Emerald Air Service — Local services in Homer

Best day ever. I have lived in Homer, Alaska since 1985, so I’ve seen more than my fair share of breathtaking scenery and impressive wildlife, however, I have never seen anything like the views and the bears I saw yesterday when I went on the Brooks Falls trip with Emerald Air Service. It started with a jaw-dropping scenic flight in the spacious Otter, with our skilled and knowledgeable pilot, Mark. We flew over Douglas Volcano, saw crater lakes and hanging glaciers, while learning about the natural history of the area and then, after an hour and a half, we landed at Brooks Camp. After bear safety school, where we learned more about the Katmai bears, we hiked to the viewing platforms and on the hike, we had our first close encounter with a grizzly. It lumbered past us, an adolescent male, maybe two years old, its coat a shiny, healthy merle and its ears fuzzy round like a teddy bear. The look in its eyes, however, was no cuddly gaze. This bear was wild. Under the calm guidance of our capable pilot, we stepped into the woods off-trail, remained safe, and saw this bear close enough to smell him. Fish feasts and sun-drenched fur. Grizzly bears were everywhere then—meandering, sniffing, fishing, lounging, caring for their cubs. With Emerald Air, we got five full hours on the ground at Katmai, which is enough time for at least two visits to the platform at Brooks Falls, where the fattest bears dive and snorkel and scoop for salmon, where mother bears usher their tiny cubs up trees to safety, where lean bears steal salmon from fishermen, where the grizzlies are living their best bear lives, and our presence on the platform doesn’t disturb them in the least. It is another world out there and the five hours with Emerald Air are more than enough time to be immersed in it, to get to know the demeanors of individual bears—their fishing styles, their parenting styles, what turns them on, what makes them tick. The journey didn’t end at the end of the day, however, for once again we were treated to another hour and a half scenic flight back to Homer, where we spotted dozens of grizzlies fishing for the thousands of bright red sockeye salmon that were swimming upriver to spawn. And then we flew through the steam rising from the active volcanos of the Ring of Fire, back to Homer, where the rad staff at Emerald Air greeted us with fresh-baked cookies. Best day ever. As a Homer local, I’m spoiled to have seen plenty of big wild animals and mountains up close, however I have never in my life had a day that was quite like this.

Alaska is a once-in-a-lifetime trip if you don’t live here, but the Brooks Falls trip with Emerald Air Service is a once-in-a-lifetime trip even for those...

We joined Emerald Air Services on a bear viewing trip on June 27, 2020. We cannot say enough about how extraordinary this experience was! Everything about it was absolutely perfect!

Before we came to Alaska, Chris, one of the owners, called to ensure that we were coming and to ensure that we would have everything we needed. Once there, the staff was outstanding. When we arrive at their offices, Melissa greeted us warmly and explained the process for flying to the Katmai National Park and assisted us with our gear.

Lance, our naturalist and guide, explained what we would be seeing and how to act around the bears. He explained what happens if a bear approaches us and what he would do to move the bear along. His calm professionalism gave us all confidence that we would be absolutely safe.

We flew out to Katmai in a very comfortable de Havilland Otter float plane. It was our first time in a float plane and we were impressed by how smooth the takeoff and landing were. Mark, the pilot, really knew what he was doing!

We landed in Hallo Bay, one of the areas most heavily populated by brown bears. As we walked through the valley, we saw approximately 35 bears, including five or six cubs. At one point a bear approached us and stopped five feet from us. Lance calmly spoke to the bear and after a moment the bear moved away. One would think that having a very large brown/grizzly bear would be nerve-racking. But Lance’s demeanor set the tone for us and I don’t think anyone in our party of six was afraid or worried. Having a grizzly bear that close and then walking away was actually exhilarating! Through the trip, Lance shared information about the bears, the location and history of the park. He was engaging and knowledgable, really, the perfect guide.

At the end of the day, we returned to the office, where Melissa had a freshly baked batch of chocolate chip cookies! We stayed for a bit and chatted. It was really like a group of friends getting together! Of course, because of COVID-19, we all wore face masks and observed social distancing.

My wife and I went on a bear viewing trip with a different company to the same location four years ago. At the time, we thought that trip was amazing, and it was. But it really does not compare to this trip. We cannot recommend Emerald Air Services highly enough! I am confident that anyone who takes this trip with them will agree that it is an amazing experience and well worth the money. Without a doubt, this was the highlight of our...

From the very first phone call we made until that last warm and delicious chocolate chip cookie at the goodbye, Emerald Air and our Bear viewing was all we could have hoped for!! All of the staff here are very professional, delightful and helpful individuals. Pilot Don and Bear guide Libby were wonderful, the kind of folks you would want to talk to for hours if you could. Office crew Deanna and India are very knowledgeable and awesome as well. We absolutely loved our experience getting to see the Bears at Katmai national park and Brooks Falls. If we were going to do another trip or even recommend a trip, we would consider doing one of their more up close guided tours vs the self guided Brooks Falls. The platforms at Brooks Falls are the most highlighted spots, so there are lines, long waits, and lots of people. We waited 90 minutes for our turn on the main platform, but were kept highly entertained with bear activity on the lower platform. There is no wait to enter the lower platform, just a lot of people. A highlight of our day on the Brooks Falls tour was on our walk back to the float plane where we saw some bear activity off the bridge walk and hardly anyone else was around!! Just a few onlookers you could go up to and say, “oh my goodness, did you see that?!” It was awesome and exciting to see the bear behavior and nice to not feel crowded by groups of people trying to get that perfect camera shot. That’s why we’re thinking one of their guided tours would be the sweet spot of this type of activity. All in all, it was a perfect day and a treasured memory. I feel certain any bear viewing tour you choose with Emerald Air will be a trip of a lifetime!! Will definitely...