Guide · Honest verdict

Is Misty Fjords worth it? What the flight gives and what it costs

A short flight over granite fiords from Ketchikan, loved by most of the guests who fly and stung by weather cancellations. The honest balance before you spend the money.

Check availabilityfrom $349 · free cancellation possible

Editorial team, mistyfjordsflightseeing.comUpdated October 25, 2026Reading time about 6 minutes10 sources

The tour for this guide Misty Fjords floatplane flightseeing from Ketchikan 4.4 (303 reviews) 2 hoursWindow seat for every guestVan from Berth 2 and back from$349per person Check availabilityCancel for free up to 24 hrs ahead

Short answer

01Worth it if: You want the whole landscape in 2 hrs and the weather allows.
02Rating: 4.37 from 303 reviews, 239 of them five stars.
03The catch: 11 of 13 one-star reviews in the newest 100 are cancellations.
04Not included: A water landing: the listing names none.
05Cheaper option: A 5.25-hr boat cruise from $232.

Is Misty Fjords worth it? The short version

For most people who actually take off, yes. The flight this site features is rated 4.37 from 303 reviews on Viator, and 239 of those reviews give it five stars. Guests write about granite walls, waterfalls, lakes in hanging valleys and pilots they remember by name. Seeing a roadless monument of over 2,200,000 acres from a window seat is hard to match from the ground.¹

The average is pulled down by 36 one-star ratings, and the reason matters. In the newest 100 reviews, 11 of the 13 one-star ratings describe a flight cancelled shortly before departure, most of them for weather. Those guests never flew, so their stars say more about Ketchikan's climate and the operator's communication than about the flight itself.

So the honest answer to whether Misty Fjords is worth it has 2 parts. The flight is worth it when it goes, and it may not go. If your plans can absorb a cancellation, book it. If a missed flight would spoil the only free day of your cruise, keep a backup plan ready, or consider the boat, which travels beneath the cloud.

Why the place itself is worth the effort

Before judging any tour, judge the destination. Misty Fjords became a national monument in 1978, and in 1980 Congress designated 2,142,243 acres of it as wilderness, still the largest wilderness area on the Tongass National Forest.¹ ² There are no roads into it, so every visitor comes by boat or by floatplane.³

The landscape is the reason people come. About 17,000 years ago ice covered the whole area, and as it withdrew it carved long, deep fiords with cliffs that rise for thousands of feet.⁴ Behm Canal, the inlet at the heart of it, runs for more than 50 miles, and lakes sit in the hanging valleys above the bays.⁵

The monument is wild for a place so close to a cruise port. Ketchikan lies only 22 miles west of the monument, yet inside it the Forest Service counts just 13 public cabins and 10 trails for the whole area.⁶ ⁷ Whether you fly or sail, the trip is worth it for the place alone; the questions on this page are about which trip, and on which day.

Ratings

How guests rated the flight

reviews

All 303 ratings on Viator for this flight, which average 4.37; most recent one-star reviews concern cancellations.

Ratings compared

How the floatplane flights are rated

Flight	Rating	Reviews	Free cancellation
This site's flight	4.37	303	Yes
GetYourGuide flight	4.67	52	Yes
Seawind, 1 hour	4.89	296	No
Seawind with landing	4.93	54	No
Island Wings	4.91	266	No

Ratings and refund terms as each listing shows them on Viator or GetYourGuide.

Three travelers

Who gets the most from the flight

Misty Fjords Floatplane Flightseeing Tour

Great fit

The cruise passenger

A few hours ashore

Why: 2 hrs from Berth 2
Watch: Weather on the day
Book: An early slot

Check this flight

Look elsewhere

The landing seeker

Wants to stand on a float

Why: No landing named
Instead: A landing flight
Note: Non-refundable

Check this flight

Consider the boat

The wildlife fan

Whales, seals and eagles

Why: Animals look tiny from above
Instead: A 5.25-hr cruise
From: $232

Check this flight

Decision helper

Should you book the flight?

Answer honestly for your own trip

I have one port day and want the big view A cancellation would ruin my day I want to land in the wilderness I am on a tight budget I am nervous about small planes

Book it

2 hours from Berth 2, and you may cancel free of charge until 24 hours ahead.

Have a backup

11 of 13 recent one-star reviews are about cancellations.

Book a landing flight

Landing flights start from $450 and are non-refundable.

Take the boat

The boat cruise starts from $232 for 5.25 hours.

Probably book it

Reviewers who were nervous often describe a smooth, calm flight.

Mountain goats patrol the ridgelines, visible either through binoculars or from the window of a floatplane.

Alaska Department of Fish and GameSource 8

What the happy reviews have in common

Read the Misty Fjords flightseeing reviews on Viator and the same themes return. Reviewers name their pilots, praise the smooth takeoff and landing on the water, and describe views they say they could not have had any other way. Several were nervous about small planes and write that the calm flight put them at ease within minutes.

The ground part gets praise too. Reviewers mention friendly staff at check-in, van drivers who talk about the town on the short ride, and a well-run base. Every guest has a window seat, which the listing guarantees, and reviewers notice it. One family flew with a two-year-old without any trouble.

Wildlife comes up, but with realism. Some reviewers saw mountain goats running on the ridges, which the state's wildlife agency says can be seen from a floatplane window.⁸ Others warn that animals at flying height are very small and hard to spot. The landscape, not the wildlife, is what the flight delivers reliably.

