Kayak the realm of the whales in British Columbia

This expedition is a professionally-guided 6-day kayaking journey exploring the beautiful Broughton Archipelago and Johnstone Strait area of British Columbia. This is a one-way tour, which means no back tracking, and experiencing something new every day. This region is famous for its abundant wildlife, including orca, humpback and minke whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals and sea lions, diverse intertidal life, spectacular scenery and rich history.

Camp on remote beaches, view wildlife in their natural habitat, eat gourmet meals prepared by your guides, and then watch the sun go down with a warm cup of tea in hand after a great day of fun, sun and camaraderie with your fellow kayakers. No experience necessary.

We want you to fall in love with kayaking and our unique coast, and our passion shows in everything we do. We also offer several 4-8 day trips for all experience levels in famous Desolation Sound, the Nuchatlitz Provincial Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island, and in the wild Great Bear Rainforest on the Central Coast.

If you are more into ‘Glamping’ style, join our luxury 4-day base-camp tour in Johnstone Strait. Kayak the realm of the orcas and relax in our wood-fired hot tub with the best view overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Unique and breathtaking.

Our adventures are for everyone, and are designed to cater to all levels of experience and abilities. We take care to introduce you to the sport in a fun and safe manner. All that we ask is that you welcome adventure with an open mind and are able to laugh and have fun when encountering the unexpected.

Our groups are small, ranging from 8-13 people, depending on the trip, in order to provide you with the best experience possible. We provide everything you need for a once in a lifetime kayaking adventure. High-quality fiberglass kayaks, paddling equipment, camp cookware, eating utensils, and camping gear.

The Paddler’s Inn in Simoom Sound, Broughton Archipelago, British Columbia, Canada.

Our guides take care of you for the entire duration of your tour, and prepare delicious, organic and local meals. All of them have extensive training and experience in sea kayaking and in sharing the natural and cultural history of the area.

Spirit of the West Kayaking
P.O. Box 569
Heriot Bay
Quadra Island, BC
V0P 1H0

Phone: 250-285-2121
Fax: 1-888-389-5736
Toll Free: 1-800-307-3982
Email: info@kayakingtours.com
Website: www.kayakingtours.com

More about Kayaking around Vancouver Island.

Wildcoast provides memorable kayak vacations for adventure travellers that combine spectacular scenery, scrumptious food, and abundant wildlife encounters, including whales, dolphins, bears and eagles. Kayak with Killer Whales at their Orca base camp in Johnstone Strait, or take one of their kayak expeditions to Desolation Sound or the Discovery Islands of British Columbia.

Their top-rated service caters to both local and international clientele. All kayak tours are fully inclusive and no kayaking experience is required. Only have a day? Visit our storefront for paddleboard and kayak Rentals or Day Tours in the stunning vistas surrounding Quadra Island, BC.

Wildcoast Adventures Kayak Tours & Vacations
685 Heriot Bay Road
Quathiaski Cove
Quadra Island, BC
V0P 1N0

Phone: 250-285-9453
Toll Free: 1-855-485-9453 North America
Email: hello@wildcoastadventures.com
Website: www.kayakbritishcolumbia.com
Website: Premium Orca Camp 7-Day Vacation Package

See Premier Listing for Wildcoast Adventures Kayak Tours & Vacations.

More on Kayaking in British Columbia
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Kayaking British Columbia is the ultimate way to view BC’s abundant wildlife. Kayak in the realm of the killer whale.

Spirit of the West Kayaking operates sea kayaking adventures around Vancouver Island, Canada’s coastal kayaking paradise. Kayak with Killer Whales, paddle Johnstone Strait, the Broughton Archipelago, and Desolation Sound, experience the remote north Nootka Sound and Nuchatlitz Marine Park on the West Coast, or kayak from the ultimate in sea kayaking comfort aboard our mothership in the Great Bear Rainforest.

Our sea kayaking trips depart from our base on Quadra Island in the BC Discovery Islands. No experience is required for our kayak tours! Our adventures are for everyone. Our trips are designed to cater to all levels of experience and abilities. Our groups are small, ranging from 8-13 people, depending on the trip, in order to provide you with the best experience possible. We provide everything you need to have a great kayaking adventure.

