2 1/2 Hour Private Tour with locals ( Price up to 5)

Will never book via TripAdvisor/Vialtor again - direct booking only!

Booked via Tripadvisor in the UK for our Ketchikan stop off. I wanted to try and book locally rather than take the ship trips. Stopped for lunch at noon (1pm tour) and discovered there was a refund of sorts via our bank. Phoned Lisa to find that she had a hospital visit at the last minute and could not take us. Were neither phoned nor messaged all the morning by anyone She said a friend could hopefully take us - we agreed as it was far too late to arrange a trip with someone else. We stupidly made the assumption that it would be very similar to her advertised trip. (we did ask before agreeing) and we had to pay him direct He arrived in a taxi and took us straight to the fishery lay by - just about made out a bear on the tree line with the aid of binoculars. He said we'd try another back road - no luck. Stopped at a waterfall by the road. Back to the lay by. We eventually saw a hint of a bear again through bins. Back to town What a poor decision. There was nothing to do with Tlingit tradition/totum poles/view points etc. We did get some "what we did when we were boys" stories but definitely not what we expected for or paid for, nor was he Tlingit Lisa said she'd refunded us £200 for our booked trip, and anything else was nothing to do with her. Using advice from other posts I wrote to Vialtor when we got home, quoted the full refund policy ie 100% if the provider cancelled on the day, and said that we wouldn't have known at all if the bank didn't alert us. Thankfully Rialtor refunded the other £85 without an argument. Stressful and left us with a bad taste. We particularly wanted to include some Tlingit stories/local history as well as wildlife (if we were lucky). It would have saved us a heap of money had we just booked a taxi to the salmon fishery. We've just checked Rob charged us £298.10 (in US$) He also took another group before us - what a payday - not to mention it was even more than Lisa/Vialtor charged altogether He definitely shouldn't have included the Vialtor share (theyre taking about a 1/3 mark-up!) Be extremely careful how you book trips and look at reviews on other sites before deciding - we feel ripped off

Response from the operator: When I can't make a booking , I let customers know I can find someone else. I always can't guarantee our native background but I definitely find great locals that can show people Ketchikan. We all never guarantee any wildlife, near of far. I make sure people are taken care of. My friend even told me you guys had a great time. I guess after this, I will have to let customers look for other businesses to help. I just do what I can to help you have a great experience. Not sure what you mean by extreme mark up. Viator takes 1/3 of what the cost is. Even the Original cost you paid Viator isn't the actual amount. As much as we like to make people happy, we understand how things can be. I just don't understand why tell my friend you enjoyed yourself than turn around and give me a bad review.

via Tripadvisor

Save your money if you go in late August

Definitely didn't feel it was worth the money. Only saw one black bear from a great distance for just a minute and two eagles on the way back to port. Had we just gotten off the ship earlier in the morning we could have seen some eating the salmon at Creek Street.

Response from the operator: Most people don't even get to see anything. We never know if bears will be close or not. Timing is everything. Many tour guides plus myself try our best to find bears. As far as Creek Street, timing is everything for that location too. I have no guarantees about wildlife. The other day, my customers saw a cub run for just a second, that's all they got. Often times we have close encounters. I can certainly understand your frustration.

via Viator

Uber instead

We’ve always had excellent tours with Viator but this one was a complete waste of time and money. Please do not book this tour. Our guide was late picking us up then proceeded to drive us to her friends driveway and parked there for 30 mins because she claimed the bears will walk by there. We question this and asked her to please drive us to see other sights. She left and drove us to the fish hatchery which was beautiful but no bears at that time. She then drove us back to her friends driveway a second time! Finally I said can you please show us some more sights that were described for the tour?! She then drove us to the water edge where we saw one eagle and then dropped us off at Creekside. THAT WAS IT! This tour cost $375! I wish we would have just taken an Uber to the fish hatchery and back for $40 instead! Complete waste of time and money.

Response from the operator: I didn't park for 30 minutes to wait for a bear. Telling people not to book with me isn't fare because you didn't enjoy the tour. What im surprised about is, how you were okay with everything to the End of the tour. I even apologized about not finding a bear. I also talked alot about Ketchikan and some history of Alaska. I tell about my culture and point things out as we are driving. Wildlife wasn't in anyone's favor this day. Sadly there's nothing anyone can do. That rate of $375 is pretty good because it's not per person. Divide that up to five people and you have a great rate even better. Sorry you felt it was a waste of your time. I know your time is valuable but so is my time. I give everyone my best. Sometimes we get bears and other times not. I did ask if we should try one more time and you said okay. You saw beautiful country side of Ketchikan as we drove. I talked the whole time. As we drive to and from places , I make sure I say something about the area. I know I can't make everyone happy.

via Viator

Great Local Experience

This is travel with a local, so you get local stories and experiences. We loved seeing a mamma bear and 2 cubs and visiting the beach with time to explore and find purple starfish. Lisa felt like a family friend in no time.

via Viator

Disappointed in this excursion

It says in the description that you could possibly see bears, whales, eagles, etc…. In their natural habitat. We did see 2 bears but they were in someone’s yard and the owner of the home was near the bear calling it by name and trying to coax it out. ( not what we expected). I know they can’t predict if the animals will be out but other than some eagles, and the “pet” bear, that is all we saw. Our guide said the waterfall was too crowded to go to so she skipped over that. She took us to their “beach” and it was pretty. The guide herself, Lisa, was very nice and she did want us to have a good experience and she tried hard but this excursion didn’t turn out like we thought it would at all. We were disappointed.

Response from the operator: Not sure why you're disappointed about the tour. And you're right, I do advertise to go find bears, whales and eagles. And yes, the waterfall was going to be dangerous. I did tell all you about that and you were okay with it. The bears are also not "pets" not sure where this comment came from. No one owns a wild animal. I also talked to you alot about what you were seeing. Basically all you missed was the waterfall. And as far as coaxing the bear? She goes around her house all the time, making sure they hear her. How would you feel having bears in your yard all the time? They need to hear you. In Ketchikan, Bears live all over the place. Nothing wrong with seeing bears in any locals yard.

via Viator