Was not aware that floatplanes came in smaller sizes than the Harbour Air ones. But as far as I'm…read moreconcerned...the smaller the better. For some reason, just feel safer in smaller planes. Just don't tell my mom. She's still getting over the whole "scuba diving with sharks" thing. I am lucky enough that I get to take float planes to the island(s) for work. I know, it's a tough job. This was a 2 day meeting that included a kayak picnic dinner and lunch on a sunny patio. Not even going to tell you who i work for!! Needless to say the flight over was awesome, very relaxed. We boarded from the Fraser river "terminal" where our pilot showed up about 5 min before flight. They proceeded to guestimate our luggage weight and off we went to Gabriola! Sweet ride. The whole experience though was all about our experience from Gabriola to Richmond...first off, you cannot beat the "airport" sign (pic attached) not to mention our pilot who had us all in song before take of. Funniest guy ever. He clearly loves his job and does it well. Highly recommend it.

Great scenic air tour of Clayquot Sound and some inner glaciers on Vancouver Island's west coat. We…read morewent with two other couples (our friends), which helped to defray the cost. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. I'd been skydiving before, so I expected the little seaplane to be similar to the skydiving helicopter. Which it was and wasn't. Loud, yes. But much smaller!! You're given a pair of sound-protecting headphones, which makes the whole experience more surreal -- lip-reading others and taking in the sights with the drone of the engine in your head. But the scenery. Oh the scenery. It was so wonderful being up there, above the clouds, taking in the endless evergreens and maples, spying on the bears (amazing!) and watching humpback wales blowing water spikes into the sky. The glacier tour was the most terrifying part; you're uncomfortably aware of the fact that you've put your life in a stranger's hands. The huge slabs of ice and snow on the mountaintops dwarfed our little seaplane. We did a landing on a small lake only reachable by air. On the nearby shore was an abandoned cabin and I couldn't help but but smile when the sheer isolation of it all struck me. Our pilot was very nice and he didn't skimp on the 1.5 hour tour. It took more like 2 hours. He even flew us down over our hotel, which I enjoyed immensely. Well worth the money and a fun, inspiring way to enjoy Vancouver Island.

I have never been in a helicopter, and I have wanted to take a ride for a long time. We were…read morespending a long weekend in Victoria and were chatting with the Concierge at our hotel. She had recently gone up to Campbell river with her bf, and they had taken the Comox Glacier Tour, she was basically so excited that she was babbling with joy and enthusiasm. How can you ignore something like that? We set up a tour for the next day. 49 North was super accommodating, we had a drive in front of us, to get there, so we scheduled for 3 pm. We took a relaxing, winding trip up from Victoria to Campbell River; it's a lovely drive. We arrived about an hour early, so we just stopped in. Jean-Marc took us up. His wife pulled together a lunch for us, and we had a fabulous experience, flying over mountains, glaciers, lakes, and having one of the best views for lunch. Seriously a stunning experience. Jean-Marc has been flying for 20 years, and this is his business, he gave us thrills, and we felt safe the entire flight. There is a lot of turbulence when you cross over the tops of mountains, but that only gave the whole experience more of that roller coaster feel. I highly recommend taking a helicopter trip with 49 North, if you get to Vancouver Island. If you listen carefully, you can probably hear me babbling with enthusiasm.

Holy shit! Best damn helicopter flight we've been on! Super professional and best pilot. We took…read morethe glacier tour to see water falls. This is the tour to take. The pilot brad was awesome and best pilot we have had in helicopter. If your looking to make memories that will last the rest of your life, you will never forget this overflight of the glacier area. Do yourself a favor and forget the whale watching and grizzly bear tours and head to 49 North. It will be the one that we will always remember.

From the owner: Vancouver Island West Coast Adventure Float Plane Servicesread more

I did the three hours whale tour. Booked it the day before because I had a brief window of time to…read morekill fun trip. Is exhilarating to ride around the boat during good weather and feel the wind on your face. I didn't move fast enough though. I wasn't really able to get a seat upstairs, but that's OK. Still had a great seat at the front of the boat or the back of the boat seeing the whales and other animals. The tour guides are extremely friendly and informative. Saw a couple of whales (one named OC orange crush) and some whole big boy sea lions and gangs of otters and Eagles.

