Grizzly Ship Photo Expedition: Kodiak to Katmai

A very important feature of our Alaska adventure is the limited group size, as nature expeditions and wildlife encounters are best experienced in a quiet, intimate context. With just 8 travelers, you’re assured plenty of personalized attention when you need it, as well as space for your equipment. As a small group, we can be nimble, flexible and position ourselves to maximize the best photo opportunities, departing early and lingering later in search of the best light and optimal subject matter.

• Trip price includes: Accommodations, services of Nat Hab's professional Expedition Leader(s), boat crew and local staff, all meals from dinner on Day 1 through breakfast on final day, beer and wine on board the Ursus, some gratuities, airport transfers upon arrival and on the final day, bear viewing gear (chest waders and boots, Gore-Tex rain jackets, waterproof gloves, mosquito head nets, binoculars, and monopods), all activities and entrance fees, all taxes, permits and service fees.

• Internal air cost includes: All float plane flights within the itinerary (this will be listed separately on our invoicing).

Travel to and from the start and end point of your trip, some alcoholic beverages, some gratuities, passport and visa fees (if any), optional activities, items of a personal nature (phone calls, laundry and internet, etc.), airline baggage fees, airport and departure taxes (if any), required medical evacuation insurance, optional travel protection insurance.

Moderate & Remote
This adventure with brown bears provides an authentic wilderness experience in an expeditionary context. Our privately chartered ship is strategically positioned in some of the most remote areas on the Katmai Coast, inaccessible by road, and each day's activities are shaped by unpredictable weather, tides, and the specific whereabouts of the bears. Guests are encouraged to embrace the exhilaration of these genuine wilderness encounters, and our Expedition Leader and ship's crew are by your side to help keep you confident and comfortable. Mobility and stability are important in terrain and conditions that include traversing uneven ground that may include mucky sand, mud, tall marsh grass, shallow creek beds and stream crossings. Good health and general physical fitness are essential, given our distance from medical facilities in a roadless area.

In order to participate fully in the bear-viewing experience, travelers should be prepared to walk 2-5 miles throughout the course of the day, making a large step up into and down out of floatplanes, and into and out of small open boats. Our staff will be on hand to help steady you, but you need to be mobile enough to undertake these essential aspects of getting around. Guests will spend long, rewarding days on shore, mostly sitting on low plastic buckets as we enjoy watching the bears engage in their natural behaviors.

For safety reasons, it is not possible to split the group, for individuals to return to the ship early, or to stay in one place while the rest of the group moves. It is generally not possible to view bears from our small ship, the Ursus. Travelers must be of sound health and able to maintain a positive frame of mind in a wild and remote setting.

On custom or private departures with smaller groups, our ability to accommodate varying levels of physical abilities or interests is limited, since these trips are staffed with a single Expedition Leader who may be assisted, pending availability, by local guides.

This trip involves watching grizzlies on foot in unprotected open areas. While bears are unpredictable and sighting them can never be guaranteed, our groups have never missed seeing them. The unpredictability of bears can also lead to dangerous situations. They are wild animals, and we ask travelers to heed the rules set by our staff and to understand that this trip can, potentially, present harmful situations. We ask that all travelers take their own safety into consideration when signing onto this (and any) adventure. On this rare adventure, we encounter giant Alaskan brown bears from an uncommon and fascinating perspective, at eye level! Very few people in the world have an opportunity to see these powerful and beautiful creatures in such an intimate context, and we are very proud that our guests are among the select few who do.

Arrive in Kodiak in time for a 6:30 pm welcome dinner and orientation on Day 1. Exact times of our flights between Kodiak and the Natural Habitat Ursus vary according to weather and other logistical factors. We are scheduled to return to Kodiak on Day 7. You are free to depart from Kodiak anytime on Day 8, but we strongly recommended choosing a flight in the afternoon in the unlikely event that poor weather prevents us from returning by float plane as scheduled on the itinerary. Should travelers be required to remain in Kodiak longer than anticipated due to inclement weather, either before, after or during the trip, they will be responsible for their own expenses.