Vancouver Island Vacation Recommendations

[TheReefGeek]

Going to be taking a 2 week vacation on Vancouver Island. It is just two of us and our dog, no kids. We would like to spend 1 week at two different locations.

Any recommendations for where we should go and stay? We would like a cabin or rental house with kitchen, etc. Some of the things we would like to do is day trips canoeing, hiking, etc.

[Jason McK]

I've only ever been a tourist there as well, But Tofino is a must in my mind.

There is so much to see an do on the island it is very hard to make 1 spot a home base. You could start with Victoria and then move north.

J

[Delphinus]

Vancouver Island has a tourism website which would be a good place to start @ http://vancouverisland.travel/pub/islandtime/

The whole island though has several distinct zones, you could never do it all in a few weeks. Personally, I quite like the Parksville/Qualicum areas and then Pacific Rim Nat'l Park (Tofino, Ucluelet). Or Victoria would also be good. Each of those areas you should spend at least a week.

[TheReefGeek]

Anyone been around Campbell River?

Is Victoria really city-like, or is a nice place to relax too? I was going to spend a day there, but if it is nice I will plan more.

I have a bit over two weeks, so far I am planning a few days in Victoria, then 1 week in Tofino, and 1 week somewhere else, maybe this Parksville/Qualicum area, I will check it it!

Thanks for the link too, I had done some basic searches in there, but there is so much, so many places I didn't know where to start.

[muck]

http://vancouverisland.travel/pub/islandtime/ (http://vancouverisland.travel/pub/islandtime/)

Sounds like agood place to start to me too.. :mrgreen:

[Murminator]

But Tofino is a must in my mind.

J

AGREED !!! a must, drive there is cool to, except the rain
We parked our trailer in Nanaimo (living forest campground, ocean front :mrgreen: ) and drove everywhere. The Island is very nice and a LOT of rain....I got in a argument with the campground owner about all the rain and told him REALLY needed to get the Island.....but thats a different story

I went to Campbell River .....no I didn't catch a big tyee :cry: went to the big dock and thats about it, nice little town rained there too. Would definatly go back.

We may go back next summer to Tofino we loved it there but Maybe stay at a resort this time

Victoria Craigrock(sp) castle, miniture world, the park (Queen Mary? or Elizabeth??) the docks for the cruise ships and just down the road there is a floating resturant (Think it had Newfie in the name) that has awesome fish and chips....gotta have F&C

I'll stop rambling now....Have fun

[Kabong]

Coming from Edmonton Rory you'll probably laugh that we even call Victoria a city.
So yeah it's pretty small and there lots of little shops and stuff to do.
You can wander around with no fear of getting mugged or anything :biggrin:

Tofino and Parksville are great for large sandy beaches.
But hey i know what you really want to see..... Tide pools!
Botanical beach is the place to check out.
http://www.portrenfrew.com/botbeach.htm
Its a long drive but can be done as a nice day trip from Victoria.
Even better if you spend the night in Sooke.
Just remember to check the tide table.
High tide = Bad
Low tide = good

[TheReefGeek]

Thanks for all the info guys!

Tide pools would be awesome, the wife likes marine stuff too.

I want to go diving while I am there too, anyone know of some good places to dive, and dive centers to use?

[Swags]

Do a night dive on Ogden Point Breakwater. Incredible is the only word I can think of. There is a dive center with showers and all you need right there too!
Cheers,
Phil

[TheReefGeek]

I did read about that one already, good to hear from someone in person though, thanks!

If I go down to victoria area I will for sure dive it.

[Jaws]

I've lived just about everywhere on Vancouver Island at one point and now I'm in Victoria. Tofino, like everyone else suggested, is a must. The rest depends on what you're looking for; Victoria is great and very well presented. I would probably say you could do Victoria in a day or two though. There's lots of shops and attractions around town to see. For nature Botanical Beach sounds great. Also Bamfield is a huge marine biology attraction. Do a google search and check it out. This place is considered to be one of the nicest attractions in the world if you can get there:

http://www.bigpacific.com/whattodo/princess.html

[TheReefGeek]

Thanks for the info Jason. Im thinking the island would be a pretty nice place to work and live!

