Majestic Ocean Kayaking
By Tracy Eeftink
The Pacific Rim National Park and the Broken Group Islands are the main draw for visiting the West Coast of Vancouver Island. Ucluelet is home base for visiting the Park and the Islands and kayaking with Majestic Ocean Kayaking.
Whale watching and the kayaking day trip to the Broken Group Islands/Pacific Rim National Park is our top tour, rated as “world class - best trip” by our clients.
The tour starts off with an exciting half hour ride by motorboat in the early morning with our kayaks, guide, equipment and packed lunch. On route to the park guests will have the opportunity to take in the scenery of the outside west coast waters, rocky bluffs with wind whipped trees, a colony of sea lions, perhaps some breaching whales and a historic native whaling beach.
On one of the 100 islands in the park amongst the quiet coves and sheltered bays, our guide prepares everyone for a day of adventure. Kayaks are set up for each person, seats adjusted, pedals adjusted. Lessons are given and safety concerns and procedures are explained. You are ready to experience the intertidal splendor and abundant wildlife.
The guide leads the tour and is in charge of safety at all times. People of all levels of fitness and paddling ability will enjoy the tour, the ocean and the scenery. Guests having difficulty will receive extra assistance when required. We travel as a group and stay close together, if there is a slow paddler we wait for them, strong paddlers stay with the group. The usual amount of paddling is 4.5 hours. For family groups with young children under 12 years old, we offer private tours for groups of 4 or more.
After a few hours in the morning we will stop on one of the nearby sandy beaches for a gourmet buffet lunch. Build your own bagel sandwich with a selection of; black forest ham, 2 different kinds of cheese, tomatoes, cucumbers, avocado, homemade cookies, fruit, homemade lemonade or tea or hot chocolate.
As the day progresses, wildlife such as eagles, shore birds, sea lions, seals, mink, river otters, and possibly whales will be sighted. We will weave in and out of the many islands and get in close to look at everything. We may choose to hike into the old growth forest at one of our stops. Our motorboat will pick us up in the afternoon to have us back in Ucluelet by 4:30 pm.
Majestic Ocean Kayaking offers a wide variety of all-inclusive kayaking adventure tours, ranging from day trips in Ucluelet, Tofino, Barkley Sound and the Broken Group Islands of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve to our unique multi-day tours to the Broken Group Islands, Clayoquot Sound, and the Deer Group Islands. We also offer kayak rentals and instruction from our kayaking centre in Ucluelet, Vancouver Island.
Day trip list of what you may wish to bring:
- Shoes that you can get wet. (Sandals, old runners, neoprene booties, Rubber boots)
- Hat (either sun or rain hat, a visor or cap)
- Sunscreen & lip balm
- Sunglasses
- Camera
- Binoculars
- Extra clothes (in case you want to wear something warmer or cooler)
What we provide:
- All kayaking equipment
- Lunch, individual water bottles and snacks
- Dry bags to store all your personal items
- Paddle jackets to wear in the kayak
- Life jacket and spray skirt
- Gloves if your hands get cold.
- Shoes for you if you didn’t bring the correct footwear
- Extra hats because you really should have one for the day
- Eyeglass holders just in case
- Sunscreen in case you forgot yours
- Wetsuits if we think that we would need them, but usually we don’t.
A word of caution:
Please do not wear cotton clothes. Blue jeans and a t-shirt are standard fare for most but they don’t work well on a kayak trip. The cotton is a tropical fabric which takes a long time to dry if it gets wet, and can drain the heat out of your body. We suggest, polyester type clothing, nylon pants, fleece or micro fleece shirts. If you don’t have this - tell us, we may be able to help you.
If you decide to leave your RV in a campground, or are meeting friends/family who don’t RV, guests staying next door at the Majestic Ocean Bed and Breakfast are minutes from town, restaurants and shops as well as minutes from beautiful coastal trails and quiet coves and beaches.
We meet at 8:00 at 1167 Helen Road in Ucluelet. Please reserve a minimum of one day in advance by calling 1-800-889-7644. We are not prepared for drop-ins the day of the tour.