Robson Bight 6 Day Orca Tour (28.29)

Itinerary

• Day
  1

  All participants meet at the lawn in front of the Telegraph Cove Resort office (right next to the boat launch) at 8:00 am. Here the guides will assign you to a kayak and help you get your personal gear stowed away. When everyone is ready, we'll go over some basic paddling fundamentals and a safety orientation and then launch into the pristine waters of Johnstone Strait. With helpful advice and instruction from your guides, it won't take long till you feel you're getting the "hang of it" as we paddle along the gorgeous Vancouver Island coastline. These waters are the territorial range of many resident orca pods, as well as transient orca, and it is not uncommon for us to encounter these magnificent mammals within the first few hours of our day and throughout during your time in this spectacular area. After a couple of hours, we'll land on one of the beaches and you can sit back and enjoy a delicious lunch the guides will prepare. After lunch we'll launch the kayaks and make our way to our campsite at Kaikash Creek (one of the rubbing beaches in the area where we'll be staying for our 2 nights). We'll then make camp, set up our tents and you are free to explore the beaches, trails, relax or perhaps join one of the guides fishing (great salmon in these waters). A sumptuous dinner around a cozy campfire with a canopy of stars above is the evenings entertainment...don't be too surprised if you hear the whales blowing as they go by during the night.

  Meals: Lunch, Dinner

  Accomodation: Camping
• Day
  2

  With another spectacular day ahead of us, we'll wake to a hearty breakfast. After everyone has had their fill, we'll pack for the day (we return to our site in the later afternoon) and launch yet again into the orca waters of Johnstone Strait...bring along lots of film today because you'll need it! Our destination today is a paddle further along the coastline down to the Robson Bight Michael Biggs Ecological Reserve. The area around the reserve is home to several well frequented "rubbing beaches" where the orca have displayed a unique behavior only witnessed in this area of swimming right along these beaches and rubbing themselves along the small pebbles on the beaches here. We will stop for lunch on one of these beaches and hopefully witness this very behavior. Some of the other wildlife the area boasts that we may see are bald eagles, deer, bear, porpoise, dolphin, seals and even sometimes the occasional humpback or grey whale that decides to take the inside waters of the Strait as opposed to the outside west coast route around Vancouver Island. In the afternoon, we'll make our way back to our campsite at Kaikash. Dependent on weather, we may also venture to an old Whale Research Observation site, high up on one of the bluffs in the area...the hike and the view from above is spectacular. Another delicious meal and warm campfire to put a great end to a magnificent day!

  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

  Accomodation: Camping
• Day
  3

  We'll wake to the aroma's of coffee, a tasty cooked breakfast and the sounds of gently lapping waves for yet another day in Johnstone Strait and beyond. Today we venture across the Strait and into the enchanting world of the Indian Group Islands. After breakfast, we'll break camp and load up all the kayaks with all our gear..."this stuff should all fit, shouldn't it?". With the tides in our favour, we'll cross the Strait and paddle into Blackfish Sound (the natives called the orca "blackfish") and Blackney Passage. This area is a regular route for feeding orca on their daily feeding ranges and orca encounters are fairly common during our paddles through these waters. Our destination is gorgeous campsite in the tall cedars on the native island of Compton Island. We'll set up camp and our tents here for the next two nights, prepare a lunch and then take to the kayaks and explore the myriad of islands and inlets in this enchanting area. Since we are further north and closer to the remote BC mainland, it is not uncommon at nights to hear wolves howling in the distant coastal range, echoing amongst the tall cedars and into the dark starry sky.

  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

  Accomodation: Camping
• Day
  4

  Today after breakfast, we pack for our day's paddle (returning to Compton Island in the later afternoon) to the abandoned ancient native fishing village of Mamalilicula or "Meem Quam Leese" (in native Kwakiutl language meaning the Village with the rocks and islands out front). Abandoned in 1969, the village is an ancient site with downed totem poles, traditional "big houses" or longhouses, orchards and in one of the most beautiful settings imaginable. For many, the visit to Mamalilicula is a highlight of their time in the Indian Group. We'll spend several hours exploring the site, have lunch and hopefully will be joined by native Tom Sewid and the Village Island guardians for an interpretive tour of the area. In the afternoon we'll return via an alternate route that passes through a maze of small islets, inlets and channels to our campsite on Compton Island.

  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

  Accomodation: Camping
• Day
  5

  Waking amongst the giant cedars, we'll enjoy another breakfast together and then break camp, packing our kayaks and bidding this magical area goodbye. But don't to be too sad as our journey today takes us back into the realm of the orca and the salmon rich waters of Johnstone Strait. The first half of the day will take us back through Blackfish Sound and across the Strait to the Vancouver Island coastline. We'll then establish a campsite, have lunch and then launch our kayaks in search of orca's. By now we've grown accustomed to our kayaks and marvel at their sleek agility in the water. With both double and single kayaks available in our fleet, switching off to try a variety of different kayaks is always an option throughout our days, if you wish. Our final night is spent with another glowing fire, sumptuous dinner and a mesmerizing canopy of stars above...and hopefully serenaded by the blows of orca passing just metres away in the waters along the coast.

  Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

  Accomodation: Camping
• Day
  6

  We'll wake to the aroma's of coffee, cooked breakfast and the sounds of the lapping waves for our final day in Johnstone Strait. After breakfast, we'll break camp and load up all the kayaks with our gear..."this stuff should all fit, shouldn't it?". We'll take the route back along the Vancouver Island coastline, cameras ready and ever prepared for a final encounter or encounters with the orca along the way. With the tides in our favour and sunshine and warm breezes on our faces, we should arrive back at our embarkation point of Telegraph Cove between noon and 1:00pm.

  Meals: Breakfast

  Accomodation: Accommodation by Customer