Overall, we had a fun kayak paddle tour. The waters around Tofino are beautiful with lots of sea…read morestars clinging to the rocks. Sam, our guide, is studying oceanography, so was a good resource in showing us the sights as well as explaining about the currents and tidal flow in the area. The boats and gear were all good quality and using the online registration made check in a breeze. Our only negative was in the timing of the outing. The other group in our tour, a family, was late in arriving, then needed time to get organized. We ended up starting our on shore orientation quite late. In addition, we returned to the landing before the scheduled ending time. All in all, we lost probably 30 minutes of the scheduled 2 hour tour, which was a bit of a disappointment. Also, the level of paddling was easier than I would have liked, but that is to be expected in a shorter family - oriented trip like this. Overall, a fun was to enjoy the beautiful coastline around Tofino and learn a few things too.

I had a terrible experience with Paddle West Kayaking in Tofino. On the day of our tour, we…read morereceived an email putting us on a weather watch due to strong winds where our tour might be cancelled, but they would contact us 1-2hrs beforehand and offer options to cancel with a full refund, reschedule or continue the tour if we were experienced kayakers (which we weren't). We lost service while driving into Tofino and couldn't receive any calls. An hour before the tour, we finally got service and received a voicemail offering to reschedule or cancel for a full refund. I called back five times but only reached voicemail, so I left a message requesting to cancel and reschedule. Later, David from paddle west kayaking called, saying the tour guide was waiting and claimed he hadn't received our voicemail. He said he would check with his supervisor about a refund and call back, which he didn't. After multiple follow-ups David said we had to pay full price since the tour guide had shown up. We offered to come down within 15 minutes to complete the kayaking session if we had to pay full price anyway, but David said the tour guide had already left, and rescheduling would require another full payment. After requesting to speak to the supervisor, Alys, the manager called a few days later and apologized and said we would receive a 70% refund as the guide still needed to be paid. We agreed, but later received only a 50% refund. When questioned, she denied the 70% refund offer. This experience was incredibly disappointing. The lack of communication, unresponsiveness, and mismanagement ruined what should have been an enjoyable activity which was intended for a bachelorette party. I would not recommend this company to anyone considering paddle west kayaking in Tofino.

My teenage son and I did the 2.5 hour trip in the evening. Jack was our guide. He made sure we got…read morea good tour of the area and dropped a lot of info about the history and wildlife we saw. A great and serene way to spend an evening. Highly recommend.

Husband and I did a private 2.5 hour harbor tour. The first half hour was set up (all essentials…read moreprovided including water shoes, glasses strap, phone holder, dry bag, spray skirt, and of course lifejacket), instruction, and safety (we had 4 bald eagles fly directly overhead during the set-up!) then we were out on the water with our guide, Hailey. She listened to what we wanted from the tour, was great about giving us some history of the area, and shared her knowledge about the local wildlife and ecology. This was our first real experience sea kayaking and I felt safe the entire time, and knew safety was of upmost importance to our guide. When the tour was over, we had coffee in the shop that's associated with Tofino Kayak, looking out over the water. Overall, a great experience, and would highly recommend this business.

WOW! Don't miss this adventure! T.J. (it's complicated) and Eric are the BOMB! If they're not…read moredazzling you with their brilliance, they're baffling you with their... well, you know. T.J. knows where to find 'em and Eric knows all about 'em and will guide you right up to 'em in your own two-person sea kayak. We watched bald eagles, bears, seals, starfish, crabs, and a dog. Well, it was T.J.'s dog, Sawyer, who went with us on the boat, but it was a dog and we watched him. What a laid-back, loving boy he is. We watched a sow and her cub forage on the beach for about a half an hour. In the kayaks, we could get closer than any of the boats could. What a treat! Then we watched maybe 20 or 30 harbor seals sunning on an island. So, if you're headed to Tofino, you MUST contact Black Bear Kayaking. Worth every penny and they don't charge extra for Sawyer!

