Take a Trip To Tofino: Vancouver Island (Canada)

Member Name: Brighton-Rock

Product:	Canada
Date:	31/08/03 (80 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: beautiful scenery

Disadvantages: a little quiet

This review is of the little known Island of Vancouver Island - just west of Vancouver in BC, Canada. A couple of summers ago, a friend and I embarked on a short trip to tofino which is a small little town located on the Island.

Tofino is a quiet town, suitable for the lover of the outdoors. There are incredible mountains, waters and views. However, there is a pleasant lack of tourists, even in the high season which is when I went. There are many tour groups opearting which offer to take you to the Island, but I would advise planning youself and doing it your own way. This will save you money and you will allow you greater flexibility.

Some like to combine a trip to Tofino with a trip to Victoria, the main city of the Island. However, my friend and I were happy to escape the stresses of the city and to spend all of our time at Tofino. You need to take a bus called the "blue bus" from downtown Vancouver to Horseshoe Bay which is where you can take the ferry to Nanaimo. The crossing is short (around an hour), and the ferry journey allows you to see pleasant views and if you are lucky, you could see some dolphins in the ocean.

You then take a bus from Nanaimo to Tofino. The ride is a few hours, but travelling on the Island is not a chore, you are able to sit back and relax and appreciate seeing some of the Island. Once you get to Tofino, you will be impressed by the chilled out and laid back atmosphere. There are a few little bars, a co-op and other shops as well as lots of tour operators offering Whale watching tours.

We enquired at the tourist information office as to our accomodation options, and got ourselves blooked into the Vargas Island Guest House, although there is a youth hostel in Tofino. However, we chose to take the risk and have ourselves shipped out to the guest house. Again, another boat trip was in order. Before we knew it, someone from the guesthouse was coming out on a little (and I mean VERY little) boat
to collect us. We then had to have another 15 minute boat ride to Vargas Island which is where we stayed. Now, we were really lucky as there were no other guests staying in the house at the time. The house had 7 bedrooms, a wonderful kitchen, an outdoor sauna and shower and it's own garden and small beach. We were only charged $30 each a night which was wonderful value. However, I feel it was rather unusual that there were no other guests there at this time. Usually, you will be expected to share more with others. However, the rather more "unusual" facilitis (such as a saunua) were well worth the trip.

The bedrooms boast excellent views of the surrounding area and mountians, and in general the atmosphere is homely and tranquil. The owners cooked us a crab on our arrival and were warm and hospitable.

You have to rely on the staff (all 3 of them), to take you across to Tofino, so you can only really make one trip a day, and not stay out late, which may not suit some. We found a lot to do in Tofino. There are walks, cycle tracks and whale watching trips (though this does require more cash). We also went to Tofino in beautiful summer weather and I feel that in winter there really wouldn't be a great deal to do because so much of the activities in Tofino are outdoor based.

So in general, if you want to see stunning scenery, and escape the sometimes sterile nature of hostels and if you would like to have a more unusual and out of the ordinary home, opt for the Vargas Island guest house. In my opinion, is good value. If you are after bars and clubs and a vast array of shops, you are better off heading for the city of Victoria, or staying in Vancouver itself.

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