# Vancouver Island - Looking for day trip ideas from Pacific Shores



## annetteterry (Jan 14, 2008)

We are planning a week at Pacific Shores on Vancouver Island and I am looking for day trip ideas.   I have read reviews and searched various online resources, and so far we have firmed up the following:

We will spend one day in Victoria.  Will the gardens be pretty this early in year?  Any must-see/must-do's for Victoria?

We want to see Pacific Rim National Park so will drive to Ucluelet and Tofino one day.  Should we stay overnight or can we do this as a day trip?

We also plan to kayak at the resort.

These are the only things we have firmed up so far.

I have considered a visit to a nearby smaller island.  We have two people who are suseptible to motion sickness so we wouldn't want to venture far (hoping all goes well on the ferry ride to Victoria!).  Any island visit near Nainaimo that would be worthwhile.

I wondered about bike rentals and bike trails but I haven't found much information online.

Any other ideas or recommendations?  We really want to see as much of the island as we can and are not much for sitting around on vacation.  We tend to prefer spending time in rural areas and small towns vs. the city (thus one day in Victoria).

We will have our own car and will have 4 adults and 2 kids (9 and 13).   
I would appreciate any ideas you have as we have never been to this area before.

(I have a separate post going asking some specific questions about currency, gas, groceries, etc. so if you are familiar with US to Canada travel by car so if you want to weigh in, please do so!)


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## Chrisky (Jan 14, 2008)

Hi. The drive from Victoria to Pacific Rim Park & Ucluelet & Tofino will probably take about 3 hours.  It's a beautiful drive, but very windy with alot of switchbacks going up and down mountains, and as this road is also used by logging trucks (there are places to pass them) but that could extend your driving time.  Along the way stop at Cathedral Grove to see all the old growth trees.  Stop in at the Wickannnish Centre at the Pacific Rim Nat'l Park. They also have a restaurant there.  From March 15 - 23 is the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. The website is www.pacificrimwhalefestival.org. In Tofino you might be able to go seakayaking.  I would suggest an overnight stay.


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## Victoria (Jan 14, 2008)

Pacific Shores will have an info session on Monday morning, and you will get several ideas then.  Chemainous is a wonderful little town.  The love theatre there is very good - a great place to spend a day.  Coombes is about an hour from Pacific Shores.  I think you could easily take two days in Victoria - one for Butchart Gardens, and one for downtown, the wonderful Provincial Museum. and you might even squeeze in a whale watching tour. We are going to be at Pacific Shores the first week of March - just to enjoy the wonderful spa, delicious food at the Landings Restaurant, and  a visit to the very unique grocery store - Qualicum Foods!


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## T_R_Oglodyte (Jan 14, 2008)

Chrisky said:


> Hi. The drive from Victoria to Pacific Rim Park & Ucluelet & Tofino will probably take about 3 hours.  It's a beautiful drive, but very windy with alot of switchbacks going up and down mountains, and as this road is also used by logging trucks (there are places to pass them) but that could extend your driving time.  Along the way stop at Cathedral Grove to see all the old growth trees.  Stop in at the Wickannnish Centre at the Pacific Rim Nat'l Park. They also have a restaurant there.  From March 15 - 23 is the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. The website is www.pacificrimwhalefestival.org. In Tofino you might be able to go seakayaking.  I would suggest an overnight stay.



I thoroughly endorse this drive - in fact I would rate it a "Must Do" on Vancouver.  The only excuse for not doing the drive woiuld be if it were stormy the entire time you were there.  Catch this on a clear day and it is spectacular.

I did the drive as part of a day trip from Vancouver across Lions Gate, on the Horseshoe Bay ferry to Nanaimo, and followed by the drive to the coast. I rate that drive among the ten most spectacular I have ever experienced.


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## BarCol (Jan 14, 2008)

The resort has an information session on one of the first couple of days (no hard sell on timeshares and I doubt they'll bother you unless you seek them out) and there is an excellent tour company, man and his wife, whose name excapes me. They do tours to Tofino and Ucylet as well as a wine tour and a wildlife tour. Yes you can probably drive the same roads, but even my husband and I enjoyed the tours more and we didn't have to drive, just sightsee.  Also visit Cathedral Grove - you can drive easily to that one on the road to Tofino. As well the resort has a fabulous Spa - Aquaterre that you may want to visit, but book early when you arrive as choice spots fill up qucikly.. I second the notion of Buthchart gardens - when you arrive go and book the High Tea - it's less expensive than the Empress hotel and every bit as nice. Victoria is also a beautiful City and good for walking around.