Clayoquot Sound: A Kayaking Trip To Remember…read more Make sure you take a kayaking trip while visiting Tofino. We signed up for a tour with Black Bear Kayaking. Our tour guide Colin was awesome. Kayaking and hiking with him felt like hanging out with an old mate. He was also very knowledgeable about the trees and plants on our hiking trip. We highly recommend this tour. This was my third sea kayaking trip, and it won't be our last. We really enjoyed ourselves and were so proud of ourselves that we were able to paddle through the tidal currents. Our wildlife viewings included bald eagles, seals and crabs on bull kelp. The hiking portion of the trip was fabulous. It was a nice walk on an old boardwalk. This forest had some incredibly old and very large red cedar and western hemlock trees. You could sit there for hours to stare at the trees and plants. A four hour paddle (more like five) on Clayoquot Sound and hike through the ancient Big Tree Trail on Meares Island - magnificent!

We passed this spot multiple times when driving to Tofino. We actually really wanted to do the…read morezipline, but unfortunately we were drained from traveling the day we arrived. Instead we took some photos and chatted with the employees. They were very helpful and offered a lot of information about the kayaking and ziplines. We watched others do the ziplines and saw the area where they take the kayaks out. What gorgeous land! It was exciting just to watch. Recommendation: Make your appointment before you arrive so you have a good time reserved. There's no guarantee if you just show up. We will definitely be back here soon, and when we do the zipline we'll add the photos and our experience on how much fun it is. Can't wait!

Thank you Joel, Sean and Ken ! What a great time we had . I wish i would have recorded all of the…read morerides instead of trying to shoot stills. The views are spectacular and these guy's are the best! Would highly recommend this adventure! Joe and Pam from Cobble Hill

Stopped in for a break in the day while we were traveling from Tofino to Ucluelet back to our lodge…read morewhere we were staying. Despite it being a cold day, it was packed with surfers ready to hit the waves. Thankfully, we claimed what I think was probably the last parking spot within walking distance. I needed to use the restroom, so I hit that first. Only one or two were in operation, sadly but at least they had them. There were also changing rooms available so that was nice for the surfers who were changing. The beach itself is cool. It butts up right against forest, so there were tons of old downed, sand-beaten trees that sculpted a beautiful backdrop for the mellow ocean waves. The beach itself was very clean & the walk was quite nice and serene. This beach is a nice little hidden (or maybe not-so-hidden treasure to find) and I welcome a return visit if we ever visited this area again.

Chesterman Beach was a nice stop for an evening walk. There were plenty of fire pits going with…read moregroups sitting around them on the driftwood. We saw a few people surfing as the sun was setting. It's perfect for an easy, long walk. It's a quick drive south of Tofino and we found it easy to park with a very short walk from the parking lot to the beach. There are restrooms near the parking lot as well. Overall, a great beach.

Very nice trail to take to go out to the lighthouse which is not much to see but, the views on the…read moreway there are awesome. Although it was a cloudy day the sights were beautiful.

Wonderfully engineered, well manicured and breath-taking views. This trail makes a great…read moredestination ever more enjoyable. Bravo

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!!!

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.

I love trails in Pacific Rim National Park. They all have surprises. The Spruce Fringe Trail starts…read moreoff downhill with a dirt and gravel road during the first 150 or so metres. Don't worry, I didn't encounter anything dangerous like exposed roots, large rocks, or large puddles of water. Just keep a lookout for bears and cougars, because they're out there. After about 150 metres, I was walking on a wooden boardwalk surrounded by tall old growth trees and ferns. Be careful as the old mossy boardwalk was a bit slippery, even though it wasn't raining when I was on the trail. I ended up passing through two swamps too. Not to worry, again, there are bridges that runs across the swamps. Sadly, one section of the trail was closed due to a fallen tree. At the third quarter portion of the trail, I encountered mostly leafless trees which are covered in moss. Nearing the end of the trail, I walked through a really unique tree tunnel which is known as the Krummholz tunnel. The word krummholz is a german word for crooked wood. The trees had crooked branches and the tunnel was actually dark enough to be a bit spooky. This trail was my first encounter with a tree tunnel. That was a surprise for me.