What is nice about doing whale tours from Port McNeill is it's not too hot and more importantly the…read morewhale viewing area is only 30 minutes from the port. Most whale tours you typically have to go much further from the port. This is one of the reasons why we chose Seasmoke Whale Watching. The Seasmoke Whale Watching boat was pretty good. Binoculars were supplied, Nikon Prostaff P3 10x42 which are decent, but only one per group. Everyone was given a flotation suit which does a wonderful job of keeping you warm. With whale tours, you never know what you will see. In the past we have been lucky and have had Orca pods and Humpback whales surface so close to our boat that we got amazing views. Unfortunately on this tour that did not happen. Our guide was extremely knowledgeable and helped make the tour interesting. But on this day the Humpback whales were more timid than usual, using the words of guide, and we did not see much at all. I took no photos because whenever we did see a whale it was far away and for just a fleeting moment. Then one of the boat's engines stopped working which added a bonus hour to the tour. We did end up seeing a resident Orca pod because of the delay but the pod was so close to the shore that you could barely make them out. Considering that just the day before we saw more whales on a tour that was not for whale watching we were a bit disappointed. But that's the luck of the draw with whale watching. For almost $200 per person I am not sure if we will do this tour again. Because even if we did see more whales they would probably be far away and one has to ask is that worth it.

Seasmoke Tours whale watching trip was a lot of fun! We got picked up at Alder Bay Resort since we…read morewere staying in Port Hardy. We knew we were in for a treat when we saw a couple of seals hanging out on the dock as we were waiting for the boat to pick us up. The weather was gorgeous and the sea was calm. We got to see lots of Dall's porpoises running along side our sail boat, and hung out with a humpback whale named KC! We also got to see a major rare find: We spotted 3 Minke whales right out of Alert Bay on our way back. It was amazing. This tour was definitely worth every penny for the great sightings, views, and stories. Maureen & Dave were a lot of fun and have a lot of great information on the area. They're very knowledgeable about the local wildlife. Huge bonus: Maureen baked fresh blueberry muffins in the morning and fresh scones with jam & cream right on the boat! I couldn't have been happier with this tour.

We have been coming to Sullivan Bay for ten years and have always been warmly welcomed by the…read morestaff. The communication in previous years was fabulous and the staff professional and polite. This year (end of July) I called to no avail, some phone calls were not returned nor was the contact form communication. When we arrived I went to the the office to see were things stood for dinner only to be told she was too busy and to have her raise her voice in front of customs. She said that she would get back to me once she had checked her records. She came to our boat only to once again, be rude. We were also signed up for dinner August 8th, and she said by the way I am taking you off the list for August 8th. We were going to stay two nights, but decided to move on, and sadly wont be returning. We miss Bill!

Seeing the previous reviews from years ago I felt compelled to counter. Possibly things weren't…read moregoing well back then. I can say last year the staff was super friendly and the restaurant was awesome. Soooo much food. Great little spot and if they had issues in the past it appeared to us they rectified all that.

A little rustic but has everything you need. owned by the same family for a long time…read more Pancake breakfast included from 8-9 every morning Happy Hour at 5. Laundry ($5?), shower ($5), wifi ($5) book exchange, homemade pies ($16), & cinnamon rolls made to order

We really enjoyed our tour with Sea Wolf adventures on Sunday September 28th…read more The crew.....Hannah and Luc John were just awesome, thoughtful and knowledgeable. We saw a humpback whale show on our way out of Port McNeill and also a rock island covered in sea lions. We went to 3 separate sights and watched a total of 7 grizzly bears . We one large male at a distance and 2 moms and cubs. Our boat was comfortable and the life jackets were ea to wear. The meals were fine. The bathroom was clean . It was a long day...7-4:00 and it pour rain all day. I would definitely recommend this company,it was like being on a Safari.

