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Difficulty Level
An easy-paced kayaking tour with the services of a guide. Tour is appropriate
for all abilities and fitness levels and no previous kayaking experience
is necessary.
Included Highlights
3 day/2 night kayak tour into Johnstone Strait
Alert Bay
Whale watching
Accommodation
Guesthouse for 2 nights and tenting for 2 nights
Transportation
15-passenger maxi-van, kayak, ferry
Food Included
4 breakfasts, two lunches and two dinners.
Tour Leader
is
driver/leader and kayak guide
Budget
Allow CAD$70 for meals not included.
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Located on the north-east coast of Vancouver Island,
Johnstone Strait has the largest resident orca (killer whale) population
in the world and is an excellent kayaking area. We begin with a guided
van tour from Victoria to Alert Bay, an aboriginal community located on
Cormorant Island. The next day we’re picked up by water taxi in
Alert Bay and ferried to our camp. We spend that afternoon, the next day
and subsequent morning kayaking the waterways of the Strait on the lookout
for orcas. The region is also home to Minke whales, Dall's Porpoise's,
seals, mink, sea lions, black bear, deer, cougar and over 150 different
types of birds.
Day 1 Victoria/Alert Bay
Departing Victoria by 8:30 am, we wind our way up the east coast of Vancouver
Island to Campbell River, where we stop for lunch. Heading north, as we
leave most of the population of Vancouver Island behind us, the highway
shrinks to single lane, curving around steep hills and mountains, and
waterfalls can be seen from the highway. Roosevelt Elk, deer and bear
frequent this area. Two hours later we arrive at the tiny community of
Port McNiell. Here we board a small ferry for a 30-minute sail to Cormorant
Island and the village of Alert Bay.
Day 2, 3 Overnight Kayaking
Trip
We use stable double and single kayaks that are ideal for beginners. It
does not take long to master the basics and we will then begin our journey.
Your guides will choose a route that will give you the best chances of
seeing orcas and other wildlife. Some of our time on the water may be
spent floating as wildlife comes to us or we are exploring the inter-tidal
life in the shallows. We provide an underwater hydrophone and will often
stop to listen to the sounds the orcas make. Our guides can often distinguish
different orca clans by the sounds that they make and even identify many
of the individual orcas through the shapes and markings of their dorsal
fins. With the use of a photographic catalogue we can compare the orcas
that we have seen over the day to identify the orcas to the families and
clans they belong to.
Day 4 Alert Bay
The afternoon is free to explore the village of Alert Bay. Over the last
century and a quarter, native and non-native communities have grown side
by side. Unique attractions in Alert Bay include an ecological park and
the U'mista Cultural Centre. The potlatch and mask collection in the museum
is considered to be the one of the world's finest. We also visit the 'Namgis
burial grounds, one of the few remaining places on the coast where totems
stand untouched on their original site.
Day 5 Return to Victoria
We depart Alert Bay on the 9:40 am ferry and make our way back to Victoria.
Enroute we stop at the picturesque village of Chemainus, where passengers
can walk along the streets and view "The Festival of Murals"
which transformed Chemainus into Canada's largest permanent outdoor gallery.
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detailed itinerary |
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