We don't want to spend any time in shops or anything. We want to relax and read books, and do day-trips. I would like to do some diving along the way, go canoeing, hopefully go on a whale-watching tour, go bungee jumping in nanaimo, maybe do some caving. And we want to stay in full service cabins.

[Delphinus]

Im thinking the island would be a pretty nice place to work and live!


Whoa there ... you take a number, now!!!! :razz:

[TheReefGeek]

Is it tough to find jobs there?

Jason, I know about the University of Victoria, are there other universities or colleges on the island?

Some friends/family just moved to campbell river last year, now that I have researched it a bit, I am jealous!

[muck]

You can have my number.. Ive decided a nice property in a gated community in Scottsdale will suit me just fine.. :mrgreen:
hmm... or maybe California once China gets control.. Hong Diego has a nice ring to it.

[Ruth]

My family all lives in Naniamo and I am very grateful :mrgreen: There are lots of jobs on the Island just know that you will be competing with PHd's for a Wal Mart greeter job. There is very stiff qualified competition for most job vacancies IME just about anywhere on the Island.

[TheReefGeek]

So my masters degree won't even get me a walmart job, thats not good! :sad:

After our vacation there, if the wife really likes it too, might be worth checking out though, we love nature.

But then I would have to pay PST, and that is against my religion......

[Coldwater]

Before I start this post is too all of the people inerested in coming over to the island.
The west coast of the island is the way to go. The east is just full of old people and boring beaches. If you dive there are some great places near Nanimo and all up and down the west coast. Tofino is really cool any time of the year. Strathcona Park is good for a while. If fishing is your thing you can go out of Ucluelet for a day trip and catch lots of good food. If whales amaze you go on a whale watching tour otherwise dont and save the time and money. If you are going near Parksville there is a resurant called Pacific Shores and they have fairly good food and a big local saltwater tank in the center (it has a wolf fish). If you spend alot of time on the island you SHOULD take a trip on the MV Uchuck to Friendly Cove for the day. Its wicked there and I have some pictures if you want. I will think of more stuff later.

Matt

[TheReefGeek]

Thanks Matt, do post more as you think of it!

[Kabong]

Just remember all you guys thinking it would be nice to move here.
The average price of a home last year was $500,000

[marie]

Just to do my part to push Powell River tourism :biggrin:

Canoeing and camping http://www.discoverpowellriver.com/visitors/canoekayak.htm

Diving
http://www.discoverpowellriver.com/visitors/dive.html

and we're just a ferry ride from the Island

[TheReefGeek]

Was that the average across the whole island?

[muck]

Just to do my part to push Powell River tourism :biggrin:

Canoeing and camping http://www.discoverpowellriver.com/visitors/canoekayak.htm

Diving
http://www.discoverpowellriver.com/visitors/dive.html

and we're just a ferry ride from the Island

You forgot the most important one... "Marie's Tank Tour". :mrgreen:

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

Yup, Marie's tank tour is worth every penny. I lived 4 years in Powell River & there are many great places to visit on that side of the water. I highly recommend taking the boat taxi over to Savary Island & spending the day or more on the beach. It's gorgeous there.

Anthony

[Kabong]

Was that the average across the whole island?

Thats for the Greater Victoria area. But the lower 1/2 of the island is all pretty close to that range, Unless you want to move to the middle of no where. North 1/2 of the island is cheaper but is more country living if you know what i mean.

