We started with a bear watching tour and had such an amazing experience we came back for a whale…read morewatching tour 2 days later! Caleb is an excellent guide and provided so much local knowledge about the island. I had never even heard of bear tours before coming to Vancouver Island and it didn't disappoint! We saw 4+ black bears along the beautiful shores of the Broken Islands. It was such a peaceful trip and wonderful way to see the island. During the whale watch tour we saw harbour seals, sea lions and then two humpback whales! A mother and cub swimming side by side- it was truly magical! We even saw a breech! I highly recommend both tours - it was the highlight of our time in Ucluelet

My teenage son and I did the 2.5 hour trip in the evening. Jack was our guide. He made sure we got…read morea good tour of the area and dropped a lot of info about the history and wildlife we saw. A great and serene way to spend an evening. Highly recommend.

Husband and I did a private 2.5 hour harbor tour. The first half hour was set up (all essentials…read moreprovided including water shoes, glasses strap, phone holder, dry bag, spray skirt, and of course lifejacket), instruction, and safety (we had 4 bald eagles fly directly overhead during the set-up!) then we were out on the water with our guide, Hailey. She listened to what we wanted from the tour, was great about giving us some history of the area, and shared her knowledge about the local wildlife and ecology. This was our first real experience sea kayaking and I felt safe the entire time, and knew safety was of upmost importance to our guide. When the tour was over, we had coffee in the shop that's associated with Tofino Kayak, looking out over the water. Overall, a great experience, and would highly recommend this business.

This is a great compromise between a zodiac tour and a big boat tour. The MV Blackfish is small,…read morenimble, and powerful like a zodiac: it can cover a lot of water quickly and can go in pretty close to shore. But like a big boat, it is covered and has a bathroom (which was a spousal requirement). It has a decent cockpit at the back for sightseeing when the boat is going slow. Captain Cam took us out a couple of days after stormy weather in late October. When I booked the trip, he checked the forecast and told me that there would be 2-meter swells but that we'd be fine. We went from Ucluelet through the Broken Islands to Bamfield, where we watched some Orca for a while. This part of the trip was relatively calm. Then we headed through some rougher water at the outer edge of the group to a big rock covered with sea lions and spray. But the Blackfish was up to it and its experienced skipper read the water well. It was an exhilarating trip. The Broken Group is something else again and I'm glad that he gave us a good tour through it.

We arrived at Tofino just in time for a couple of (much needed) days of rain. We wanted to go whale…read morewatching, but few of the tour operators had covered boats available at times that worked for us. We checked out an ad in a coffee shop for Beachcomber Ocean Tours and I spoke with Cam MacPherson, the tour operator. We had a tour the same day, and it couldn't have been better. Cam is both knowledgable and personable, and not only did we see whales, but eight of us had a whale of a good time.

I did the three hours whale tour. Booked it the day before because I had a brief window of time to…read morekill fun trip. Is exhilarating to ride around the boat during good weather and feel the wind on your face. I didn't move fast enough though. I wasn't really able to get a seat upstairs, but that's OK. Still had a great seat at the front of the boat or the back of the boat seeing the whales and other animals. The tour guides are extremely friendly and informative. Saw a couple of whales (one named OC orange crush) and some whole big boy sea lions and gangs of otters and Eagles.

Pick this tour company for the best experience, you won't regret it. 3rd time I go whale watching…read moreand this was the most knowledgeable crew, as well as the friendliest crew and they made me laugh with their jokes, love the delivery! I will be back, and will recommend to everyone!!! Oh and we had an all women crew, how cool is that!?! All my whale pictures are on my SLR but got the sea lion ones I my phone, so here

We did the hot springs tour with Captain Alastair. We had the chance to book a slightly cheaper…read moretour with our hotel, but I'm so glad we stuck with the Whale Centre bc of Captain Alastair. He was exactly who I imagine a wise grey-haired sea captain to be. He started the tour by acknowledging that we're in the unceded lands of First Nation tribes and shared many stories about the islands and animals we saw. He also knew that there were swells and took us on a slightly longer route that kept us out of super bumpy water. We heard later that the other boats took the typical route and a ton of ppl got seasick, while we were all fine. We saw otters, seas, hawks, and Captain Alastair even took "a diversion" to make sure we got to see a grey whale. We were also in a "cabin cruiser" which was covered and made it a very comfortable ride. I also appreciated their grey life buoy vests which were less obstructive/bulky than the usual life vests. The hot springs were as we expected based on reading reviews. Cramped but still so cool being in a natural hot spring. We enjoyed the long walking there and back too (prepare for a lot of up and down)! It was a great experience overall and I highly recommend the Whale Centre if you can get captain Alastair!

Manuel was our guide and was a wealth of local and sea life knowledge. We really enjoyed the biat…read moreride, walk and springs. Although, the hot springs were smaller than expected, but overall a great experience!

I cannot express how much I enjoyed doing the 5 day Broken Group tour! We were a large scout group…read moreand Kevin and his team handled everything wonderfully. The put-in and take-out process was so streamlined, and our guides, Jono and Kristine, were PHENOMENAL!! They were so kind and helpful and were very knowledgeable of the area. The trip itself was very nicely laid out and provided a great experience of the islands. I highly recommend Hello nature and could not be more pleased with the quality of this trip.

Great guide and amazingly beautiful trip. The harbor trip was a perfect start to our Ucluelet trip…read more Loved it and highly recommend.

I have spent nearly a month now touring Vancouver Island and there are many fabulous sights and…read moreactivities, but #1 without question has been the cruise with Archipelago. In fact, their cruise is both #1 and #2 in my book as I went on the tour twice. Both times the scenery and wildlife were incredible; both times Alan & Toddy did a top-notch job as guides and hosts; both times the cruise provided a connection to the natural surroundings and to fellow travelers that you just don't get on the other tours. If you make it to the area, Archipelago should be #1 on your list (and #2).

Al and Toddy were great hosts. They are passionate about their lifestyle on the water and were…read moreanxious to share their knowledge of Ucluelet, it's history and wildlife. The boat is pretty luxurious, well maintained and very clean. Within five minutes of launching, we saw a bear, bald eagles and then sea lions. Later in the Broken Islands, we saw a couple of whales, harbor seals and lots of marine birds. I highly recommend taking this cruise, we saw so many things that we would never have seen if we didn't venture out into the waters of Barkley Sound.

Our 3-day Vargas Island paddle trip with PWK was truly the experience of a lifetime! For 3 days we…read moresoaked in countless beautiful sights, lost track of how many eagles and otters we saw, learned new knowledge of the local area, ate incredible food, and enjoyed genuine connection and new friendships over crackling camp fires. We were so privileged to have Andy and Ben as our guides and what they contribute to this world is deeply meaningful. They met our humor, excitement, and passion step for step and this trip was made all the more incredible thanks to them. As Ben and Andy shared with us local history, resiliency of the Tofino community to protect the land, or fun facts about the local plants and animals - they spoke with such an overflowing passion that truly brought everything to life. They love what they do and it made our trip so much more fun and meaningful - all thanks to them. Extra Props: - Our paddle started in some challenging weather, yet Andy + Ben were great at reading our group and we always felt safe and supported in all conditions. - 10/10 shout out for the food. You won't go hungry as PWK plans for teas, coffee, snacks, and each meal was balanced and filling! They did a great job accommodating dietary preferences too. I still dream of the salmon chowder! - We saw: sea otters, seals, bald eagles, a pine marten, so many starfish, fried egg jellies, moon jellies, banana slugs, and a garter snake. - Our paddle was in late June and we had 1 day of heavy rain (which really added to the adventure!), 1 day of sun, and the last day was partly sunny with rain that evening. On our last day as our trip was coming to an end, my heart was as equally full as it was sad to be leaving. I only hope to make it back again sometime soon. If you're even remotely on the fence about taking a trip with Paddle West - DO IT!! I promise you'll love it and then some!

Overall, we had a fun kayak paddle tour. The waters around Tofino are beautiful with lots of sea…read morestars clinging to the rocks. Sam, our guide, is studying oceanography, so was a good resource in showing us the sights as well as explaining about the currents and tidal flow in the area. The boats and gear were all good quality and using the online registration made check in a breeze. Our only negative was in the timing of the outing. The other group in our tour, a family, was late in arriving, then needed time to get organized. We ended up starting our on shore orientation quite late. In addition, we returned to the landing before the scheduled ending time. All in all, we lost probably 30 minutes of the scheduled 2 hour tour, which was a bit of a disappointment. Also, the level of paddling was easier than I would have liked, but that is to be expected in a shorter family - oriented trip like this. Overall, a fun was to enjoy the beautiful coastline around Tofino and learn a few things too.