Vacation: Tofino – 2 Days

What would you do if you had 2 weeks of time off from work for a vacation? Would you head off somewhere tropical? Perhaps you would jump in the car and just drive randomly around? Robyn and I decided that with the 2 weeks we had for vacation that we would hit a few places for some much needed rest and relaxation.

Over the next 2 weeks we decided we would hit 3 places that we have always enjoyed visiting on a yearly basis. The first 2 nights would be at the surfing town of Tofino. Tofino is located on Vancouver Island on the west coast about 2.5 hours from Naniamo or about 5 hours from the city of Victoria. For us, it took roughly 5 hours from Vancouver; the drive to Horseshoe Bay, ferry across the water to Naniamo, then the 2.5 hour drive across Vancouver Island to Tofino. Yes, the drive to Tofino is pretty awesome too, if you have not done it you should go one day!

Our plans were to stay at Green Point campground in the Pacific Rim National Park. We booked our campsite far in advance just to be safe, but when we arrived there were not full. Though, with this Canada Day coming up soon, I am sure they are booked solid for the next week.

Green Point is located 20 kilometers south of Tofino and 20 kilometers north of Ucluelet, a very popular fishing destination. The Green Point campsite itself sits above Long Beach, the popular surf destination. The campground features drinkable water, food lockers, washrooms, walk-in campsites as well as 2 private accesses to Long Beach itself. It is camper friendly, but there are no hookups or sani-station. There are also no showers, so you can expect to get a little grungy, or head into Tofino to use one of the available shower facilities. On a side note, your camping permit does not allow you free parking at the other parking lots either, such as Long Beach or Coombs.

So what did we do in Tofino?

We took it easy, went on Tofino time and just enjoyed each other’s company. We took long walks on Long Beach, Chesterman Beach as well as Coomb’s Beach. Breakfasts were at the campsite, we ate lunch once at the campsite and hit up the Common Loaf for some food another day. As for dinner we had hot dogs over the fire one night and then BBQ chicken the next.

Of course I had my camera in hand for most of the time as well:

Long Beach on a sunny, hot day. Typically most people rarely see the sun in Tofino, or at least we rarely see it out.

I thought this would look cool. The reflection of the clouds in the water at my feet.

Sea Lions on Sea Lion Island. Hundreds of them just being lazy and hanging out on this overcast, chilly morning as we walked on Coomb’s Beach.

This is part of a private island off of Chesterman Beach. When the tide is low (as it was here) you can walk out to them, though you’re not allowed to poke around. We did anyway, and there was a huge eagles nest in one of the trees. Can you see it in the above photo? There are at least 3 houses on this small private island, when the tide goes out, you can only get to it by boat. Robyn mentioned one of the houses can be rented for $200 a day!

The two above photos were taken at Chesterman Beach. It seems that this was a bit more popular than Long Beach was while we were there. I would say, at a given time there were about 20 surfers here and only about 4 or 5 at Long Beach. The skill of the surfers varied as well, from beginners to some what more competent. We did not see any extreme skilled surfers, nor were the waves big enough for much riding either.

Who doesn’t like sunsets? The weather in Tofino was awesome, better than we expected.Most people will say it will probably rain when you go, but even then it is a cool place to visit. There were some drizzly times during our 2 night camping stay, but the clouds parted numerous times and the sun came out in full force. I think I’m still a little burnt by all the outside time we’ve had.

This doesn’t end our vacation. We will be on Hornby Island for 7 nights, and we’re looking really forward to it. I am also sitting here at the cabin with my awesome view of the water and Denman Island writing this. Ford’s Cove (where we’re staying at) has great wireless Internet among the cabins as well. Yes, I feel completely relaxed typing this out while Robyn reads a book. Looking forward to our daily trek to Helliwell Park.

Stay tuned as I report back on our trip on Hornby Island!