I have mixed feelings about the tour we went on…read more On the one hand, all the people we interacted with from Sea Wolf Adventures were great. They were friendly, warm and genuinely seemed to enjoy what they were doing. The boats were brand new and were very nice and comfortable. The life vests also felt rather new and not bulky at all. Binoculars were provided for everyone and they were good quality Vortex binoculars. The provided breakfast and lunch were very good. We got to see a Grizzly Bear mom and her two cubs who were adorable. We were also lucky enough to see a pod of Orcas as well as some Humpback Whales . However this is a long tour. We arrived at 6:30 AM and got back at 4 PM. The schedule for the tour was roughly: 6:30 AM - 8 AM: Prepare for tour 8 AM - 10 AM: Boat out to Grizzly Bear viewing area 10 AM - 12 PM: Look for Grizzly Bears (actually view Grizzly Bears for about an hour) 12 PM - 1 PM: Lunch and learn Indigenous history and culture 1 PM - 4 PM: Boat back to Port McNeill (stop for 1 hour to see Whales) The ride to and from the Grizzly Bear viewing area is not entirely calm even though we are not on the open sea. In fact the ride back was quite bumpy and I felt like I was on a boat for the rest of the day. This tour is also not cheap. With all taxes and fees, the cost is $600. If your primary goal is to see Grizzly Bears then you have to ask is it worth it to pay $600 to watch one Grizzly Bear and maybe some cubs for one hour as part of a 10 hour day. Also do not expect to be able to see the Grizzly Bears up close. All the boats that were viewing the Grizzly Bears kept a good distance away. This is not like your zoo or rescue shelter where the Grizzly Bears are only a few feet away. I have attached the best photos I took but understand these photos are at 30x zoom. We were fortunate to have seen Grizzly Bears and Orcas but at the end of the tour we weren't sure if we would do it again. Still it was a good experience and Sea Wolf Adventures does everything it can to make it successful.

Wonderful way to see grizzlies, safely, while respecting their space and natural environment. We…read moresaw 6 or 7 grizzly bears on shore, including 2 cubs, plus a black bear all from 15 to 20 meters. Even on my old iPhone, I could easily take photos, and my son, being a photographer, got close ups using a standard 300 mm telephoto zoom lens. Our tour left from the end of the boardwalk in tiny Telegraph Cove before 7 am, so we arrived the night before, enjoyed a salmon BBQ and tented in the forest campground nearby. 12 tourists enjoyed coffee and muffins on board the fast boat, as we were whisked across and up Knight Inlet to Glendale Cove, before being transferred to a small skiff. Skipper Nate & Naturalist Perry quickly pointed out the exceptional wildlife, including Dahl Porpoises, Bald Eagles, a Humpback whale, myriad birds, and seals. But we weren't there for sea cucumbers; we were there to see the magnificent coastal brown grizzly bears! We immediately saw two eating sedge at the water's edge, took plenty of time watching them stress-free from our double-decker skiff, quickly broke for sandwiches, and again spotted two more plus two 6 month old cubs nearby. After exploring a shallow little channel to learn more about their habitat, we zoomed back to port in the afternoon. Considering the excruciatingly high prices to stay 3 nights at a floating lodge by float plane, this tour is a great, reasonably priced alternative way to see the same bears and other wildlife. Of course there are no guarantees, but Rip Tide will do their best to get you out to see the grizzlies, whether they're feeding on shore grass, hillside berries or river salmon, depending on the season. I highly recommend the long drive up Vancouver Island to take this tour!

