About this experience
Island Wings Air Service is owned and operated by Alaska veteran pilot Michelle Masden, who started flying in 1977 and began her business in Ketchikan in 1993. Island Wings takes the time and makes the effort to help you realize your Alaskan dreams. Share our love of flying through our vast Alaskan wilderness. Experience the freedom of flight over the wild grandeur of the mountains, the islands and the endless sea. Our focus is the quality of your experience. From the handling of your reservation, to the equipment we operate, to the places we visit; we don't compromise and neither should you. The total time for this tour is 2.5 hours including: the two hour flightseeing tour and fifteen minutes for the pick-up and fifteen minutes for the drop-off. This tour takes you on a flight from Ketchikan to the Misty Fjords National Monument with a landing on a freshwater lake or a saltwater fjord with approximately a thirty minute stopover.
At a glance
- Duration: 2 hr 30 min
Planning perspective
How I’d plan this experience
If Misty Fjords is high on your Ketchikan list, I’d choose this trip for the combination of a substantial flightseeing loop and a chance to land on the water. It’s a 2.5-hour outing overall, including a roughly two-hour flight and a stop of about 30 minutes on a freshwater lake or saltwater fjord. That makes it more than a quick scenic circuit, but it also asks you to commit a meaningful part of your day to flying. My advice is to pick it for the aerial perspective and remote landing, not as a guaranteed wildlife-spotting trip.
Who I’d recommend it for
This suits you if the scale and shape of the landscape are the point: Misty Fjords is road-less, and the tour describes the seaplane as the way to experience its different levels of deep fjords. The appeal is seeing cliffs, waterfalls, forest and high lakes from above, then setting down in a place that is otherwise difficult to reach.
Pilot narration is part of the experience, and the plane has voice-activated headsets. Traveller feedback repeatedly highlights the commentary as a useful part of the flight, rather than scenery alone. I’d especially consider it if you enjoy learning as you look; if you mainly want time on the ground, this is not that kind of outing.
Choose it for the landing, not just the loop
The distinctive choice here is the shore stop: the overview describes a landing on either a freshwater lake or a saltwater fjord, with approximately 30 minutes ashore. The exact landing setting is not specified as a choice you can make, so I’d treat the water landing as the feature and the particular location as variable.
Several traveller accounts describe getting out at a lake, which suggests the stop can be a memorable contrast to the flight. Still, don’t plan around a specific lake or promise yourself a long hike: the stated stop is brief, and the information provided doesn’t describe a walking route.
Plan around the full outing
Allow 2.5 hours for the tour as described, not just the two-hour flight. Pickup and drop-off are listed at the Liquid Sunshine Gauge outside the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau on Cruise Ship Berth 2, with van transport included. Cruise passengers are asked to provide their ship name, and all passengers must provide a contact phone number or call to confirm a tour time.
I’d wear layers and comfortable walking shoes, as requested, and eat beforehand: food and drinks aren’t allowed on the floatplane apart from bottled water. Guaranteed window seats are included, which is a helpful reassurance if views and photographs are central to your decision.
The trade-off: weather and firm cancellation terms
A seaplane depends on flying conditions, and the stated policy allows cancellation for bad weather. At the same time, all sales are final and there is no refund for cancellations. I’d weigh that uncertainty carefully if your Ketchikan schedule is tight or this is the one excursion you most want to protect. It’s a compelling option for a remote perspective, but not one to book assuming every element is guaranteed.
Planning analysis informed by the tour itinerary and traveller feedback · Updated October 27, 2026
Plan your experience
Set aside 2 hr 30 min for the experience itself, with additional time to reach your meeting or pickup point.
Before you go
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please wear layered clothing and comfortable walking shoes.
What is included
- We operate well maintained six-passenger DeHavilland Beaver floatplanes
- Interactive narration with your Pilot
- US Forest Service Special Use Permit for Shore stops within Misty Fjords National Monument
- Pick-up and drop-off by Island WIngs van from the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau on Cruise Ship Berth 2
- Guranteed window seats for every person
- Voice activated, noise cancelling headsets for every passenger
Not included
- No food or drinks allowed on the floatplane, except bottled water
- Gratuities
Itinerary and highlights
Alaska's Inside Passage or Southeast Alaska is home to some of the most breathtaking scenery on earth. One of its jewels is the majestic Misty Fjords National Monument. Completely road-less and consisting of 2.3 million acres, an area larger than Yellowstone, makes a seaplane tour the only way to comfortably experience the many different levels within the deep, narrow fjords. More dramatic than the Grand Canyon, the fjords are steep walled inlets of the sea. Created by glacial gouging long ago, snow capped, sheer granite cliffs rise dramatically 3,500 out of the sea, ribbonned with waterfalls plummeting sensationally thousands of feet. Nestled within the steep walled canyons, lie pristine bowl-shaped alpine lakes suspended at many different elevations above sea level. Fed by more than 150 inches of misty rain annually, the lush rain forest, made of giant stands of spruce, hemlock and cedar, cling to the rugged rising terrain. Wildlife abounds in the area, with mountain goats and harbor seals being the most frequently sighted animals. Our most popular tour lasts 2 hours and takes you across Revilliagegedo Island over to the Alaskan mainland where the fjords are located, and into the heart of the monument. Headsets with voice communication are provided to passengers so you can chat in flight and ask questions as we fly. For the highlight of the tour, we will land on an alpine lake or on a calm bay at sea level and let passengers get off of the floatplane for a quiet excursion. Relax, stretch your legs and take some photos as you drink in the silence of the vast wilderness. Flying within the Misty Fjords is truly an emotional experience you’ll never forget!!
Meeting and pickup information
- Pick-up location is the Liquid Sunshine Gauge located outside the Ketchikan Visitors Bureau building on Cruise Ship Berth 2.
Languages and tickets
- English — Guide
- Spanish — Guide
- Mobile Only
Tour operator
- Island Wings Air Service
Accessibility and practical details
- Infants and small children can ride in a pram or stroller
- Service animals allowed
- Infants are required to sit on an adult’s lap
- Suitable for all physical fitness levels
- Please wear layered clothing and comfortable walking shoes.
- All passengers MUST provide us a contact phone number when booking or call us to confirm a tour time.
- Passengers travelling via cruise ship MUST provide their cruise ship name to us so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
Cancellation policy
All sales are final. No refund is available for cancellations.
Questions about this experience
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Service animals allowed
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Traveller reviews and photos
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