Tofino Bus company has announced the expansion of its bus service to and on Vancouver Island, commencing on October 1, 2015. The new routes are in addition to their existing service from Victoria to Ucluelet and Tofino. Connections to Vancouver are also included on all new schedules.

Island Express to Tofino and Ucluelet
Tofino Bus Island Express is a locally-owned Vancouver Island bus company offering daily scheduled passenger service as well as charter bus services. Based in beautiful Tofino, on the west coast of Vancouver Island, Tofino Bus Island Express provides daily transportation to Tofino, Ucluelet and Port Alberni from Parksville, Nanaimo, Victoria and Vancouver. Passengers can access all the major points from Victoria to Tofino via the Tofino Highway 4. With daily departures, Tofino Bus Island Express makes visiting the scenic west coast of Vancouver Island easy, comfortable and convenient.

Tofino Bus manages the Port Alberni bus depot, offering direct express service to Tofino, Ucluelet, Nanaimo (both to the Nanaimo Bus Depot and the Departure Bay ferry terminal), and downtown Victoria. For additional information, call toll free 1-866-986-3466 in Tofino, or 250-724-1266 in Port Alberni.

All Island Express to North Vancouver Island
Tofino Bus All Island Express new North Island schedule provides three daily buses between Victoria, Nanaimo, Parksville, Buckley Bay, Courtenay, Campbell River, Port McNeill and Port Hardy. If you are travelling from Tofino, Ucluelet or Port Alberni northwards towards Port Hardy, they make a connection in Parksville for buses traveling to North Vancouver Island.

Travel to and from Vancouver
If you’re traveling to Vancouver and other mainland destinations from Tofino, Ucluelet or Port Alberni, Tofino Bus makes a daily direct connection to Greyhound buses in Nanaimo. If you’re heading to the island from Vancouver and the mainland, Tofino Bus provides service from Departure Bay Ferry Terminal in Nanaimo and the Nanaimo Bus Depot, the loading point for Vancouver Greyhound passengers to Port Alberni, Ucluelet and Tofino. The ferry service to Departure Bay Ferry Terminal is from the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal in West Vancouver. The new service out of Vancouver starts on October 15th at Pacific Central Station.

Greyhound
Tofino Bus is taking over routes previously operated by Greyhound Canada. As an interline partner with Greyhound, all Tofino Bus Island Express schedules connect with the Greyhound North-America-wide network. They will operate from the same bus stations as Greyhound, and they accept Greyhound tickets and freight.

Buses
Tofino Bus has a fleet of 21 buses serving their routes. Their motor coaches carry 48 passengers, minibuses carry 30 people and the company also operates smaller van-type buses.

Contact Tofino Bus Services Inc.
Head Office: 346 Campbell Street, Tofino, BC V0R 2Z0
Phone: 250-725-2871
Website: www.tofinobus.com
Email: info@tofinobus.com

Photo Credit: David Stanley

Hot Springs Cove is a splendid hot spring located in Maquinna Provincial Park on Vancouver Island in the remote northern end of Clayoquot Sound. The undeveloped natural hot mineral spring pools are still enjoyable in their natural state, reached via a pleasant two-kilometre boardwalk through old-growth rainforest from the landing on Openit Peninsula.

This part of Vancouver Island rests on an unstable portion of the earth’s crust, known as a fault. This major fault, extending offshore from Mate Island north along the west side of Hot Springs Cove to Hesquiaht Lake, is associated with intense heat and pressure generated from deep within the earth.

The hot springs are created by surface water flowing through a fault in the earth’s crust to a depth of about five kilometres. The water is heated to a temperature of 109 degrees Celsius and forced back to the surface by hydrostatic pressure, where it discharges through a fissure at an average temperature of 50 degrees C (122 degrees Fahrenheit).

The west coast of Vancouver Island was rocked by a 4.8-magnitude earthquake that hit 18 kilometres east-northeast of Tofino at a depth of 24 kilometres on Wednesday, 7 January, 2015. No property damage was reported, but officials from the Hesquiaht First Nation community of Hot Springs (Refuge Cove) village on the west side of the cove reported that the spring’s water was cool the day after the quake, and the sulphur smell was absent.

This news was chilling for the numerous adventure companies in Tofino, Ahousaht and Hotsprings Village that offer tours and transportation to Hot Springs Cove, which is only accessible by water or air. Equally distraught were the thousands of visitors from around the world who flock to the fabulous springs every year for a relaxing soak.

Fortunately, what nature takes away she is sometimes generous enough to restore, and by the Friday, just two days after the shake, the water was starting to warm again, and by the following day, Hot Springs Cove was back to its normal, steaming, blissful 50-degree best.

Plank on the Boardwalk to Hot Springs Cove. Clara said Yes! Photo: Ocean Outfitters, Tofino

This is not the first hot spring to suffer the consequence of an earthquake in British Columbia. Following the 7.7-magnitude earthquake that rocked Haida Gwaii on Saturday October 27, 2012, the three hot-spring pools on Hot Spring Island, or Gandll K’in Gwaayaay, were cold and empty. The shifting tectonic plates and reorganization of stress had evidently affected the pathways the water took to the surface. However, staff from Gwaii Haanas National Park announced in May 2014 that there was increased water flow, higher temperatures, and greater thermal activity than at any time since the earthquake, so the springs on Hot Spring Island could also return to normal over time.

More Information:
Hot Springs Cove
Maquinna Provincial Park
Tofino

Photos Above:

Relaxing soak at Hot Springs Cove, Vancouver Island. Photo: West Coast Aquatic Safaris, Tofino

Fast, safe and comfortable boat for the Hot Springs Cove tour. Photo: The Whale Centre, Tofino

The Boardwalk to Hot Springs Cove. Photo: Remote Passages Marine Excursions, Tofino

The residents of the quaint village of Ucluelet, on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, are justifiably proud of their Ucluelet Aquarium, which exhibits the amazing marine life that inhabits the waters of neighbouring Barkley Sound and Clayoquot Sound.

Not out of the ordinary, you might say, but Ucluelet Aquarium is unique in that they capture their marine creatures before the commencement of each season, and release the critters safely and humanely back into their marine habitat at the end of the season.

The animals on display at Ucluelet Aquarium may not be aware that they provide a stimulating hands-on and close-up learning environment for 30,000 adults and children every year, but the interesting and beautiful specimens are quite possibly aware that their well being is the primary concern of the aquarium … and that care is evident in the respectful and careful way they are treated and exhibited.

The Catch-and-Release practice minimizes the impact on the environment and ensures that displays are always new and interesting. The aquarium is located right on the promenade on Ucluelet Harbour, with fresh seawater from the harbour flowing directly through their exhibit tanks.

Saturday, December 6th, is the big release day this year, and the public is invited to participate and assist with the heartwarming and popular venture. All marine residents, including the Great Pacific Octopus, the starfish, sea urchins and sea cucumbers, and many species of fish, will be returned to the wild – back into the same areas and habitat from where they were collected.

These critters will likely be warmly welcomed back into their local hood, but man, do they ever have some explaining to do. Setting out to fetch dinner and returning six months later empty handed requires a pretty convincing explanation, and we all know how intelligent an octopus is, so Mister Octopus Prime had better have a plausible story prepared if he hopes to enjoy an eight-arm embrace from Missus Great Pacific.

Ucluelet Aquarium
180 Main Street
Ucluelet, BC V0R 3A0

Phone: 250-726-2782
Website: www.UclueletAquarium.org

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.