Wild West Coast

The waters off the west coast of Vancouver Island offers the intrepid paddler some of the best paddling in the world. As one journeys further up the coastline, small settlements are left behind and a true sense of solitude evoked by the timeless beauty of coastal mountains, ancient rain forests and the raw energy of the Pacific Ocean surround us. This is the Wild West Coast of Vancouver Island.

Our expedition begins in Fair Harbour, an hour’s drive from Zeballos on the north west coast of Vancouver Island. Our route will take us through a winding maze of inlets to the outside open Pacific Ocean and into the heart of Kyuquot Sound. From a drop-off in the Bunsby Islands, a gorgeous marine ecological reserve famous for it’s resident population of sea otters, we begin our adventure. We’ll embark upon a memorable journey exploring this spectacular area’s islands, inlets and the jewel that is the Brooks Peninsula.

Jutting ten miles out into the Pacific Ocean from the northwestern coastline of Vancouver Island, this amazing stretch of coastline is the most exciting and adventurous area one can paddle on the Island. In addition to great paddling, we may encounter a variety of wildlife including black bear, cougar, deer, seal and porpoises, chance encounters with both Orca and Grey whales, thousands of sea birds and the colourful marine life within the inter-tidal zone. And if you enjoy fishing, the waters off this coastline are arguably the very best on Vancouver Island.

An untouched hinterland, The Brooks Peninsula, The Acous Peninsula and The Bunsby Islands offer us a magical venue to enjoy spectacular sea kayaking in the most remote area of Vancouver Island. These expeditions sell out and we only offer a few each season. We hope you can join us.

What we Provide:

• One way water taxi to or from Fair Harbour
• All kayaks, paddling and safety gear.
  
• Certified and skilled guides.
• All meals and snacks while on tour with us
• Beverages – We supply a wide range of teas and coffee as well as juices. You are welcome to bring along soda pops or alcoholic beverages. Please note however that we do expect our guests to consume alcoholic beverages responsibly and we strictly enforce a no alcohol on the water policy.
• All cutlery, plates, bowls
• All Group Kitchen supplies and Group Shelters
• Re Usable Cup per person for drinks
• Paddle Jackets with hoods for rainy cold paddling days, lets you save your rain jacket for in camp warmth and comfort.
• Wilderness Toileting Essentials
• Deck chart (maps)
• Gear Haul bags – Ikea bag for hauling all your dry bags, one time, too and from your kayak.
• Waterproof dry bags

Meeting Location: All participants meet on Day#1 (trip start date you booked) at Fair harbour Boat ramp at 9:00 am. Please ensure you’ve had a breakfast before we meet. google map link

Day 0

All participants meet on Day#1 at Fair Harbour at 9:00 am.
So Day#0 we consider the travel day before all trips. We
recommend camping or renting one of 4 cabins in Fair Harbour so
that you can be right there in the morning, or otherwise Mason’s
Motor Lodge in Zeballos, is both great for the night prior, and as a
good place for breakfast. Should you decide to stay in Zeballos and
drive to Fair Harbour in the morning, please give yourself at least an
hour for the drive from Zeballos.

Day 1

8:30am Meet at Fair Harbour boat launch
Participants should arrange to have breakfast prior to meeting.
The guides will assign you to a kayak and help you get your
personal gear stowed away. When everyone is ready, we’ll go over
some basic paddling fundamentals and a safety orientation and then
launch into the pristine west coast waters and 7 days of discovery
and adventure.
These waters are home to a large variety of different marine wildlife
and it is not uncommon for us to encounter everything from Grey
whales, sea lions, otters, porpoises, black bears, wolves and eagles
throughout your time in this spectacular area. Sea otters abound
here and rafts exceeding fifty otters are common.
Along the way, we’ll land on one of the pristine beaches in the area
and you can sit back and enjoy a delicious lunch the guides will
prepare. After lunch, there is always time to explore, take some
photo’s, read a book or have a swim… then we’ll launch the kayaks
and make our way to our campsite on Spring Island for the next
night or two. We’ll then make camp, at this point you are free to
explore the immediate area, go fishing, beachcomb, or watch for
wildlife. Dinner around a beach campfire with a canopy of stars
above is a perfect way to end the day.