During the Northern Hemisphere winter we also offer kayaking trips to the Chilean Patagonia Archipelago, and 4,6 & 8-day escapes to sun, sand, remote beaches and the warm crystal clear waters of the Bahamas. The Exuma Cays are a stunning chain of over 365 islands, perfect for exploring by kayak. These tours offer a great mix of kayaking, snorkeling and beachcombing. Wake up each day in a postcard-worthy location!

Spirit of the West Kayaking
P.O. Box 569
Heriot Bay
Quadra Island, BC
V0P 1H0

Phone: 250-285-2121
Fax: 1-888-389-5736
Toll Free: 1-800-307-3982
Email: info@kayakingtours.com
Website: www.kayakingtours.com

More about Recreation in British Columbia
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Broughton Archipelago Paddlers Inn offers wilderness enthusiasts the comfort of craftsman built accommodations, nestled along the forested shoreline of The Broughton Archipelago, near Echo Bay and North Vancouver Island. Surround yourself with ocean, beaches, trails, an inland lake, and quiet beauty.

Broughton Archipelago is the home of the Killer Whale, First Nations Peoples, and modern-day pioneers. Sea Kayak in comfort based from our ocean-side, or float-house accommodations in the wilderness of the Broughton Archipelago, a kayak paradise. The phrase ‘Walking Softly in the Wilderness’ has always been a guiding principle for our homesteading lifestyle and approach to developing our inn. The Paddlers Inn also offers Acupressure massage on-site.

Paddlers Inn has earned a Gold rating from Green Tourism Canada for our efforts to continually reduce our impact on the environment, while supporting others to do the same.

Broughton Archipelago Paddlers Inn
P.O. Box 410
Sointula, BC
V0N 3E0

Adventure Location:
Simoom Sound
Broughton Archipelago, BC

Phone: 250-230-0088
Email: info@paddlersinn.ca
Website: www.paddlersinn.ca

More on Accommodation on Vancouver Island
More on Kayaking around Vancouver Island
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Vancouver Island offers some of the best hiking anywhere in the world. Summers are very pleasant – no humidity, and not too hot – and the only threats to safety come in the form of wild animals, like bears and cougars. But that adds to the excitement of hiking in British Columbia, and seeing a bear or cougar in the wild can be a wonderfully memorable experience. Bear bells will help announce your presence to bears and other wildlife, but a good dose of common sense is more likely to keep you out of trouble. Some parks are extremely remote, with very limited emergency services, or none at all, so hikers should be well prepared and self-sufficient.

Cape Scott Provincial Park
Location: North Vancouver Island
You would need over a week to hike the trails and see everything in Cape Scott Park. Trails range in length from two to thirty kilometres, and from a pleasant stroll to a challenging and demanding test of skill and stamina. The incessant rain results in muddy conditions on primitive trails, but the visual and emotional rewards are beyond comparison, especially on a clear day. Cape Scott Provincial Park Trails.

San Joseph Bay, Cape Scott Provincial Park, North Vancouver Island

Pacific Rim National Park
Location: Pacific Rim, West Coast Vancouver Island
The Long Beach area offers nine short walking trails, two of which are wheelchair accessible. Most feature interpretive signs or brochures explaining the cultural and natural heritage en route. In addition to park trails, approximately 20km of sandy beaches provide enjoyable hiking. The 75-km West Coast Trail is the mother of all hikes on Vancouver Island, attracting adventurous hikers from around the world. The internationally-acclaimed hiking trail retraces an old telegraph route that once connected Victoria with Cape Beale near Bamfield. West Coast Trail

The shoreline along the West Coast Trail, Pacific Rim National Park, Vancouver Island

Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park
Location: South West Vancouver Island
The 16,450-hectare park provides excellent opportunities for wilderness camping and hiking. Trails in the park lead either up or down Carmanah Creek. The northern route leads 7.5 km to the park boundary, and beyond, while the southern route is closed at the 2.6-km mark for public safety and to preserve the fragile environment. Carmanah Walbran is way off the beaten track on the southwest corner of the island, so visitor numbers are very low. Don’t be alarmed to encounter no other hikers while enjoying the silence and solitude of this remote and wilderness park.

