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.

From the owner: With locations in Victoria, Vancouver, and Telegraph Cove, Prince of Whales Whale & Marine Wildlife…read moreAdventures is a family-owned and operated eco-tourism operator that aims to educate, inspire, and provide access to a world that the average person knows little about. We share stories of the ocean along with its varying waterscapes and diversity of animals in a way that entertains and educates.

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.

If you are looking for a kayaking paradise, or just a relaxing location away from the crowds, this…read moreis the place. Couldn't recommend it more. The almost infinite number of paddling trip options out from this inn are all filled with stunning scenery and wildlife spottings. Paddled right by a black bear foraging on the shoreline. The cabins are very clean, colorful, comfortable, and well stocked for cooking or grilling the food you bring. The innkeepers are great people, helpful, and are very interesting to talk with. If you're driving, you'll need to take a short boat ride to get to it and back from Telegraph Cove. The ride is fun, laced with good conversation, has beautiful scenery all around, will take all of your gear and kayaks, and doubles as an excellent whale watching excursion as it crosses the Johnstone Strait and environs.

Paddler's Inn is absolutely amazing! Such a luxurious way to finish our trip after camping in tents…read morefor nearly a week. I'll begin by stating Bruce and Josee are absolutely wonderful hosts. They were responsive to all our questions as we planned our 7-day kayak trip almost a year in advance of our stay and were kind enough to accommodate us for an extra night at the last minute when we changed our schedule to permit a little more time in the area. Bruce picked us up in his boat promptly along with another couple and dropped us off on an island of our choice to begin our adventure. We spent 4 days paddling the archipelago before our rendezvous at Paddler's Inn for a gorgeous and tranquil finale. We stayed 3 nights in total, two of them in the Cliffside Cabin, which we absolutely loved. Bruce and Josee have spent decades developing their property into the attractive getaway it is. They have a couple trails you can follow to a sizeable lake, a cliffside lookout, and a scenic sunset view with a nearby bench. If you are eager for some creature comforts or souvenirs, you can paddle a short distance around the point to the local store/mail house on your way to Bill Proctor's house/museum. We cannot recommend Paddler's Inn enough! They can accommodate both large and small groups and they recently added a central gathering lounge out on the water with a roof and propane fireplace. We had a chance to get to know some other paddlers as they began their adventures, though those seeking solitude can easily find space to not be disturbed. We will definitely return the next time we are in the area and look forward to visiting with Bruce and Josee again. Don't think twice about planning your stay at Paddler's Inn! - Tyler and Brett

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).