Checklist

To get your money's worth

When you book

Choose an early departure
Enter every passenger's weight
Read the itinerary: no landing

On the day

Be at Berth 2 15 minutes early
Wear a dark rain jacket
Keep your phone on for the operator

Calculator

What a flight or cruise costs your group

Compare the totals before you decide

This site's flight2 hrs, no landingfrom $349 Seawind landing20-min landingfrom $470 Boat cruise5.25 hrsfrom $232

People 2

Total from$698

per person from $349

Check availabilityfree cancellation

Totals multiply each listing's lowest per-person price on Viator or GetYourGuide, converted at the ECB rate; the seller's checkout shows the binding sum.

Video

Which Alaska cruise excursions are worth the money

The video plays from YouTube only after you press play.

What the unhappy reviews complain about

Cancellations come first by a wide margin. Of the 13 one-star reviews in the newest 100, 11 are about a cancelled flight, several of them called off minutes before the start. Some reviewers felt the operator cancelled while other planes were flying; one praised a quick refund. The listing allows the operator to cancel for bad weather or too few travelers.

The second complaint is time. The listing says 2 hours, and 10 reviews in the newest 100 put the time in the air at about an hour of that. For most guests that was enough; for a few it felt short for the price. Know before you book that the van and the boarding take part of the 2 hours.

The third is commentary and expectations. A few reviewers found the recorded commentary in the headsets impersonal or hard to hear, and 1 two-star review came from a guest who had expected a landing in the fiords. The listing names no water landing, so that disappointment is avoidable if you read the itinerary first.

The price against what you get

The flight starts from $349 per person, and the fare depends on the departure time: the earliest and latest flights of the day start from $389. For that you get the van from Berth 2 and back, a window seat, narration in English and a flight over the rainforest, the fiords, Rudyerd Bay and New Eddystone Rock. Gratuities, food and drinks are not included.

Against the other floatplanes, it is the lowest starting price among the listings this site compares, and one of only 2 that refund in full if you cancel a day or more ahead. The flights with a landing start from $450 and $470 and are non-refundable. Their ratings are higher, at 4.91 and 4.93.

Against the boat, the flight costs more and takes far less time. The boat cruise into Rudyerd Bay starts from $232 and lasts 5.25 hours. If your port day is long and your budget tight, the boat gives more hours in the fiords for the money. If time is the scarce thing, the flight is the better use of it.

Who should book it, and who should skip it

Book it if you want the scale of the monument in one go, if your cruise gives you only a morning or an afternoon ashore, and if you like being able to cancel for free until the day before. Book it if you have never flown in a floatplane; reviewers who were nervous are among the most enthusiastic. Book an early departure so a cancellation leaves you time for a plan B.

Skip it if a landing in the wilderness is the experience you want; choose a landing flight instead. Skip it if anyone in your group has a spinal injury or poor heart health or is pregnant, as the listing does not recommend the flight for them. And think twice if a cancellation on the day would leave you with nothing else to do.

If you mainly want whales, seals and eagles, the boat is the better bet. The waters of the monument are a prime feeding area for humpback whales, Steller sea lions and harbor seals, and those animals show best at water level.⁹ If you want lakes, ridges and fiords all at once, the view from the air is the one to choose.

How to make the flight worth the money

Choose your day with care. An average July in Ketchikan brings 12 days reaching 2.5 mm of precipitation, and September brings 18.¹⁰ Earlier in the summer, fewer days are wet. Within a day, an early departure leaves time to react if the flight is cancelled, and the operator's schedule offers flights from 7am.

Prepare the small things. Enter every passenger's weight carefully, arrive at Berth 2 15 minutes early, and keep your phone on so the operator can reach you. Clean the window patch in front of you before takeoff and wear dark clothing to cut reflections in your photos. Above everything else, lower the camera for a while and simply look.

Set your expectations right. You are buying a sightseeing flight of 2 hours dock to dock, with roughly an hour in the air according to the reviews, over granite fiords, lakes and rainforest, without a landing. Book it on those terms, keep a buffer in your day, and the odds are good you will join the five-star reviewers.

Ready to fly

Book a window seat over the fiords

Pick a departure that fits your ship, then meet the van at Berth 2.

Check flight timesfrom $349 · free cancellation possible 4.4 · 303 confirmed reviews

You ask,we answer.

Is the floatplane flight worth the price?

For most guests who fly, yes. 239 of its 303 reviews give five stars; the flight starts from $349.

Why does the flight have one-star reviews?

Mostly cancellations. In the newest 100 reviews, 11 of the 13 one-star ratings are about cancelled flights.

How long are you in the air?

About an hour, say reviewers. The listing says 2 hours in total; 10 of the newest 100 reviews put the time aloft at about an hour.

Does the plane land in the fiords?

Not on this listing. The itinerary names no water landing; landing flights cost more and are non-refundable.

Is the boat cruise better value?

In hours for the money, yes. The boat lasts 5.25 hours from $232; the flight is shorter and shows more of the landscape.

Will I see bears or whales?

Maybe, but not up close. Wildlife at flying height is small; whales and seals show best from a boat.⁹

Can I get my money back if it is cancelled?

Yes, by the listing's terms. Your own cancellation is refunded in full until 24 hours ahead; when the operator cancels, the listing's refund terms apply.

Sources