Randy Stoltman Grove, Carmanah Walbran Park, Vancouver Island

Strathcona Provincial Park
Location: Central Vancouver Island
The rugged wilderness areas, glaciers, snowfields and mountains of Strathcona Park provide endless opportunities for day hiking and multi-day backpacking trips. Trailheads are situated at 3 locations in the park: hiking routes originate in the Forbidden Plateau region to the summit of Mount Becher and to McKenzie Meadows, and other trails into Forbidden Plateau begin from the Paradise Meadows trailhead on Mount Washington. Great Central Lake is the trailhead for the Della Falls Trail.

Trail alongside Battleship Lake, Strathcona Provincial Park, Vancouver Island

East Sooke Regional Park
Location: Greater Victoria, South Vancouver Island
East Sooke Park is one of the most spectacular parks in the Greater Victoria region, providing over 50 kilometres of trails through forest, marsh and field, with pocket beaches, rocky bays and tidal pools for exploring. The ten-kilometre Coast Trail is considered one of the premier day hikes in Canada, taking hikers through lush rain forest, along windswept bluffs and down to the ocean’s edge. The trail is rough and winding, a challenging 6–hour trip even for energetic or experienced hikers. More on the Coast Trail.

Petroglyph at Alldridge Point on the Coast Trail, East Sooke Park, Victoria, Vancouver Island

Sea temperature – nine degree Celsius. Neoprene. Southeast Winds. Tall spruce trees. Towering coastal mountains. All things that package together to create the little pocket of heaven on Vancouver Island’s west coast that is Tofino, home to some of Canada’s best cold water surfing.

It hasn’t always been that you could step out onto Long Beach or Cox Bay in Tofino on any day and see an ocean swimming with surfers. Only since the 1960’s, when the improving technology of neoprene wetsuits blended with the building of a road from the interior to the west coast, has surfing taken off in one of Canada’s most pristine and popular tourist destinations.

Pacific Surf Company began indulging visitors from far and wide in the sport of cold water surfing in 1998, and has been loving it ever since. Offering lessons, rentals, and shop merchandise year round, Pacific Surf Co. guarantees you the best west coast, cold water surf experience possible.

Cold water surfing popularity is on the rise globally, leaving many people around the world shaking their head and wondering why, or how crazy one has to be to dip into water recorded below ten degrees Celsius. Well, Pacific Surf Co. gives you four reasons why cold water surfing beats out the seemingly more attractive warm water surfing.

Colder water = smaller crowds.
It is true that getting into that thick wetsuit, pulling on a hood, boots, and gloves, will deter some of the usual crowd that normally would eagerly plunge into the ocean to try their chance at a wave. One of our favourite things about cold water surfing is the escape you can often find from the busy sea that warm water surfing usually attracts.

Stunning, more remote landscapes.
Our charming town of Tofino included, cold water surfing often hides in some of the world’s most beautiful, more remote, locations. Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, and yes, Canada, all offer stunning landscapes of tall trees, towering mountains, and addictive non-stop waves.

Forget about sunscreen (except maybe for your face).
Your wetsuit has many functions; one being to protect most of you from the sun’s powerful rays. No more worrying whether or not the white cream you carefully applied hours ago is going to last through your session. When you’re surfing in these parts of the world, all you’ll need is just A little zinc-based sun protection to take care of your face.

Meet the other, dedicated surfers just like yourself that are willing to brave colder temperatures.
Along the way, cold water surfing brings together amazing people who know the biggest secret of all in cold water surfing. You don’t actually get very cold.

Visit Pacific Surf Company online or at their store location in Tofino, British Columbia. You’ll find us on the right side of Campbell Street as you drive into downtown Tofino, next door to our friends at Storm Surf Shop.

Pacific Surf School
430 Campbell Street
Tofino, BC
V0R 2Z0

Phone: 1-250-725-2155
Toll-free: 1-888-777-9961
Website: www.pacificsurfschool.com

Photo Credits:
Top and Bottom Image: Robert Fiorella
Middle Image: Tucker Sherman

More information on Tofino, British Columbia.