Hallo Bay Bear Viewing
HALLO BAY BEARS
At the base of Mt. Douglas along the Katmai coastline there is a special place that dozens of Brown Bears call home, Hallo Bay. This is a spectacular area with towering volcanoes, wide open sedge grass meadows, miles of sandy beaches, and streams filled with salmon. Your trip begins with an early arrival at our Beluga Lake office to meet our friendly reservations team for your official check in. Once the paperwork is done and flight manifest is complete, you'll jump into one of our shuttles for a quick ride over to the Homer airport where your pilot/bear guide is waiting for your arrival. After a short safety brief, climb aboard one of our Turbo Beavers or Cessna 206 wheeled planes and get ready for an incredible flight down to Hallo Bay. We’ll depart Homer and fly southwest along the Kenai Mountains to the end of the Kenai Peninsula, then across to the Barren Islands, and over to Afognak Island near Alaska’s largest Island, Kodiak. From there, we’ll jump over the Shelikof Straights and descend into Hallo Bay. Load up those camera cards and fresh batteries! For the next 3 hours, we'll walk on the beach, through the meadows, and along small streams watching and photographing various bear groups doing amazing wild activities in their natural environment. Bears of all sizes and shapes begin early in the season feasting and preparing for the long winter's nap ahead. A high fat and protein diet of clams, sedge grass, and salmon is top priority. Occasionally, a dead Humpback whale will wash up onto the shore providing a feast that lasts nearly the whole summer. The backdrop for your photographs is unlike anything else on earth. Part of the Ring of Fire, snowcapped Mt. Douglas soars into the skyline just beyond the horizon. Return to Homer at the end of your adventure with full camera cards and big smiles. Join us for a day of bear watching in Hallo Bay, Alaska!
What to expect:
- Scenic Flight is approximately 1.5 hours each way
- Beach landings on big tundra tires/bushwheels
- Small group led by pilot/guide
- Largest Bears - Coastal Brown Bears
- Digging clams, eating sedge grass, fish, and berries
- Up close and personalized experience
- Turbo Airplane = more time with the bears!
- Faster, Safer, and Quieter Planes
- Trip Length: 5-6 Hours
- Capacity: Up to 15 Seats
- Trip Price: $1285 per person (includes taxes, park fees, fuel surcharge) *3% processing fee will be applied to all credit card payments. Wire transfers and checks accepted.
- Private excursions are available
About Katmai National Park and Preserve
Katmai National Park and Preserve is located in southwest Alaska on the Alaska Peninsula across from Kodiak Island. The Park is most well known for the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, multiple volcanoes, and for its brown bears. The park is named after Mount Katmai, its centerpiece volcano, and spans 4,093,077 acres and nearly 6,400 square miles. Most of the national park is a designated wilderness area. The park headquarters are in nearby King Salmon, about 290 miles southwest of Anchorage. The area was first designated a national monument in 1918 to protect the area around the major 1912 volcanic eruption of Novarupta, which formed the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes, a 40-square-mile, 100-to-700-foot-deep pyroclastic flow. The park includes as many as 18 individual volcanoes, seven of which have been active since 1900. Initially designated because of its volcanic history, the monument was left undeveloped and largely unvisited until the 1950s. The monument and surrounding lands became appreciated for their wide variety of wildlife, including an abundance of sockeye salmon and the brown bears that feed upon them. After a series of boundary expansions, the present national park and preserve were established in 1980 under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act.
Katmai occupies the Pacific Ocean side of the Alaska Peninsula, opposite Kodiak Island on the Shelikof Strait. The park's chief features are its coast, the Aleutian Range with a chain of fifteen volcanic mountains across the coastal southeastern part of the park, and a series of large lakes in the flatter western part of the park. The closest significant town to the park is King Salmon, where the park's headquarters is located, about 5 miles down the Naknek River from the park entrance. The park includes McNeil River State Game Sanctuary and Refuge on Kamishak Bay.
What Sets Us Apart? Our Planes!
Aviation and Alaska share an incredible past, present, and future of adventure, exploration, and beauty. So, when it came time to create a company with the ultimate touring packages for our guests, we knew that airplanes would be a big part of our success. Seeing and accessing Alaska by air is unmatched by any other experience. Having a birds-eye view of glaciers, volcanoes, wildlife, beaches, and rocky shorelines with cascading waterfalls creates photographs and memories that last a lifetime. Airplanes are able to transport us every day into untouched wilderness in the heart of Alaska’s wilderness and national parks. Our research team, pilots, and mechanics spent countless hours looking at various aircraft types used in Alaska to access these remote areas. By placing the bulk of our attention on safety, performance, comfort, and reliability, we found that de Havilland Turboprop and Cessna aircraft were the best in the business. Destination Alaska made a huge investment in three de Havilland turbine-powered aircraft and they have not disappointed. Incredible horsepower, smooth quiet climb performance, low maintenance, and fast cruise speeds are just a few of the pleasant surprises we have come to enjoy. "Turbo Bear Viewing" offers our guests more time with the bears and has become a signature offering for Destination Alaska. Next in line is our low-time Cessna 206. This aircraft lives up to its reputation of being the "pickup truck of the north". The five-seat 206 with its wide doors and rugged airframe is one of the most utilized aircraft in all of Alaska. Whether on floats or big bush tires, this plane gets the job done day in and day out. Our aircraft selection and attention to your comfort and safety separate us from the crowd. Come see the difference for yourself!
Call us today to book your adventure!
