Absolutely stunning views! A hidden gem to say the least... The campground owners are…read moreaccommodating, friendly people with a very calm vibe. Every campsite has a view of the ocean as well as spots on the ocean. Traditional Finnish sauna is included as are showers, kitchen & freezer space. It also provides electricity and water if you need it for your RV. Can't recommend it enough!!! If you kayak, Mitchel Bay had guaranteed humpback sightings during our visit... they were so close you could see them by the shore! Looking forward to future stays!

Bere Point Regional Park is beautifully situated along Queen Charlotte Strait about six kilometers…read morefrom Sointula and the ferry to Port McNeill. The park is centered around a primitive campground fronting a long stretch of beach that is a prime location for whale watching. The edge of the campground is also the start of the Beautiful Bay Trail. This review focuses on the campground. The campground has roughly 30 campsites, about half of which are considered waterfront sites. As of 2016 waterfront sites are $20 and non waterfront sites are $16. Non waterfront sites are unremarkable (except for their proximity to the beach) and I'd avoid them because the view from this part of the island is awesome and you want as much of it as possible. I'd also pass on site 12a because it's removed from the beach. (Water view rather than waterfront would be a more appropriate description of 12a.) As you can see in the helpful campground map, sites 1 through 11 have a road between the site and the beach. This isn't a huge deal since the road is pretty quiet, but it's worth keeping in mind and being prepared for, especially if you have little kids who will be going back and forth. (Also note that sites 5 and 8 aren't considered waterfront even though they're along the water; this seems to be because the views are obstructed by trees and brush.) The numbered waterfront sites have a different feel than the lettered waterfront sites, largely because the numbered sites are set in the trees while the lettered sites are a little more open. My preference is for the lettered sites, especially A, B, D and E, although I'd also consider sites 10 or 11. Site 11 is a pull through site with some neat quirks that the other sites don't have (chairs fashioned out of driftwood, etc.) We stayed in site B and loved it. B has an old rickety woodshed that the kids played on and that we stored some of our stuff in to keep it dry. One downside to site B is that the beach access is very unstable and I wouldn't use it if falling made me nervous. A few other things to keep in mind: this is a primitive campground with no potable water (indeed, there was no fresh water at all when we were there) or hookups. There was also no cell service (Rogers/Sprint). The campground itself isn't manicured and has a bit of an untidy feel, with cut brush left where it fell. (This is a plus, in my mind, as I don't love landscaped campgrounds.) Speaking of brush, between the campground and the beach there is 5-10 feet of brush before the sand. If left unchecked it would quickly obstruct the water view from all of the sites; hopefully they stay on top of it. Finally, the campground host was excellent: friendly, helpful and full of good ideas. In short, when staying at Bere Point I'd pick a waterfront site, probably B, E, 10, or 11, although most waterfront sites offered similar views and privacy. Be sure to pack your binoculars and bring a kayak if you have one.

Lovely peaceful place. Sitting just outside the door to our room watching the water and listening…read moreto the sounds of the water are so relaxing. Very clean rooms with all sorts of lovely detail in the restored wood used in the rooms. Can't wait to go back again. Bed wonderful, bathroom roomy and with heat and great water pressure. Barbecue other deck good for fixing your own dinner.

I was fortunate to stay in a water-view room. It was lovely. I am looking forward to returning.read more

Historic, small very charming, peaceful, beautiful location, cabins, lodge, camping, hiking, whales…read moreeducation center, access to fishing, whales watching, grizzly bears, kayaking trips eco tourism all in one place! Have a good restaurant, a good pub, a great coffee bar. Great hospitality.

This resort is a unique mix of cabins, historic homes and modern condos. They seem to be booked…read moremuch of the time. We were only able to get a one night accommodation-we needed 2 rooms. We were placed in a historic home in the upper floor where we had 2 bedrooms and a bathroom as one unit in a 5 bedroom house. There was a common living room area for the building. These homes date back to world war II and rooms are pretty basic-bed nightstand, chest of drawers. At each historic house, there is a plaque with information about its history. We were in the Wastel house. The resort includes the Stubbs Island Whalewatching office, a whale museum, restaurant, outdoor picnic tables, and resort office as well as a coffee shop (just a counter to get coffee and pastries mainly), an outside cafe and the marina. It was convenient for us to stay there as we were doing the whale watch there so was fine for a single night. It's about 12 miles off the Island Hwy so nothing else around there.

We were really excited about booking a whale watching tour outside the busier Victoria area. We…read morespecifically chose a more intimate experience in Alert Bay because we thought the secluded setting would make the longer drive from Victoria worthwhile and give us a more up-close experience. Unfortunately, that wasn't really the case. Sea Smoke had a friendly, knowledgeable crew, a new and comfortable boat, and the overall process was smooth. Our main criticism was simply how far away we remained from the wildlife. Other whale-watching boats, tour boats, and even research vessels were consistently much closer to the whales than we were. I completely understand the importance of maintaining a respectful distance from wildlife, but the distance we maintained felt excessive compared with the other vessels operating in the same area. In the end, we spent much of the experience watching the whales through binoculars and even then it was too far. What was particularly disappointing was that the photos and videos on TripAdvisor, Google, etc. gave the impression of much closer wildlife encounters. That simply wasn't our experience. We chose Alert Bay specifically because we were willing to make the extra effort for what we hoped would be a more intimate and memorable experience. Had we known beforehand that the viewing would be from such a distance, we likely would have booked elsewhere. Especially since they advertise their new electric motor so much. I hope Sea Smoke takes this feedback constructively.Everyone (12 people on our boat felt the same) The crew was nice and the boat was excellent unfortunately, for us, the distance from the wildlife made the experience fall short of what we were expecting from a whale-watching tour.

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.

Cute restaurant - busy but fast service. Food was so good! Falafel wrap with yummy potato salad,…read morebacon and eggs. Art work on the walls and flowers on the tables. Highly recommend!

We were a fixture at Coho Joe every time we visited "downtown" Sointula from our campsite on Bere…read morePoint. It became our base of operations: meeting point, resting place, free wi-fi provider, waiting room for the ferry. Totally great service, with very kind individuals running the show. Good espresso and nice food: meals and snacks. Well-priced. Clean bathroom, nice range of patio seats with nice views, inside tables, comfy chairs, and picnic table on the deck suitable for families. Also happens to have a nice guest B&B room above! Crazy, just checked out their Facebook page /cohojoe. What an awesome place to have so close to the ferry terminal on Malcolm Island.

Ferry makes a V-shape…read more Out from Port McNeill to Sointula n back -- OR -- out to Alert Bay n back to Port McNeill n back Easy trip. Highly recommended. Lots to do at all locations!!!

Our zodiak whale watch tour out of Telegraph Cove was the highlight of our trip to Vancouver…read moreIsland, no question. We had a beautiful day, which helped. But what made it really special was our wonderful James. He was the perfect blend of knowing the wildlife and their local habits combined with a warm and charming personality. We didn't see orca, but there were quite a few humpback whales. And we were lucky enough to closely see a pod of Dall's Porpoises (tiny orcas, so cute!). It was a great experience.