Pick this tour company for the best experience, you won't regret it. 3rd time I go whale watching…read moreand this was the most knowledgeable crew, as well as the friendliest crew and they made me laugh with their jokes, love the delivery! I will be back, and will recommend to everyone!!! Oh and we had an all women crew, how cool is that!?! All my whale pictures are on my SLR but got the sea lion ones I my phone, so here

This was our third wildlife tour in a span of four days so at this point we had become…read morepseudo-experts. What I liked about Adventure Tofino Wildlife Tours is they are the most efficient. It was the shortest tour and within that time we saw harbour seals, a black bear and a raft of sea otters. The tour guide said his boat was the fastest in the fleet so we seemed to get to places quite quickly. The guide warned us we may not see black bears because they hadn't seen many. But then he heard where there was one and after fifteen or so minutes we got to the black bear. And like every tour we were respectfully far away from the black bear. I've attached a photo of the bear and it's at 30x zoom. For the harbor seals we were closer and even closer to the raft of sea otters, which was the highlight of the tour. I know that the black bear is supposed to be the highlight but I would rather see animals closer and it appeared that sea otters were not as skittish. As for equipment, this tour started at the nicest office though you have to pay for parking. The flotation suits looked quite new and very clean. This tour's boat was the most comfortable and easiest for viewing all around. Only one binocular was supplied for the whole tour to share so I was glad we brought our own. The whole tour cost almost $500 CAD. It's questionable whether it was worth it to see a black bear far away for twenty minutes, some harbor seals for a few minutes and a raft of sea otters for fifteen minutes. But I am glad we did it.

I took two tours with this team and was incredibly impressed. Our guides were incredibly…read moreknowledgeable and explained a lot of the environmental issues the island faces in ways that made clear the importance of addressing them, but without it becoming too negative. I would 1000% recommend them

I have spent nearly a month now touring Vancouver Island and there are many fabulous sights and…read moreactivities, but #1 without question has been the cruise with Archipelago. In fact, their cruise is both #1 and #2 in my book as I went on the tour twice. Both times the scenery and wildlife were incredible; both times Alan & Toddy did a top-notch job as guides and hosts; both times the cruise provided a connection to the natural surroundings and to fellow travelers that you just don't get on the other tours. If you make it to the area, Archipelago should be #1 on your list (and #2).

Al and Toddy were great hosts. They are passionate about their lifestyle on the water and were…read moreanxious to share their knowledge of Ucluelet, it's history and wildlife. The boat is pretty luxurious, well maintained and very clean. Within five minutes of launching, we saw a bear, bald eagles and then sea lions. Later in the Broken Islands, we saw a couple of whales, harbor seals and lots of marine birds. I highly recommend taking this cruise, we saw so many things that we would never have seen if we didn't venture out into the waters of Barkley Sound.

We had the pleasure of taking a morning kayak tour and had An amazing experience with this company…read more. Our guide , Reed, was a thoughtful , friendly and very knowledgeable guide . We even saw a beautiful black bear turning over rocks on a small Island nearby . I highly recommend this company and their exceptional Service

Absolutely amazing!!! The staff was super friendly and, accommodating and helpful. Our guide, Dave,…read morewas super fun and knowledgeable. Everyone made us feel welcome like we were old friends. We saw 6 bears, porpoises, and seals. You can't beat the scenery. What an amazing setting. I highly recommend them for your next adventure!

A really great tour with very knowledgeable crew. Warren and Cassidy knew their stuff! First bear…read morespotted within 20 minutes and we seen 5 in total. About 100 Sea Otters as an absolute bonus! Loved seeing Eagles, especially an Eagles nest! Highly recommended!

Knowledgeable boat captain that knew the best route to take to find bears patrolling for a meal…read more Office was well run and organized. Great experience.

We did the hot springs tour with Captain Alastair. We had the chance to book a slightly cheaper…read moretour with our hotel, but I'm so glad we stuck with the Whale Centre bc of Captain Alastair. He was exactly who I imagine a wise grey-haired sea captain to be. He started the tour by acknowledging that we're in the unceded lands of First Nation tribes and shared many stories about the islands and animals we saw. He also knew that there were swells and took us on a slightly longer route that kept us out of super bumpy water. We heard later that the other boats took the typical route and a ton of ppl got seasick, while we were all fine. We saw otters, seas, hawks, and Captain Alastair even took "a diversion" to make sure we got to see a grey whale. We were also in a "cabin cruiser" which was covered and made it a very comfortable ride. I also appreciated their grey life buoy vests which were less obstructive/bulky than the usual life vests. The hot springs were as we expected based on reading reviews. Cramped but still so cool being in a natural hot spring. We enjoyed the long walking there and back too (prepare for a lot of up and down)! It was a great experience overall and I highly recommend the Whale Centre if you can get captain Alastair!

Manuel was our guide and was a wealth of local and sea life knowledge. We really enjoyed the biat…read moreride, walk and springs. Although, the hot springs were smaller than expected, but overall a great experience!

We have stayed at the hotel, eaten at the restaurant and gone on a 3 hour whale tour. It is…read morehighly recommended. We saw not just whales but otters, seals, bears, wolves and more.

The Zodiac Whale watching trip was the highlight of our trip! So much fun!!! We saw Orcas, Whales,…read moretons of Sea Otters and a awesome joyride on the boat!!!