Vancouver Island wildlife tours, Canada
| country: | Canada | ||||
| location: | Vancouver Island | ||||
| departures: | Departure dates are subject to room availability at Alert Bay Lodge. The season for this tour starts on June 15 and ends September 20. | ||||
| price: | From CA $1,495 (5 days) ex flights.
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| more info: | Price includes 4 nights accommodation, some meals, 9 hour grizzly bear tour, half day wildlife and orca/whale watching tour, coach tour (Victoria - Port McNeill), admission ticket to U’Mista Cultural Centre, taxi from Port McNeill to Port Hardy Airport, air transfer (Port Hardy - Vancouver). Single suppliment CA $210. Discount provided for children that share the same room with their parents. | ||||
| vouchers: | Gift vouchers can be used with this holiday |
the amazing things you'll be doing
Explore pristine waters and wilderness areas to see Orcas ("killer whales") and grizzlies off the northeast coast of Vancouver Island, Canada.
The setting for this eco-adventure is the remote coastal wilderness that encompasses Johnstone Strait, a deep and narrow glacier-carved passage between the east coast of Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. This area sports sheltered waters and plentiful marine life, including the largest population of orcas in western North America.
During the course of your three full days on Cormorant Island, one day will be occupied by whale watching and another day will focus on grizzly bear viewing. We've set aside a third day to explore the Village of Alert Bay (pop. 1,300), one of the few remaining authentic coastal communities on the west coast of British Columbia. Please note that the scheduling of activities on these three days may vary from the itinerary (below).
Alert Bay Lodge is a five room inn that overlooks Johnstone Strait, enabling panoramic views of sunsets, local marine traffic and sometimes pods of orcas. In keeping with the 'retreat' atmosphere of the lodge, rooms do not have television sets. A large common room and its sundecks are favourite places for guests to gather, converse and dine.
The setting for this eco-adventure is the remote coastal wilderness that encompasses Johnstone Strait, a deep and narrow glacier-carved passage between the east coast of Vancouver Island and the BC mainland. This area sports sheltered waters and plentiful marine life, including the largest population of orcas in western North America.
During the course of your three full days on Cormorant Island, one day will be occupied by whale watching and another day will focus on grizzly bear viewing. We've set aside a third day to explore the Village of Alert Bay (pop. 1,300), one of the few remaining authentic coastal communities on the west coast of British Columbia. Please note that the scheduling of activities on these three days may vary from the itinerary (below).
Alert Bay Lodge is a five room inn that overlooks Johnstone Strait, enabling panoramic views of sunsets, local marine traffic and sometimes pods of orcas. In keeping with the 'retreat' atmosphere of the lodge, rooms do not have television sets. A large common room and its sundecks are favourite places for guests to gather, converse and dine.
day-by-day itinerary
| Day 1: | After an early morning departure from downtown Victoria, our coach begins its journey up the east coast of Vancouver Island. We pass by small towns, separated by forests and rolling hills. After Campbell River, the Island Highway takes us into the sparsely populated Nimpkish Valley - keep your eyes peeled for Roosevelt Elk and black bears. The coach tour concludes in Port McNeill in time to make the 5:00 pm ferry sailing to Alert Bay. After a 35 minute voyage, a taxi will take you from the ferry terminal down the ocean road to Alert Bay Lodge. |
| Day 2: | Our whale tours depart Alert Bay at 10:00 am for an exciting six hour tour of the inlets, islands and waterways in Johnstone Strait and the Broughton Archipelago. During our tour, your guide leads the search for orcas, humpback and Minke whales. Other marine life sighting opportunities include Dahl Porpoises, Harbour Porpoises, Pacific White Sided Dolphins and sea lions. Bald eagles and many species of birds are plentiful and, along the shore, black bear, deer and cougar may be spotted. The tour returns to Alert Bay by 4:00 pm, in time to repair to the local pub or do some shopping. A floater suit, warm gloves and a picnic lunch are included. On-shore rest stops are provided to stretch our legs, enjoy lunch and examine the local flora and fauna |
| Day 3: | 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, tickets to U’Mista Cultural Centre and a picnic lunch. The village can be explored by foot from your accommodation. Attractions include the village of Alert Bay including the Tourism Information Centre, and shops and galleries featuring native art, the U’Mista Cultural Centre featuring historic and contemporary artwork, including First Nations reclaimed potlatch collection (admission included), First Nations dancing at the Big House (schedule permitting), the Ecological Gardens and Big Tree Trail: a series of easy walking trails located at the top of the island. These attractions are about 2 kilometers from the village. |
