Vancouver Island Kayaking

Vancouver Island kayaking is nothing short of a dream come true for kayakers. Vancouver Island, particularly the Johnstone Strait and the Gulf Islands, are considered the top kayaking destinations in the world. The narrow strip of Johnstone Strait is home to the famous Orca whales that add to the thrill and excitement of Vancouver Island kayaking. For the kayakers, the hazards may include wind, strong tides, and currents, along with heavy marine traffic.

The Gulf Islands offer many spots for kayaking. The inside waters are protected but a kayaker looking for Vancouver Island kayaking should be aware of tides and currents. The Southern Gulf Islands have a plethora of wildlife including seals, sea lions, birds and Orca whales.

Kayaking in the west coast of Canada, including the Vancouver Island reveal towering mountains, isolated beaches, untouched rainforests, steep fjords, and an abundance of marine life. For a kayaker, Vancouver Island has thousands of spots where you can paddle away for a day, a week or as much as you wish. A word of caution, though. Specific routes, tides and currents require specific skill levels.

Other than the Johnstone Strait and the Gulf Islands, there are many Vancouver Island kayaking spots, such as Denman and Hornby Islands, Quadra Island, Broken Group Islands, Port Hardy, Tofino, Kyuquot Sound, and many more. The Cowichan, Nanaimo, Gold, White, Salmon and Adam are some of the numerous whitewater rivers in Vancouver Island.

One of the most remote and rugged areas for kayaking on the western coast of Vancouver Island is the Nootka Sound. It offers deep wilderness, remote beaches, and dense rainforests to keen kayakers. Long stretches of uninhabited beaches, an abundance of sheltered beaches, rocky headlands, and winding fjords, there is that and much more for the kayaking enthusiasts. While kayaking along the Nootka Sound, there is opportunity for the kayakers to observe wolves, black bears, sea lions, sea otter, cougars, and bald eagles. Depending on the time of the year, further off shore, kayakers can observe Gray and Orca whales. The Nuchatlitz Marine Park offers exposed coast as well as protected waters, quiet coves, and innumerable beaches for kayaking. Experienced and physically fit kayakers can circumnavigate the Nootka Island, the Nuchatlitz Inlet, and the many islands.

Kayaking through the fjords and islands, along side the mountains and old growth forests of the Clayoquot Sound is quite an experience for paddlers. Paddling through the Sound, the kayakers get to see a diversity of wildlife in the area, including black bears, wolves, Roosevelt elk, Orca and Gray whales, migrating waterfowl, salmon, shorebirds and the endangered marbled murrelet.

An archipelago of more than a hundred islands, the Broken Group Islands is in the middle of the Pacific Rim National Park, on the southwestern coast of Vancouver Island. The Broken Group Islands provide a kayaking experience through a labyrinth of pocket beaches, lagoons, exposed reefs, bare windswept rocks, and densely forested islands. The outer islands of the Broken Group Islands are exposed to the ravages of the Pacific Ocean, and the inner islands scattered through 130 square kilometers of the Barcley Sound is ideal for kayaking. The Barcley Sound has an abundance of inter-tidal sea life, such as sea urchins, sea anemones, sea arches, sea stars, and sea cucumbers, and is home to sea lions, bald eagles and whales. All these and many more attractions make Vancouver Island kayaking a trip that most of the kayakers long for.

Vancouver Island Kayaking in Johnstone Strait is for those who will kayak with whales! This glacier carved strait offers a diversity of complex and remote island archipelagos, refuge bays and deep fjords, for sea kayaking. The top of the Johnstone Strait is a great whale watching area as well as an excellent kayaking spot.

Kayaking in Gulf Islands involves short distances between islands in warm temperatures. This is appropriate for beginners who can come here to acquire kayaking skills. An archipelago of 250 islands, the Gulf Islands have a rich marine environment with an estimated 3000 species of animal and plant life, including hundreds of different seaweeds, species of sea life ranging from octopus to starfish, oysters and clams, seals, sea lions, river otters, and porpoises.

Vancouver Island Whitewater Kayaking

The Gold River is suitable for experienced whitewater kayakers. Kayakers need to apply their skills against rock gardens, continuous rapids, surfing waves and the "Big Drop". This will be an experience you'll never forget if your an enthusiastic whitewater kayaker.

Kayaking in Vancouver Island is an experience in itself not to be found anywhere else.