Day 2 & 3

After a satisfying breakfast, if the weather isn’t appropriate for
immediate travel over the exposed traverse to the Bunsby
Islands, we can spend an extra night or two initially exploring
closer to Spring Island.
Either way each day we’ll strive to pack for the day (if it be to
return to the same camp or go of in search of another) and
launch into the waters of this magnificent area. Bears and
wolves are just some of the wildlife we may see along the
coastline in gorgeous Kyuquot Sound and in the early morning,
it isn’t uncommon to see black bears along the coast, lifting up
rocks and eating the small crabs underneath. Bald Eagles
watch over us from the towering canopy of cedar and fir.
The waters around Spring Island offer outstanding fishing
opportunities

.
Since we’re on the outside west coast, the area offers us a
chance to meander through a myriad of different paddling
environments… one minute we’re in the protected solitude of
tiny islands and inlets paddling over a kaleidoscope of inter-tidal
colours and next we can be crossing channels with ocean surge
and curious seals following close behind…we’ll lunch on one of
the inner coastal beaches and after a relaxing sojourn, make
our way back to our campsite for the late afternoon. Another
delicious meal and warm campfire to put a great end to the day!

Day 4-5

We’ll wake to the aromas of coffee, a
tasty cooked breakfast and the
sounds of the gently lapping waves
accompanied by the cry of a loon or
eagle. After breakfast, we’ll break
camp because today we venture
further north into Kyuquot Sound
and The Bunsby Islands. If the
weather and sea conditions are
smiling on us while traversing
Checleset Bay toward the Bunsby
Islands and Acous Peninsula, we
might paddle into a sea cave and
maybe even under a waterfall.
The Bunsby’s are one of the jewels
of the west coast offering a plethora
of pristine islands and islets to
explore plus just north of The
Bunsby’s, we have the spectacular
Acous Peninsula that boasts Battle
Bay, several ancient native summer
village sites, a burial island and a
gorgeous coastline where sea otter
colonies abound. Again, the fishing
on these outer islands is especially
good, with great opportunities for
both salmon and bottom fish. We’ll
spend our next 1-2 nights camping
on either The Acous Peninsula or
The Bunsby Islands, enabling us a
great vantage point to explore this
stunning myriad of islands and
islets.
Highlights include: paddling into the
Battle River estuary, walking the
beaches in Battle Bay, visiting
Che:k:tles7et’h’ (Checleset) First
Nation friends and historic sites
(with permission), sand and shell
beaches, and prolific intertidal life
through the shallows between islets.

Day 5 – 6

Weather permitting, and depending
on where we camped the night
before, we may then proceed to
Surfer Beach at Jackobson Point on
the Mquqᵂin/Brooks Peninsula.
Once there, this expansive beach
will become home for the next night
or two as we explore the
surrounding area by sea and land,
absorbing all that the area offers.
Alternately, we may decide it’s more
sensible to stay around the Bunsby
Islands and Acous Peninsula.
If we make it to the Mquqᵂin/Brooks
Peninsula, after setting up camp
and having lunch, this afternoon is
often less structured . We believe it
is good for the soul to have
unstructured time on holidays: you
can kayak fish, swim in the creek or
amongst the waves on the beach,
explore the shoreline, or just sit still
– the choice is yours.
Conditions remaining favorable, we
will stay camped on the Mquqᵂin/
Brooks Peninsula for a night or two.
Possible day adventures include:
meandering into Nasparti Inlet and
(if tides allowing) into the tidal
entrance to Johnson Lagoon,
exploring the rocky shore along the
coast as we journey to Clerke Point
(the southwest corner of the
Brooks);… or, maybe, not paddling
at all, perhaps just wandering the
beach and rocky shoreline, basking
in the sun while you reflect, and
absorb the calm and wildness of
this West Coast gem.

Day 6 or 7 (depending on length you choose)

Our last breakfast, another cup of coffee and we break camp for the
paddle to our pick up area. At a pre-arranged meeting place, a water
taxi will shuttle us and all our gear back along our route through
Kyuquot Sound and up the inlet back to Fair Harbour. Or , if we
water taxied out, today we paddle the last stretch back into Fair
Harbour. There we’ll unload the kayaks and gear and make our way
back to Zeballos. We should be completely unloaded in Fair
Harbour and back in vehicles heading to Zeballos for lunch by noon
to 1:00pm, at the very latest, enabling those driving back down
Island plenty of time to head back down to Nanaimo or Victoria.