| Day 4: | We depart at 6:45 am from Alert Bay for a full day on the water to seek out grizzly bears in their natural habitat. Our destination is Knight Inlet, a two hour ride by covered boat into Johnstone Strait. Becoming famous for its population of Grizzly bears, Knight Inlet is surrounded by snow-capped mountains, steep-sided, forested cliffs and active marine life. Here we drift, paddle and motor quietly around an estuary, looking to spot grizzly bears as they feed on the sedges and grasses at high tide. Low tide brings more bears out, and we may see them turn over large boulders in their search for crabs, isopods and beach barnacles. On some tides we transfer to our flat bottomed skiff to get into the shallows. Please bring your binoculars and camera! |
| Day 5: | After breakfast we'll call your taxi to take you to your ferry departure for Port McNeill. Your up-Island journey continues when you’re picked up by taxi at the McNeill Ferry Terminal and escorted Port Hardy Airport. Here, you catch an afternoon scheduled flight to Vancouver, BC. |
how this holiday makes a difference
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Community
Our pre-departure information is tailored to the specific destinations we travel to. Each document contains information on travelling responsibly and social and environmental issues in the particular area. Our small group adventures utilize local outfitters, stay in small scale, locally owned accommodation and frequent local shops for meals, supplies and crafts. These practices facilitate a high degree of contact with locals and ensures that the economic development our business brings goes directly to local businesses and communities. Alert Bay artists are known around the world for their paintings, carved masks, figurines and cedar boxes. Examples of this art can be purchased in several shops and viewed at the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay. On our Vancouver Island Wildlife Tour we ask our guests to respect the culture and traditions of Alert Bay by supporting First Nation shops and attending First Nation events (a list of shops, attractions and events is outlined in our pre-departure package). In turn, they are rewarded with experiences and gracious hosts that contribute to a very unique travel experience. We use established local operators for our marine tours including those that employ local native and non-native guides. Our grizzly bear operator has tenure with the Kwakwaka'wakw people to observe grizzlies in Knight Inlet. We also use utilize local whale watching operators, all of whom are Coast Guard certified and observe whale proximity requirements that are monitored by Straitwatch. Our guides are intimately familiar with the communities we tour, including being cognizant of the need for our guests to be culturally sensitive. This dynamic is particularly important with our this tour, which takes place in a primarily native community. More information on these dynamics is provided in our pre-departure information. In all of our tours, including those featured in Responsible Travel, we provide informal opportunities for individuals and small groups of travellers to mix and dialogue with locals. Environment The company is strong advocate of local environmental groups that are calling for an end to salmon farming on BC’s west coast. Scientific evidence has proven that salmon farms generate sea lice that infest juvenile salmon stocks. To this end, $50 of every tour sold is directed to Save Our Salmon Marine Conservation Foundation. Our bear viewing and whale watching guides are local to the area and are also committed environmentalists. Guests are also informed about Straitwatch, a volunteer marine warden program in Alert Bay that monitors whale watching operators. We have strict rules that travellers do not leave the vehicle they are in, whether it be a boat or tour van, if they see wildlife. This rule ensures that our guide is always in control of people / wildlife boundaries. Travellers are not permitted to ‘bushwack’ – going off designated trails due to safety and environmental impact concerns. As well, we educate travellers on pertinent environmental issues in the areas we travel, such as those affecting salmon runs, how to reduce forest fire hazards and reducing consumption of packaged goods while on tour (eg providing healthy snacks for travellers to carry with them instead of buying junk food at local stores). As well, we solicit and act upon client comments as how to improve our sustainable tourism practices. We use recycled tissue and environmentally friendly cleaning products. Our office staff are provided with a secure place to store their bicycles and encouraged to car pool. Inter-office documents are printed on the blank side of previously used paper. Light bulbs are all low energy. We support the following environmental charities in Canada: The Land Conservancy, the Alpine Club of Canada and the BC Wilderness Tourism Association. As owners of Alert Bay Lodge we also have excellent relationships with the ‘Namgis people, the main band in the area. One of the attractions we include in this tour is the entrance fee to the ‘Umista Cultural Centre which features the history of the Alert Bay area including the potlatch collection that was stolen from the ‘Namgis in the 1920’s. As outlined in our pre-departure information we also recommend local First Nations attractions including dance ceremonies, the carver’s studio and local shops that sell First Nation arts and crafts. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |