(3 nights camping and 4 nights ocean view B&B). Not far off the remote coast of Vancouver Island, this tour combines a 4 day / 3 night kayak experience where guests can ‘kayak with the orcas' followed by a full day boat tour into Knight Inlet to see grizzly bears. No kayak experience is required.
Tour Summary
This wildlife tour on Canada's west coast is for active travellers keen to see orcas and grizzlies in their natural habitat. We take care of the arrangements to get you to and from Alert Bay on Cormorant Island – the jumping off point for your wildlife tours. You’ll travel first by coach up Vancouver Island to a small port from where you catch a ferry to Alert Bay, a small community with a thriving First Nations culture. The next day you’re on a water taxi, your packed dry bags in hand, being whisked away into the heart of Johnston Strait with your fellow paddlers.
You’re heading to an even more remote island where your kayak base camp is located – too late to turn back now! You’ll spend the next four days kayaking uninhabited bays, channels and lagoons, surrounded by wildlife. Our maximum group of 8 paddlers will be accompanied by two certified kayak guides. In the evening, you can kick back by the campfire or explore some nearby trails in the old growth forest at your doorstep. During the night, we can sometimes hear the orcas blowing as they pass by our camp.
After your west coast kayak tour, get ready for an exciting day of grizzly bear watching - this nine hour marine tour has a 90% success rate! We head into Knight Inlet, a 105 kilometre glacier carved fjord as deep as 540 meters at some points. Vast unpopulated mountain ranges, wide estuaries and large tracts of old growth forests provide ideal habitat for these incredible animals. As we drift along, we’ll see them onshore, foraging for salmon and rummaging for crabs and isopods.
During your stay in Alert Bay, you can relax in the comfort and serenity of a log lodge overlooking Johnstone Strait. A large common room and sundecks are favourite places for guests to gather and converse. Here, you'll be able to ramble around this 3000 square foot log building, walk to the village of Alert Bay to shop for native crafts and take in other First Nations attractions. Your last day includes a trip up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy Airport for your flight to Vancouver.
Please note:
- Once you book, we provide you with comprehensive pre-departure information. Click here for an excerpt.
- In order to obtain the price quoted, we recommend booking at least 90 days in advance. Otherwise, additional charges for higher air and coach costs may apply.
- Please contact us by January 31, 2012 regarding any early bird discounts that may apply to this tour.
- Duration
- 8 days, 7 nights
- Departs
-
Victoria, BC or Vancouver, BC
- Arrives
-
Vancouver, BC
- Activity Level
- Moderate
- Max Group Size
- 8 guests on the kayak tour. The waterfront lodge, which provides pre and post kayak tour accommodation, has four rooms.
- Accommodation
- 3 nights camping; 4 nights bed and breakfast accommodation at the lodge.
- Transport
- Transport includes local coach to Port McNeill, a small ferry to Alert Bay, single and or double kayak during the kayak tour, motor boat to view grizzly bears and orcas, and a commercial fight back to Vancouver.
- Meals
- 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, and 4 dinners
- Activity Notes
- While no previous kayak experience is required, individuals should be of average fitness and be prepared to paddle from 5 to 6 hours a day.
Included
This Vancouver Island west coast wildlife tour includes:
- One 4 day/3 night kayak tour including all camping gear and group hydrophone
- 9 hour grizzly bear tour
- 7 nights accommodation (4 nights lodge; 3 nights camping)
- 7 breakfasts, 5 lunches and 4 dinners
- Admission ticket to U'Mista Cultural Centre
- Water taxi services to and from Alert Bay on Day 2 and Day 5
- Coach from Victoria or from Vancouver to Port McNeill
- Admission ticket to U'Mista Cultural Centre
- Taxi from Port McNeill to Port Hardy Airport
- Air from Port Hardy to Vancouver
The kayak tour is inclusive of meals and gear. We supply double and single kayaks, paddling jackets, paddling mitts, dry bags, group hydrophone, natural history library, camping equipment and tents, sleeping bag and bag liner, sleeping pad (Therm-a-rest), camp chairs and propane heated shower. Camp meals begin with lunch on Day 2 and end with lunch on Day 5.
Not Included
- The single supplement of $240 provides for a private room at the lodge
- In lieu of the coach trip from Victoria, an optional air and transfer package to Alert Bay from Vancouver is $275
- Meals where not stated
- Alert Bay Ferry passenger fee of $9.00
- Kayak guide gratuities
- HST
Optional Activities
- Native Dancing at the Big House
- Additional nights accommodation at the lodge
- Ocean fishing
“Paws and Jaws” Wildlife Tour Itinerary
Day 1. Alert Bay, BC
After an early morning departure from Victoria, your coach begins its winding journey up the east coast of Vancouver Island. Vancouver Island is 460 kilometres long and today’s journey will cover 420. As we head north, you’ll notice how quickly small towns and villages yield to forests, fields and farms. Soon after passing the town of Campbell River (pop. 30,000), the highway narrows to single lane and we enter the Nimpkish Valley. Now the human population has essentially been replaced by wild animals - Roosevelt Elk, deer and bear frequent this area.