[StirCrazy]

Ok couple things, I personally would not recommend a west coast tour of the Island, yes pick a place on the west coast like tofeno and visit it but there is actually not much of a way to tour the west coast as the main road is up the east coast. so if you go to a place on the west coast you end up back tracking to get anywhere else.

now in Victoria there are several parks, Ocean walks ect to see.. I think if you alot two days for Victoria you will be good, then you got bouchart gardens, if you like gardens and stuff like that it ranks up with the best and you can spend the better part of a day just wandering in there. my recommendation is to go there on a Saturday about noon - mid afternoon depending on how much you like looking at plants, then leave after the fireworks.

there are also two good castle tours, on down townish Victoria, the other is in Colwood (about 20 min drive from downtown)

as you go up Island Cathedral Grove is a definite see, (huge ass trees) the town of Chemanis is becoming world famous for the murals painted by famous painters on sides of buildings. there is pretty much a scenic drive all the way up the island that follows the water line so if you like that you will find all sorts of little towns and nick nack stores, restaurants ect.. if you are in to Caving Horn lake is becoming world renowned for its caves.

there is a ton more but I will stop here.. find a good website, I had one I will post the like if I can find it.

Steve

[TheReefGeek]

Thanks Steve for the info, I had read about Horn Lake Caving and was planning to go there, I do enjoy caving and they have some neat 3 and 4 hour tours there.

Most people seem to enjoy the west end of the island around Tofino, what is there to do there? It seems to me that most of the stuff to do is alone the east side.

Im not into sitting on the beach, so maybe Tonfino is not the place for me?

[christyf5]

I agree with Steve, Tofino is a bloody long drive for a walk on the beach and a 5 minute tour through town. You don't want to spend your whole day driving. If you need to go to the beach, Botanical Beach or Rathtrevor get the job done for me.

[Delphinus]

Tofino isn't about sitting on a beach.. But it is rustic - If you're not into seeing the raw rainforest then it might not be for you. I like going there but then that's because it's a very cool destination for kayaking. If you set up base camp in, say, the Parksville area then you can do Tofino/Ucluelet as a day trip (a long day trip, but a day trip nonetheless) and then you can decide whether it's worth returning for a longer stay on a future trip. Accomodations can be sketchy (your choices are limited to some very expensive resorts, or bed & breakfasts, or camping. But forget camping unless you're prepared to pre-book three months in advance!)

If you do, there are some amazing day trips you can make out of Tofino such as Hot Springs Cove.

But if you do, say, make base camp in Parsville or Qualicum, you can also get to Port Alberni. The MV Lady Rose is an old ferry which makes a run to the Broken Group Islands and to Bamfield. Be prepared for an early start though, the boat leaves dock at 8am sharp and P.A. is a bit of a hike from Parksville. I've done it so it can be done just be prepared for an early start to the day. But it's a worthwhile day trip in my opinion. Bamfield is another one of those rustic places that may turn your crank or it may not. It's also way out in the middle of nowhere, and unless you're a marine biologist working at the Station, or a hiker embarking or disembarking the WCT (West Coast Trail), or a hippee, you may not find there's much there for you. But the trip there is something else. Don't drive to Bamfield, you'll only see clear cuts and logging roads, but the boat to Bamfield is just out of this world.

Having hiked the WCT twice in my life I have a strong affinity for the area out there. But it's not necessarily everyone's cup of tea. I suggest you have to do it once and then decide whether there's enough connection for you to figure out where to go next. The west coast of the island is pure raw nature. The east coast is more, for lack of a better term, civilized.

If you are into beaches Hornby Island has an incredible beach that on a sunny day, you will not beleive you're in Canada anymore, but stepped through a portal to the south Pacific. If you're into diving, Hornby Island also offers a rather different experience, you can dive and see six gill sharks. Nowhere else are these guys found outside tropical waters, or so I understand, but off Hornby there's a spot they like to congregate. Weird stuff.

