for the bear watching cruise.   The boat can only accommodate about 10-12 passengers, but there are toilet facilities on board.

The transparent rain proof curtains are absolutely necessary to provide keep out the cold!

The tour is actually operated by West Rock Alaska Tours.   The attitude of the tour guide was as cold as the weather (probably he was in a bad mood that day). But we didn’t give a hoot about it and focused on the awesome scenery instead.

Flat-screen TV and earphones are provided for the documentary on salmon hatcheries played on board.  Raincoats and binoculars are also provided for the tour.

Heavenly scenery along the way as we cruise along to Neets Bay.

Neets Bay houses one of the world’s largest salmon hatcheries.

Every year, millions of salmons swim back from the ocean to spawn at Neets Bay.  And so, every year, from mid July onwards, wild bears gather to forage and fish around the bay in a bid to gorge themselves with the nutrient-rich salmons in order to gain enough weight for hibernation in the approaching winter months.   The black bears leave their dwelling place in the forest to fish in the calm waters of Neets Bay.

The many angles of Neets Bay.

We love the dramatic landscape of Neets Bay – quiet, peaceful and untouched. 

Wild Bears? Or just people in bear suits to amuse the tourists? Can you spot the bear?  It is actually the black spot on the shoreline.   In total, we saw about 4-5 bears, all of them moving singly and none of them with cubs.  With a 10x binoculars, you’ll see them quite clearly, moving into the water and emerging with a struggling fish in their mouth. 

At Neets Bay, it is not just bears that you will get to see.  On top of the awesome scenery, bald eagles and harbour seals also make a regular appearance.

Our first sight of a Bald Eagle for the entire cruise.  We have the honour of being the first one on the boat to spot the eagles.   Harbor seals frolick and play so much in the water, it is almost impossible to miss hearing the splashes they make in the water. 

Bald eagle in flight...

In the quiet of the morning and the tranquillity of the surrounding, we caught sight of salmons leaping out of the water.   It happened so quickly that if you were not observing the water surface, you would have missed it totally.  We managed to capture one of these rare moments on our camera.

Scientists postulate that fish jump out of the water for two reasons: they are either trying to loosen their eggs in preparation for spawning, or they are trying to rid themselves of sea-lice.  We prefer to think that they are jumping for the simple fact that they are happy. 

Seagrass!  After being awed by the bears and seals and eagles, we happened to glance down at the water and realize that there is a meadow of seagrass beneath our boat!

Seagrasses look just like grass that grows on land, and because they photosynthesise, they mostly survive in shallow waters where sunlight can penetrate.  Seagrasses are the natural habitats of many marine animals, and its presence suggests a good diversity of marine creatures around. 

These guys pay for a floatplane ride to Neets Bay instead of taking the boat here.  The journey by plane is shorter, and the scenery must be better from up there, but they’ll pay an arm and a leg for the tour.  I don’t envy these guy, they are made to stand on such a narrow strip of space that any missteps means that they end up in the water.  Arrgghhh, and they made such a din when landing that it must have scared off all the eagles and seals and bears.

On our way back to Knudson Cove, the boat stopped by a small outcrop where harbour seals lay themselves out for a sun-tan.  Warning:  they stink, and they grunt. We’ll never forget this sight.  It feels like a scene straight out of a National Geographic documentary.

 Beautiful scenery on our way back to Knudson Cove...

Oh, and light snacks and bottled water are provided as we head back to Knudson Cove.  Due to the space constraints on the boat, hot beverages are not provided although it would be a great relief from the cold.

There is a shop at the pier at Knudson Cove. If you want to buy some souvenir t-shirts or food, you may stop by and visit it while waiting for the coach to come and pick you back to the Diamond Princess cruiseship.

USD$229 per pax is a hefty price to pay for a half day shore excursion, but it is not easy to get to observe wild bears at a safe distance, so we say, the money paid was well worth it.

Check out our next post on Ketchikan Downtown.

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