Seeing a humpback whale lunging through a school of bait fish, a grizzly bear chasing salmon in a shallow river, or a pod of killer whale, also known as orcas, surfacing in unison are often considered once in a lifetime experiences and all three are possible on kingfisher wilderness adventures whales and grizzly bear base camp tour. Island black bear hunts vancouver island, off the west coast of bc, canada, has the highest density of black bears in north america. Vancouver island selfdrive canada wildlife holiday north america. Most of these day bear tours on vancouver island include lunch, an expert guide and around 45 hours bear viewing after you have taken into account the transfer times. We went on a full day bear watching tour and from start to finish it was everything we had hoped for.
Black bear hunting trips, spring bear hunts, fall bear hunts. Amazing grizzly bear tour with tide rip in the knight inlet. Watch black bears forage on crabs and fish at low tide. I can put together flights, accommodation, bespoke touring and vehicle hire to suit your. Great bear adventure tour bella coola eagle lodge bc ferries. The sea to sky highway that connects vancouver and whistler is one of canadas most beautiful drives. So unless you do not drive at all, recommendation is to take the horseshoe bay ferry to departure bay and get a car once on the island if you do not want to drive in vancouver. Youll find some trips listed in both sections because a day trip can easily be extended if.
Tours are scheduled to depart from port hardy by seaplane at 3pm, so our guests typically check in around 2pm. How to visit the great bear rainforest in british columbia. The grizzly details our excursions begin in picturesque telegraph cove, british columbia on northern vancouver island. The natural beauty of vancouver island in british columbia must be seen to be believed. There are 24 tours going to british columbia, with the most. They were eating salmon, running, playing, swimming, standing on two feet and even fighting over salmon. Travel at your own pace on a selfdrive tailor made itinerary to ensure that you see the most of. Choose your own adventure along one of the longest and most wild vancouver island road trip. Bear tours from tofino and ucluelet are considerably shorter, more affordable trips to see black bears on local shores. Bear tours vancouver island wildlife adventure tours. Getting to port hardy on vancouver island our tours depart from port hardy, which is located on the northern end of vancouver island in british columbia. Day 6 guided ecotour or guided bear watching excursion depending on the season use of sonora. Campbell river grizzly tours located on vancouver island, bc, canada experience grizzly bears in the wild in bute inlet on the orford river. Bear watching vancouver island vancouver island forum.
Grizzly bear viewing day trip kayak tours of vancouver. Join us aboard our covered vessels, where we will embark along the beautiful british columbia coastline towards the toba inlet for an experience that you. Plus, youre getting to stay out in the wilderness overnight. West coast grizzly bear tours campbell river vancouver.
Both of these lodges offer exceptional grizzly bear watching but the overall experience is very different. Bear tours from campbell river and telegraph cove are all day or multi day trips that leave vancouver island to see grizzlies in remote inlets on the bc mainland. Grizzly bear watching journey 2020 grizzly bear viewing season august 20 to october 15 on our grizzly bear journey which departs from campbell river on vancouver island, you will enjoy a scenic 2 hour boat ride on our highspeed, covered vessel to toba inlet. Getting to port hardy on vancouver island great bear lodge. Spirit of the west kayaking in british columbia vancouver. This trip is designed for outdoor enthusiasts, offering a number of opportunities to view whales and bears, and to experience two very different settings. Victoria, tofino, salt spring island, the gulf islands, and the sunshine coast of bc. Vancouver island is home to an abundant population of trophy black bears. We highly recommend planning a day to explore each citys landscape and culture. They roam the shores in search of their favourite delicacy, the rock crab. Wow, thank you that is really helpful, we spent time in vancouver a few years ago and loved it, so original plan was to fly to vancouver, spend a couple of days there to get over the jetlag, then ferry across to vi or to horseshoe bay, is the sunshine coast worth a visit or is it similar scenery to vi. If you were to look up black bear habitat in the dictionary there would be a picture of vancouver island, british columbia.