As photographers (professionnal or passionate), we feel abused by the information received before…read morebooking the tour and we do think that this is not a tour to take. Go on this tour if what you want is watching a lot of grizzlies (and cubs) without paying much attention about how close you get. We enjoyed the food, the kindness of Mat and the boat (we didn't feel like it was too crowdy even if it was fully booked). We also had quite a lot of good and interesting information (even if some were approximative). But we do have something to say about the information we were given before taking this tour. We came directly at the desk of Telegraphe Cove to ask some questions about the tour. As photographers, our main concern was how close we could get from the bears. To be sure we would be well understood, we explained that we had already seen 10 grizzlies during our road-trip so our main concerned wasn't the number of grizzlies we could see but how close we could get from the bears. We were told that the rule was 50 meters and from our undertanding, we could obviously understand that it was the norm. The lady also told us that in some occasions (when the grizzlies go towards the boat), we could get as close as 15/20 meters from them. In these circumstances, we understood that we would have great chances to get up close to 50 meters. But 50 METERS IS NOT THE NORM, even if we could have approached them from a much closer distance (for a great part of the 9 grizzlys we saw, 50 meters could have been reached very easily), we stayed quite far away (at the minimum of 100 meters/150 meters). At the end of our time in Glendale Cove (where the grizzlies are) we saw 1 female with 2 cubs (from this year). The boat stopepd much more than the 50 meters "rule", didn't move even if we would have had a much better view only 20meters in front of us (and it was very deep there), and then left! Yes the time was out! I was myself running a company and I can't imagine I would have said that to a customer for a few minutes. In these circumstancies, we didn't feel at all respected at all as customers. The lady at the desk was obviously pushing us to go on the tour with wrong information even if there was no chance for us to be happy with it (except if a bear would have swam towards the boat or if one would have been doing a lapdance). 50 METERS IS NOT THE NORM. We of course went to the office to speak about that and express our feelings about it. But we didn't feel at all like the "manager" - the woman in charge of the boat that day, was trying to understand us. It was obvious that she was only trying to defend the company: "I understand you feel frustrated, it is wildlife" But this was not the point! We sometimes look for one animal during days without any sights! WE FEEL ABUSED BY THE FACT THE INFORMATION WE WERE GIVEN DIDN'T MATCH AT ALL THE REALITY OF THE TOUR. This was dishonest. We would have never gone if we had known 50 meters was not the norm when watching a bear there, it was at least 100 meters. To that she said to us there is never a guarantee. Of course we know how wildlife is unpredictable, but one more time this was not the point. We could have come much closer but we didn't. It is like playing loto. We don't play, but if tomorrow we are told we have 1 chance up to ten to earn 1000 loonys, we would of course start to play! Saying that wouldn't been honest if in reality you had one chance up to 1500. "You didn't win but anyway we said there was no guarantee"! We spoke also at the lady at the desk but she was also unwilling to understand our position: it was like: "you saw 9 grizzlys so why are you unhappy" A tourist will be, probably a big part of them, a wildlife photographer (professional or passionate, at least someone with a telephoto lens), won't (except if he likes playing loto).

Excellent guides who were caring knowledgeable and very respectful of the ecology and the long…read moreindigenous history of the area. The equipment was top notch and the camp sites were amazing. Unfortunately we had some bad weather and our guides consideration for our safety meant we had to end early. The biggest hitch was a group of guests who behaved in an entitled manner abusing the kayaks, appearing the be disinterested in the "slow" details of the guides historical education and generally disrespecting the guide. They looked after themselves and left the group early and probably left no tip. To the guides I say please remember those of us who appreciated your hard work and didn't blame you for the weather. I highly recommend this tour.

Fantastic adventure in the Broughton Archipelago with top level guides, food and equipment. Brad…read moreand Georgia were extremely skilled guides. Encouraging, knowledgeable, hard working, attentive, fun. We felt safe and cared for. Ben and Matt created meals that were amazing - such a lovely daily food experience. We saw such diverse wildlife and paddled through beautiful coastline. We loved every moment. We will be back for sure.

We just spent four days on the Whales and Wilderness Glamping tour in Blackstone Straight. The trip…read morewas super. The guides were friendly, professional and very knowledgeable. The location is stunning and the facilities were lovely. Our food was great and the team thought of everything. We saw orcas, humpbacks, dolphins and porpoises. The kayaking was also a lot of fun. I highly recommend this trip

Excellent customer service! Great food! Went on the Kayak expedition tour - saw sea lions,…read morehumpbacks, and seals. No orcas.

Spent a few days on the water with Billy prawning, cruising and fishing. had a great time. caught a…read morepossession limit of prawns and a few fish. The schools of fish hadn't arrived yet so we were hunting around looking for them. great boat with excellent electronics and down riggers all new. look forward to a next adventure with Billy and the Dirty Worm.

The owner/guide (Billy) I have fished with him before and highly recommend him. He has lots of…read moreexperience guiding and now he has opened his own company up. I am so lucky to find out that he is still doing it because he alwasy has been the best guide I have ever had. He goes the extra mile, great personality, energetic and of course catches the bigger fish anyone else. 5 out of 5 all day long.