Rathtrevor beach is a very family friendly campground. I've been going to that spot since the early seventies (and I was 3 years old). But if you want to camp there, again, be prepared to book three months in advance. It is, quite literally, the most popular campground in the province. At one time it was, at least. A few years there it suddenly wasn't, when there was fungus discovered growing on trees. However West Nile and SARS have taken over that hysteria these days and people are returning to the spot.

If you're into windsurfing or kitesailing and fancy yourself as better than average, try out the Alberni inlet or Nitinat Lake.

If you're into seeing really big trees, another thing to consider is visiting Carmanah provincial park. A really long day trip from anywhere though, on long dusty bumpy logging roads. It's probably worth doing once though, I think. One thing to bear in mind though, at one time you used to be able to touch the coast from Carmanah, but ever since the WCT invoked a reservation system the network of paths were shutdown being squatters were sneaking onto the trail from there and thereby avoiding the fees and so on. So if people tell you "oh you can get onto the WCT from there" .. no .. no you can't. Not without risking getting in trouble, anyhow. But Carmanah is a fabulous old growth forest. Well worth seeing.

Hiking the WCT is something you should do once in your lifetime. I've done it twice. :) It ranks right up there with, say, hiking the Machu Pikku trail, as one of those "ultimate backpacking adventures" and it's right out on our doorstep (figuratively). I.e., the Inca trail is somewhat further away.

There is now the Juan de Fuca trail south of Port Renfrew (the other endpoint of the WCT). It's somewhat easier to traverse, you don't quite have to be an extreme granola in order to get to it and hike it (or parts of it). Something I've been meaning to check out.

Oh yeah, there's good mountain biking too on the Island. :lol: But maybe I've talked enough for now.

I could just go on and on.

[TheReefGeek]

extreme granola that's awesome, lol.

Thanks for the info Tony, I will see if the wife fancies a couple days in Tofino, to see if it is the kind of place we like or not, and could plan a future trip there if we do like it.

Are the forests around Tofino really different than the east coast?

[Delphinus]

Well..... I would say yes. But it's an example you can see throughout the province. The western edges of the mountain ranges, being the windward side, is where all the rains fall as the humid air is pushed east. So the eastern leeward edges are drier. The resulting difference in flora (and perhaps fauna) are to me quite fascinating.

The west coast of the Island is wet, wet, wet. It is 12 degrees and raining any day of the year out there. The east coast of the island can get wet too, but you're more likely to enjoy sunny and warm (basically subtropical) on the east coast.

Has anyone mentioned Goats on the Roof yet??? The Coombs market, aka Goats on the Roof, is absolute must-see. One of the best farmers markets I've ever been to. The place has been around forever and is a total landmark of the area. It too is near the Parksville/Qualicum area. If you go to Englishman River Falls provincial park or to Port Alberni, you can't help but drive past there.

I'm headed out to the Island in August myself for just over a week. I'm hoping to make a few forays into Strathcona Park this time. I've never checked it out so I'm looking forward to that.

Oh yeah, the caving at Horn Lake. That's a freaky experience for sure. Go into a hole in the ground at one place, come out of a different hole somewhere else. Totally surreal!! Nearby Spider Lake is also a neat spot for maybe a lunch picnic or a swim in a FW lake.

[marie]

You forgot the most important one... "Marie's Tank Tour". :mrgreen:


And everyone goes home with free digitata :razz:

[StirCrazy]

Thanks Steve for the info, I had read about Horn Lake Caving and was planning to go there, I do enjoy caving and they have some neat 3 and 4 hour tours there.

Most people seem to enjoy the west end of the island around Tofino, what is there to do there? It seems to me that most of the stuff to do is alone the east side.

Im not into sitting on the beach, so maybe Tonfino is not the place for me?

the west side is beautiful, bug waves, windy rainy:mrgreen: but what you have is the main road running up the east side then there will be a turn off to tofino, so you go there, now to get to another place say north of tofino you have to go all the way ears again to the main road and go north until you find the next west turn off, that is unless you are into logging roads with no directions:mrgreen: depending what time of summer you are looking at you might want to go to long beach over night if there is a festival going on like the sand castle competition, it is pretty amazing.