The trips from telegraph cove and campbell river are full or multi day trips across the strait to remote inlets on the mainland to view grizzlies, which are not found on vancouver island itself at least not. Local food, craft beverage and estate winery tour of cowichan valley. If youre interested in a grizzly bear tour, i can tailormake your entire trip to canada and recommend the best lodges for your stay on vancouver island and in british columbia. Sound and your luxury retreat on the inside passage of vancouver island. Grizzly bear watching, whale watching, marine wildlife viewing and adventure tours from campbell river on vancouver island in british columbia, canada. Comparing bear tours in campbell river or telegraph cove with those in tofino is apples to oranges.
These black bears are well known for being the largest bodied bears of their species so large that they have now been reclassified as their own subspecies of black bear, the island black bear. Tide rip grizzly adventures grizzly bear tours knight inlet, bc. Even luckier, i stayed at two of the top lodges for bear watching on vancouver island sonora resort and knight inlet lodge. Bear trips vancouver island message board tripadvisor. Wildlife watching vancouver island photo tours british. In addition to its endless list of hiking, camping, and paddling adventures, the island offers ample. Grizzly bear watching tours british columbia grizzly tours. This intimate insiders guide will take you to the must see attractions on the pacific west coast. Is it best to concentrate on vi and take day trips to see bears or to split between vi and a trip like spirit bear tours. Desolation soundthe largest and perhaps best known marine park in british columbiaand downtown vancouver. Part of the beauty of this vancouver day trip is getting there. There are black bears on the island but it is more luck than anything to get to see one and often seen on a boat tour out of tofino on the west coast.
Grizzly bears of the wild tour kingfisher 20200305t23. If you do not see a grizzly on your tour with us between september 15 th and october 7 th, then we will take you out again at no charge, on a standby basis, until we do see one. Feb 01, 2011 amazing grizzly bear tour with tide rip in the knight inlet. Vancouver island encompasses many indigenous peoples traditional territories, and we work with indigenous guides all along it. Sightseeing tours, guided tours, circle tours, scenic drives, b. I shall be staying in cambell river for a couple of days in early october and would be very interested in any day trips that might be available that would allow me to photograph grizzly bears in the various inlets etc back on the mainland. West coast grizzly bear tours experience grizzly bears up close and personal with our tours to toba inlet. The trips you are thinking of are up further north on the coast. Insiders guide to vancouver island 2018 full length. Pacific rim whales and bears canada holidays wildlife tours.
Ocean front hunting lodge with 3 private waterfront cabins. With an estimated 7,000 12,000 black bears living in the region, a guided tour is a smart way to see these gorgeous creatures in their natural habitat, eating. If you want to guarantee seeing grizzly bears in western canada then this is a must visit trip we changed our itinerary specifically to go to telegraph cove on vancouver island for this trip. Grizzly bear tours and lodge packages our 3 night trip.
Tofino bear watching tours are only offered in summer time, as in winter the black bears go into hibernation after they feast on the salmon run in october. An evening boat cruise for black bears on the afternoon of your arrival. Grizzly bears knight inlet bc best time to visit top tips. A day viewing grizzly bears in knight inlet estuary viewing may 24aug 24, river viewing stands aug 25oct 15 a day viewing sea mammals orca, humpback whale, sea lions, dolphins etc our 4 night trip. Come to a place where you can see whales or bears making a memorable appearance on their terms, in their natural environment. Giants roam on vancouver island north and remote sections of neighboring mainland coast. Image by nick garbutt black bear in vancouver island. With an estimated 7,000 12,000 black bears living in the region, a guided tour is a smart way to see these gorgeous creatures in their natural habitat, eating berries, snacking on salmon, or munching sweet grass. Grizzly bear watching, vancouver island travel nation.
You can do this trip in just a few hours or take your time with a day trip to delve deeper into the treasure trove of this central island adventure. Coastal exploration in a comfortable, coast guardcertified vessel. Read a few reports on seaplane trips from port hardy to bear rainforest, didnt know whether. Dont have a car so would be relying on a tourpublic transport. Comfortable live aboard boat allows access to remote hunting areas. Area where you choose to take your bear watching tour from determines the type of bears youll see. Our tours run between august 20thoctober 15th annually.