The coach arrives at the small town of Port McNeill (pop. 2600) in time for you to collect your luggage and make the five minute walk to the ferry to Alert Bay (pop. 1000). Upon your arrival at the ferry terminal, the manager of the lodge will escort you to the lodge. The manager will also help you get sorted for your kayak trip and will store your excess luggage. After dinner, you may enjoy a stroll along the waterfront, take in the ocean and mountain views from the sundeck, or enjoy a read from our library.
Meals: Dinner
Accommodation: Waterfront Lodge
Day 2. Johnstone Strait, BC
After breakfast, you leave your non-essential luggage at the Lodge, grab your dry bags and head for the dock to meet the water taxi. This high speed boat will spirit you down Johnstone Strait to your base camp into the heart of orca territory. After a short introduction to kayaking you’ll start your exploration of the islands, bays and channels with up to seven fellow kayakers, paddling daily in a pristine wilderness environment.
Located on an island with an old growth forest, your base camp comes complete with tent platform, tents, a well laid out camp kitchen, drop toilets - even hot showers! The guides are great cooks and, with notice, can cater to a wide variety of dietary preferences. There is good swimming to be had from the beach and a campfire every night.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Camping
Day 3. Johnstone Strait, BC
During the tour, your guide will also explain how our whale watching practices conform to Be Whale Wise guidelines established by Fisheries and Oceans Canada. Our standard equipment includes an underwater hydrophone that enables us to eavesdrop on orca conversations. Using the hydrophone and a photographic catalogue, your guide will help you distinguish between various orca clans.
Also close by are many islets that are home to numerous sea birds and seals and the more protected inner passages of Broughton Archipelago where evidence still survives of past First Nations' use. Our exact routes will vary each day depending on possible wildlife sightings, currents, tides and weather. The nearby waters in Johnstone Strait are well populated with Bald eagles, harbour seals, dolphins, porpoises, and rich inter-tidal life. In the evening, we can stretch our legs along forest trails.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Camping
Day 4. Johnstone Strait, BC
As we search for signs of orcas, our paddling routes take us along forested shorelines, rock cliffs inhabited by bald eagles, and through hidden coves and lagoons. A promising sign is the presence of salmon – the orca’s favourite dish. At any moment we may see a fin break water or encounter a pod of orcas as we round a bend in the coastline. When this happens, we form a ‘raft’ by coming together as a group and grabbing the gunnels of a fellow paddler’s kayak. If we are lucky, the orcas will not interrupt their path and will swim either beside our raft, or underneath it.
We generally paddle for several hours in the morning and then break for a shore lunch to suntan, beachcomb and stretch our legs. Several hours after lunch we return to camp and relax with our favourite beverage as our guide prepares dinner.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Camping
Day 5. Alert Bay, BC
Today is our final morning our wilderness paradise. You have the option to go for a hike, lounge around the campsite for go for a final morning paddle. Our water taxi picks us up shortly after lunch for the journey back to civilization. Generally, we return to Alert Bay by 3:30 pm. You'll have plenty of time to unpack and go for an evening stroll along the boardwalk as you consider a place to dine.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Waterfront Lodge
Day 6. Alert Bay, BC
We've set this day aside for you to explore the village of Alert Bay. After breakfast, the lodge manager will provide you with a map highlighting attractions on the 5 kilometer long Cormorant Island and tickets to U'Mista Cultural Centre which features the reclaimed potlatch collection, exploring the Ecological Gardens and walking the Big Tree Trail. If your free days falls on a Thursday, Friday or Saturday we recommend the dance ceremony at the Big House. Or you may choose to lounge in the expansive common room at the lodge, and enjoy the view, a good book and a pot of tea.
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Waterfront Lodge
Day 7. Alert Bay, BC
Your grizzly bear tour boat arrives to pick you up 6:45 am. On this boat ride, you’ll join up to 11 fellow wildlife enthusiasts to journey deep into a wilderness fjord to look for grizzly bears. We head for Knight Inlet, a deep, glacier-carved fjord and then into Glendale Cove, home to one of the largest grizzly bear populations in British Columbia. During a salmon turn, we may see up to 40 bears in this area. On a regular basis, we can see the grizzly bears feed at high tide on sedges and grasses; low tide brings more bears out to turn over large boulders as they search for crabs, isopods and beach barnacles. We turn to Alert Bay by 4:00 pm, hopefully with a camera chocked full of wonderful pictures.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Accommodation: Waterfront Lodge
Day 8. Fly out from Port Hardy, BC
After breakfast we'll get you on the right ferry from Alert Bay to start your trip up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy Airport. At Port McNeill you’ll be picked up by taxi and escorted to Port Hardy Airport. Here, you catch an afternoon scheduled flight to Vancouver, BC
Meals: Breakfast
Accommodation: Not provided
The order of activities on Day 6 and 7 may vary due to weather conditions and logistics with local tour operators.
