A few days in Tofino, BC

Reserve a table and eat at the Wickannish Inn. Charter a boat from Weigh West Marine Resort and have your own whale watch.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Most freedom will be with a car. It is a 7-hour drive from Victoria, and you need a car to do the island and its villages justice.

Let's be realistic...if you really want to stay in Tofino, stay in the village and if you do that you will have to accept that you will be staying in a basic lodging. But what does that matter? The Weigh West Marine Resort, as lodgings are self-contained apartments. We had one-bedroom and a Murphy bed meaning the apartment easily sleeps either four or two. A kitchenette, outdoor wetclothes store, bathroom, balcony, and car parking are all available. Our rooms had great views of the harbour and mountains. It was even possible to see a glacier on a not-so-distant mountain. The resort has its own pub and restaurant, serving up reasonable food, with friendly waiters, for a reasonable price that is perched on stilts over the calm inlet water. The rest of Tofino is a quiet community (well in October anyway) the village is compact and there are plenty of places to eat/drink.

Best to have a car with you though...unless you fancy hiring a bike and riding round the rainforest which surrounds you.

The Shelter looks like somewhere to be avoided, but the people pouring into this popular eatery provided a sense of intrigue as to what it was like to eat there. Whilst a group of six of us had no reservation, after a short 10-minute wait, our table was ready in the upstairs of this very modern and stylish restaurant. Dress was acceptable casual and in tofino - given the sometimes inclement weather, they seem to take the laid-back attitude towards dressing for dinner. Wines available included a good range of Canadian wines as well as European and Australian. If you are not too hungry, they have a good selection of small meals, and if you could eat a small pony, then there are meals of that size to tempt your appetite. Shellfish and fish are popular dishes as always, but so too are salads, pasta, or steaks. The Shelter is a hospitable place to eat and certainly a popular local place - which must be a good sign! Try it and see!

Don't be put off by the initial answer to your request for a reservation. The friendly staff will give you a sitting choice of either 5pm or 9pm. Whilst 5pm might seem to early, accept it and wait for the show of your vacation to begin whilst you eat a fabulous meal. 5pm is important. The staff sit you down, and you are allocated a waiter who acts in your interest throughout the evening. The sun will start setting from 5:30, hence the time of the first reservations, and you can watch through the floor-to-ceiling windows across the Pacific Ocean as the last of the surfers brave the cold and powerful waters, catching waves; skies, meanwhile, change from blue to orange, to purple to black.

Whilst you may have it in your mind that a 3-course meal is in order, you are treated to mini-courses in between your ordered courses, which take the total number of courses up to 6 or 7! As each dish arrives, you are taken through what is presented on your plate; where your fish was caught, what tomato reduction is drizzled over your steak, or the origins of the golden raspberries that are presented on chocolate wafers with your bill. Fine wines, reasonably priced, set meals where your drink and food are perfectly matched. Everything seems to have been thought of. The views are Mother Nature's part and create a superb destination. Six of us sat down at 5pm and were still eating at 9pm - so eat lightly through the rest of the day. An amazing experience - for dining, drinking, and Pacific adventure. Not to be missed!

Whilst October is the tail end of the main season in Tofino (mainly because the weather is less predictable), people are still offering Whale watching trips to any would-be adventurers!

Six of us enquired at the Weigh West Marine Resort where we were staying, on a drizzly morning - wondering whether anyone would be prepared to go on a trip. It seemed however that it didn't matter that it was only our group interested, we could have a boat to ourselves and a skipper who knew his way for $80 (Canadian) each. This was great in itself as, quite selfishly, we would be sharing our experience with each other only, not a group of strangers.

On our good ship Close Encounters II (a lime green speed boat with an enclosed cabin), we went on our own adventure to where the whales are known to feed.

After an exhilarating, wind-in-your-hair, raised-hull cruise for 30 minutes, we were taken to the shores of uninhabited islands (Meares) - with everyone on the platform at the stern of the boat, looking out for any bears, eagles and more importantly whales.

We were greeted by three whales - all feeding, diving, spraying from their spouts and waving their tailfins before plunging further into the ocean.

Our skipper was very knowledgeable, he kept our distance and respected their space. They didn't seem to mind our presence and, in fact, I think they were playing hide and seek with us at times.

Leaving the whales behind, we took a trip into the more oceanic waters (a bit more ropey and rough) to see some basking sea lions. The noise they made was so loud and piercing. The sight was fantastic - and an unexpected extra.

The whole trip was over two hours - and it is an experience which will be forever engraved on my mind. Try it, that is all I can recommend! I hope you get out of it, at least, what I did!