Bear watching on vancouver island watch black bears live and play in ucluelet, tofino, telegraph cove, campbell river, port mcneill, and many other locations around the island. Highway 20 from williams lake leads to bella coola, or fly there on scheduled flights from vancouver. To find out more about why way west coastal ventures should be your choice or to book a tour, please. Our grizzly bear watching tours will give you an unforgettable experience of the west coast. Bear and whale watching tours vancouver entree destinations. They can be found pretty well anywhere on vancouver island, but there are definite clusters in places like the pacific rim national park. Best whale tourbear tour vancouver island forum tripadvisor.
Experience grizzly bears, campbell river, vancouver island, british columbia, journey to the great bear rainforest for our platform grizzly bear tours. Please check in the day before the tour to confirm departure time. This stunning piece of highway offers views of lakes, mountains, fjords, inlets, a waterfall, all in under two hours by car or try the day long rocky mountaineer train trip. To find out more about why way west coastal ventures should be your choice or to book a tour, please contact us. Grizzly bear day trips campbell river forum tripadvisor. It is really not a good idea to try to visit vancouver island without a car unless you limit your visit to victoria especially if you want to see bears and other wildlife. Commonly called the city of gardens, charming, relaxed victoria occupies the southern tip of vancouver island and you can get there easily by taking a scenic ferry ride from vancouver.
Our expeditions grizzly bear tours knight inlet, bc. If you plan to visit vancouver island, bowen island or the sunshine coast, you will board your ferry at horseshoe bay. Day trips to see the grizzly bears in knight inlet. With darker fur than its mainland brethren and a few other distinctions such as a larger size, the vancouver island black bear is a clear subspecies of the black bear family. Bear watching abundant to the west coast of vancouver island, the black bear makes its presence known when the tides are low. You can watch them more spontaneously, and have quiet times when all of the day bear watchers are gone. The definitive grizzly bear watching tour in british columbia.
Day trips or tours to see grizzly bears vancouver forum. Grizzly bears tour with tide rip vancouver island canada. Our travel agency specializes in planning luxury wildlife watching holidays and. Campbell river whale watching and adventure tours wants you to see grizzlies. Bear watching in tofino or ucluelet board a covered vessel or zodiac boat from one of vancouver island s most popular towns to view black bears in their natural habitat along the shore. Grizzly bear sightseeing tours campbell river bc vancouver.
Most tours run between mayoctober, with the west coast tours ending sooner than those on the east coast of vancouver island. You also have a choice of either land based lodge hunting trips or boat based black bear hunting trips. Different scale of trip time and cost wise, and different species of bear. During the summer you can witness the grizzly bear habitat. Whistler bear viewing whistler and blackcomb mountains support up to. West vancouver horseshoe bay to nanaimo departure bay. Explore vancouver island in british columbia with travel and nature videographer les mcdonald.
Telegraph cove, the orca whale watching centre on northern vancouver island. The bear watching trips from tofino are short excursions along local shores to view black bears, which are common on vancouver island. Bear watching on vancouver island discover vancouver. Grizzly bears are not normally found on vancouver island but are regularly seen on the nearby mainland coast. You can depart from northern vancouver island on daytrips or multi day trips. Grizzly bear tours in campbell river, vancouver island, canada. Save on a spectacular bc coast tour package with bc ferries vacations. Please download your trip details and joining instructions. We regularly visit vancouver island as part of our canada wildlife holidays and have put together an expert guide on bear watching tours vancouver island. Black bears are remarkable roadside attractions along highway 19 during the spring and summer and can be spotted fishing for salmon in local rivers in the fall.
The definitive grizzly bear watching tour in british. Vancouver nanaimo port hardy bella coola anahim lake williams lake lillooet whistler vancouver. The trips from telegraph cove and campbell river are full or multi day trips across the strait to remote inlets on the mainland to view grizzlies, which are not found on vancouver. You may also like to checkout the events and festivals happening this weekend in victoria. We are vancouver island s most diverse marine adventure company offering a wide range of adventures including.