Steve

[TheReefGeek]

Steve, so you don't think Tofino is worth the driving in your opinion?

[marie]

In my opinion, Tofino is definitely worth seeing, at least once.

[woodcarver]

Hi Rory, I have lived in the Mill Bay area ( 45k north of Victoria ) for 24 yrs ( less a three year exile to Ontario ! )
I have had a few visitors from the U.K. and back east .
If you come thro' Swartz Bay ,from Twassen ,which I recommend as the route through the gulf islands is nothing short of spectacular then I woud spend a couple of days in Victoria . Do the scenic route to see the splendid view from Dallas road looking accross at the Olympics .
Saxe Point Park is a lovely well maintained garden with again wonderful views.
An hour or to around the harbour is always interesting and if you were up to the walk the West Bay walkway leads to Esquimalt along the front ,over paths and board walks.
Drive over the Malahat stopping to take in the sights from all three lookouts ,at least dont miss the third one where the rock has been blasted as this must be one of the most incredible panoramas in the world ,looking out over the Gulf Islands .( On the way back take the Mill Bay - Brentwood ferry , a great way to end your trip )
As Steve mentioned Tofino is a few hours away down a very long winding road but is well worth the visit if you think you can afford to lose the travelling time.
Another thought would be to visit a couple of Gulf Islands ,say Saltspring and Quadra. Saltspring has its own charm and you should go up Mount Maxwell ,just outside Ganges , which you can drive to the summit and gaze over a frightening drop ( above the eagles ) at the awesome view in both directions.
Most of the islands have ferry services and have Kayak rentals etc.
Campbell River is not too far away but I find that ,unless you are a keen fisherman or want to whale watch then there is plenty to see and do to the south.
Cowichan Bay is a neat little fishing village ,stop in at the Rock Cod Cafe for a superb serving of fish and chips!( No I am am just a customer !!)
If you call ahead we may be around so you can stop for coffee .
Hope you enjoy our beautiful island .....................................Dave

[StirCrazy]

Steve, so you don't think Tofino is worth the driving in your opinion?

well I have been here 17 years now and still never got out there.. so... I am not a surfer and that is the main attraction of the east coast.. in my opinion, I can see rugged natural beauty anywhere on the Island so in my mind I don't need to drive to Tofino to see bigger waves.. see them in other places.

just remembered something, the inner harbor they have the Harbor ferry tours.. something like 15 bucks for about 40 min to an hour tour from the water.. walking around the Victoria harbor is cool but it is absolutely nothing compared to seeing it from the water.


Steve

[TheReefGeek]

Thanks Dave & Steve, much appreciated information.

I am looking at staying at Seascape Waterfront Resort on Quadra island, they have studios with full kitchens for $130 a night and the 7th night is free. Plus they have canoe and kayak rentals for free. My better half also have a cousin living in Campbell River we should visit.

If anyone knows of any nice cabins elswhere to stay at, please let me know. Probably someplace more south, victoria/nanaimo area to use as a base to explore the south.

[woodcarver]

Rory, Check out the artists and potters on quadra . There is one studio ,forget the name for the moment (south end) that has a beautiful garden with a resident artist and potter ,very nice work.Heriot House (?) used to be a great place to eat ,havent been for a while. Used to stay at Tza Kwaluten lodge on the reserve , lovely building overlooking the passage .
Cape Mudge museum is interesting and of course Rebecca Spit. As you are up in that area think of a visit to Denman and Hornby . Terrific park on Hornby ,Helliwell park. Lots of eagles etc.Gabriola just off Nanaimo has a bountiful market on Saturdays .
I will try to think of cabins to the south. There is Tigh Na Mara in Parksville and Rosebank cottages in Mill bay on the ocean........
Dave