Tofino BC - Part I

We are in the last few weeks of our winter stay here in Vancouver and will be hitting the road again at the end of April. We'll head first to the Sunshine Coast and then on to Vancouver Island for a few weeks while waiting for the snow to melt up north. However, when we heard that the best time for viewing the Gray Whale migration off the west coast of Vancouver Island was March and April, we decided to make a separate trip just for that even though it might mean covering some of the same ground later. So, we booked ourselves on a Hot Springs and Whale Watching tour and headed off to Tofino at the end of March. We booked well in advance and weren't really hopeful that we'd get a good weather window, but, to our delight, the heavens aligned and our three day trip was spectacularly warm, clear and dry. It felt like summer and conditions were absolutely perfect for heading out on the water.

During the Pacific Gray Whale migration 22,000! whales travel from Mexico along the West Coast of Vancouver Island on the way to their northern summer quarters. We did see about six whales, just a km offshore, but, unfortunately no pictures for you as whales are notoriously hard to photograph. You tend to just see their breath, followed by their back and if you're lucky their tail as they dive. There was other wildlife as well which was more photogenic. The boat skipper took us to places that we'd never have dared to go in our own boat, very close to the rocks, local knowledge at work. It was nice for once to leave the driving to someone else who knew where they were going which allowed us to just enjoy the scenery.

A sea lion colony on the point in the foreground with a cormorant colony on the next point...

We were close enough to hear the sea lions barking...

at least the ones that weren't fast asleep in the warm sunshine...

The highlight of the trip was our visit to Maquinna Provincial Park and the hot springs there. I'd been disappointed with hot spring visits in the past as usually the naturally heated water is just pumped into concrete pools and you get to sit there in a stew with 500 other people. I'd vowed to see the real thing and this time it was. The Maquinna springs are a totally natural hotspring that bubbles out of the ground, down a steaming stream, over a waterfall and into a series of rock basins that drop down to the ocean's edge. It's true that we had to share with others, no avoiding that with many tour companies offering this trip, but, it was still less crowded than in season, we enjoyed a lovely soak and it was hot!

It was a two km walk along a boardwalk through the rain forest to get to the springs. Many passing sailboats and other visitors had left their mark...

This pretty stream is steaming hot....

The hot springs run out through a cleft in the rocks to the ocean...

I don't know where these dogs came from, but, they seemed to be well-looked after locals out for a stroll and were soaking up the sun alongside the bathers. One walked with us along the boardwalk.

We also spotted our first Steller's Jay at the springs. This is BC's official bird and it's a beauty.