You could fly up to campbell river on vancouver island, stay the night and go out bear watching the next day. Will have 4 days in vancouver next summer i was wondering if we should try and get over to vancouver island for a day. A day tour to view the grizzly bears of the wild in british columbias knight inlet and. Central coast and northern vancouver island in one unforgettable selfguided circle tour. You would need to travel to vancouver island and from there you can do a day trip i think these run in july but it would take at least 3 days to get up there and back.
Many of our guests add a grizzly bear viewing day trip with sea wolf adventures before or after they join us kayaking. Depart from our campbell river marine adventure centre aboard our comfortable, heated, covered vessels for a scenic 1 hour and 30 minute ride through desolation sound marine park. On these tours, we visit the rocky beaches along the wild west coast, sandy beaches of cape scott provincial park as well as beautiful scenic spots on northern vancouver island. Tofino bear watching tours navigate the calm inside waters around meares island daily on the low tide.
Whales, bears and vancouver island from 9 days tailormade from. Take one of bcs top road trips and visit the great bear rainforest. Join us for the experience of a lifetime aboard our british columbia grizzly bear expedition. Alaska bear viewing tours lists the best tours around.
Vancouver island is definitly one of the best places to see bears in canada, because as well as seeing grizzly or brown bears in the inlet off the east coast of the island, there are also some fabulous black bear viewing opportunities off the west coast of the island in towns such as tofino and zeballos. Visit our marine adventure centre in campbell river. Canada british columbia vancouver island things to do in vancouver island tours and tickets. Vancouver island, off the west coast of bc, canada, has the highest density of black bears in north america. Tide rip grizzly tours specialises in grizzly bear sightings at knight inlet on the mainland. Vancouver island tofino has the perfect coastline for bear viewing from a boat or by kayak, its very impressive to watch them rumble through the rocks on the beach searching for food.
Your first nations guides will take you on an intimate and immersive wildlife experience in their traditional. The road leads across vancouver island to the pacific coast, winding through. There are 3 ferry routes from vancouver to the island. Trip to victoria, nanaimo and tofino 5 days in vancouver. Sea wolf adventures grizzly bear tours in vancouver island give you the. Bear watching season starting in april, black and grizzly bears begin emerging from hibernation and. Spirit of the west kayaking operates sea kayaking adventures around vancouver island, canadas coastal kayaking paradise. Other points of entry include bella bella, klemtu, and prince rupert. It was a real once in a lifetime experience and something that i certainly wont forget.
Day trips around vancouver island visitor in victoria. Day trips by boat to seek out the majestic grizzly bears in their natural habitat. Along the east side of vancouver island, we travel in the south through coast salish territory, where we work with guides from the. Grizzy bear tours and whale watching campbell river, canada. Bear watching on vancouver island discover vancouver island. Kayaking british columbia is the ultimate way to view bcs abundant wildlife. Youre gone all day back between 5 and 6 so not sure you could make it back to van that night. Bear watching in canada grizzly bear holidays canadian. Is it worth visiting for a day or is it too short for the amount of time we will be there. Vancouver island is renowned for wild, untamed beaches that are an idyllic summer sanctuary, and a hub for stormwatching and surfing in the winter. We are listed in the top adventure tour companies, wildlife adventure tours, bear tours vancouver island. We watch black bears on the west coast of vancouver island. Grizzly bears of the wild tour sea wolf adventures.
Vancouver island road trips tourism vancouver island. Or, venture into the great bear rainforest by sailing along the bc coast. Im not entirely sure about the bear population on vancouver island and what their status is, but i believe that the bear trips that run from further north actually cross georgia straight and go up the remote fjords on the mainland side to do their bear watching. Aboriginal journeys wildlife and adventure tours campbell. Tofino bear watching tour the whale centre, tofino, bc. Your final destination for the day will be the fishing community of port hardy.