3 day Johnstone Strait Tour

Robson Bight Ecological Reserve

If
you want to kayak with orcas, this is the expedition for you. Located
on the Northeast coast of Vancouver Island, our kayaking trips in
Johnstone Strait offer an amazing opportunity to view and paddle with
Orca whales (Killer Whales) in a pristine environment.

 * sightings are not guaranteed best times are July 15 to August 25th most years.

Kayaking
with Orcas is a thrilling experience. With the largest concentration of Orca whales (actually the largest Dolphin Species) on the coast, the waters of Johnstone Strait offer
unsurpassed adventure. The shear thrill of viewing these noble and
magnificent whales only metre’s away from your kayak is truly
awe-inspiring and memorable. Whale “rubbing beaches”, waters teeming
with salmon, the nature-rich estuary and watershed of The Tsitika River
foreshadowed by the snow capped peaks of Vancouver Island. Kayak with Orcas and join us for a unique adventure holiday kayaking Johnstone
Strait as we paddle in the best location in North America in which to
view wild Orca whales in their natural habitat. This trip is exciting,
fun and will make you want to return to this amazing area.

Price: $1150 cdn. plus 5% GST

ITINERARY

DAY #1:
All
participants meet at the lawn in front of the Telegraph Cove Marina and
RV Resort office (left at the stop sign when entering T.Cove and then
follow the signs) at 8:00 am. Please note that this is not the first
boat launch you come to when entering Telegraph Cove. Here the guides
will assign you to a kayak and help you get your personal gear stowed
away. When everyone is ready, we’ll go over some basic paddling
fundamentals and a safety orientation and then launch into the pristine
waters of Johnstone Strait.

With helpful advice and instruction from
your guides, it won’t take long till you feel you’re getting the “hang
of it” as we paddle along the gorgeous Vancouver Island coastline. These
waters are the territorial range of manyresident orca pods, as well as
transient orca, and it is not uncommon for us to encounter these
magnificent mammals within the first few hours of our day and throughout
during your time in this spectacular area. After a couple of hours,
we’ll land on one of beaches and you can sit back and enjoy a delicious
lunch the guides will prepare. After lunch we’ll launch the kayaks and
make our way to our campsite at Kaikash Creek (one of the rubbing
beaches in the area where we’ll be staying for our 2 nights).

We’ll then
unload kayaks, make camp, set up our tents and you are free to explore
the beaches, trails, relax or perhaps join one of the guides fishing
(great salmon opportunities in these waters). A sumptuous dinner around a
cozy campfire with a canopy of stars above is the evenings
entertainment…don’t be too surprised if you hear the whales blowing as
they go by during the night.

DAY #2:
With another
spectacular day ahead of us, we’ll wake to a hearty breakfast. After
everyone has had their fill, we’ll pack for the day (we return to our
site in the later afternoon) and launch yet again into the orca waters
of Johnstone Strait…bring along your camera today because you’ll need
it! Our destination today is a paddle further along the coastline down
to the Robson Bight Michael Biggs Ecological Reserve (a no entry zone).

The area around the reserve is home to several well-frequented “rubbing
beaches” where the orca have displayed a unique behavior only witnessed
in this area of swimming right along these beaches and rubbing
themselves along the small pebbles on the beaches here. We will stop for
lunch on one of these beaches and hopefully witness this very behavior.
Some of the other wildlife the area boasts that we may see are bald
eagles, deer, bear, porpoise, dolphins, seals and even sometimes the
occasional humpback or grey whale that decides to take the inside waters
of the Strait as opposed to the outside west coast route around
Vancouver Island.

 In the afternoon, we’ll make our way back to our
campsite at Kaikash Creek. Dependent on weather, we may also venture to
an old Whale Research Observation site, high up on one of the bluffs in
the area…the hike and the view from above is spectacular. Another
delicious meal around a warm campfire to put a great end to another
magnificent day!

DAY #3:
We’ll wake to the
aroma’s of coffee, cooked breakfast and the sounds of the lapping waves
for our final day in Johnstone Strait. After breakfast, we’ll break camp
and load up all the kayaks with our gear…”this stuff should all fit,
shouldn’t it?”. We’ll take the route back along the Vancouver Island
coastline, cameras ready and ever prepared for a final encounter or
encounters with the Orca along the way.

We should arrive back at our
embarkation point of Telegraph Cove between noon and 1:00pm. We’ll then
haul the kayaks back up to the launching area where we’ll unload our
gear, exchange emails and bid our goodbyes and adieus. It’s a 2 hour
drive back down to Campbell River and another 2 hours to the ferries in
Nanaimo.