There are good grocery stores in Parksville where the resort is located and I wouldn't bring too much into the country especially fruits and veg as you may find them confiscated at the border.

Have a great time, the island is beaustiful and the resort really nice.


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## Tacoma (Jan 14, 2008)

Nor knowing the ages or season you are going I am going to suggest a couple of things.  There is a park called Englishman River Falls Park only around 10 or so miles away.  It is a nice hike where you can see waterfalls and picnic if you wish. Last summer some people were swimming in the pools under the falls.  One of the things available that many miss is a place called Wild Play. Even knowing it existed it took us a while to find. It is a place that has a series of boardwalks, ziplines etc in the tree tops.  They have 2 levels, one for adults and one for kids.  They also have a king swing (kind of a bungy jump) and a major zipline down an awesome canyon.  Can't wait until my son is tall enough we can all go. He is my extreme child and would have been devasted if we did it without him.  You MUST drive over to Tofino. Go early and explore Long Beach and either Ucluelet or Tofino. North by COmox and COurtney is also supposed to be really nice.  

Joan


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## Tacoma (Jan 14, 2008)

Another thought -if you haven't been to the area at all before the ferry crossing between Nanaimo and Horseshoe Bay is quite short and you could check out Vancouver for a day. I would guess they would have bus transportation so it would be reasonably priced compared to taking the car across.  I would only recommend this if you need cities to feel entertained and if you haven't been to Vancouver before.  I am sure you can find enough to do on the island for a week.

Joan


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## tim (Jan 14, 2008)

annetteterry said:


> We will spend one day in Victoria.  Will the gardens be pretty this early in year?  Any must-see/must-do's for Victoria?



Last summer, we spent a couple of days in Victoria.  The tour at the Parliament Building (I think that is what it is called) was very good.  It was free and gave a good overview of the history of Victoria and Canada.  We also went to Buchart Gardens.  It was very nice.  On advice of a friend, we went in the late afternoon and stayed after dark.  This way we were able to see the gardens in the sunlight and then see them at night.  It is a totally different experience to see the gardens at night.  If you have time, try it this way.  

Finally, we also stayed at Pacific Shores for a few days.  We did a whale watching trip that was very nice.  We saw seals, eagles, whales, and dolphins.  The kids loved it.


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## glenn1000 (Jan 15, 2008)

You have many excellent suggestions already. Only things I would add are to go caving at Horne Lake Caves (maybe a 30 minute drive- make a reservation and take a guided tour. We tries once on our own and it was frightening) and to go salmon fishing on a charter. Cooking fresh salmon that you just caught on the grills at Pacific Shores is a real treat!


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## annetteterry (Jan 15, 2008)

Now I can't wait for this trip....thanks for the great suggestions!

The zip line place and the caves are two that I had not heard of.   These and the other ideas give me lots to look into before we go.

My husband would love to Salmon fish but he is suseptible to motion sickness and I had heard that the river fishing is catch and release and you have to go out "ocean fishing" to catch salmon that you keep.

Is that true?  And if so, would any of you who are familiar recommend it to someone who doesn't do so well on the water?


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## glenn1000 (Jan 15, 2008)

annetteterry said:


> My husband would love to Salmon fish but he is susceptible to motion sickness and I had heard that the river fishing is catch and release and you have to go out "ocean fishing" to catch salmon that you keep.
> 
> Is that true?  And if so, would any of you who are familiar recommend it to someone who doesn't do so well on the water?



The salmon fishing in the ocean has been terrible in recent years because of the seal population. We battled seals for fish and almost always lost. They trail the boats and then grab what you catch as you try to reel it in. The ocean is usually calm on the east side since you are fishing out of Qualcom, between the island and the main land. I am prone to seasickness and did fine.

Much better fishing inland on the way towards Tofino in recent years. I listed the captain we used several times in different years on my Pacific Shores review (both ocean and river- he goes where there are fish). You can keep your quota of salmon either way, which was two per person. They are big fish so, if you are lucky and catch a few, that is more than you can eat. We had ours smoked and mailed to us at home when we caught nine salmon between the five in our family, where we enjoyed it all year! It was expensive but fun and delicious.


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## gloria (Jan 17, 2008)

*take a boat to take a hike.....*

hello -- 

a REALLY FUN excursion that we enjoyed the last time we visited pacific shores resort, was to catch the ferry, off of nanaimo, for newcastle island, where we hiked the island, enjoyed the views, and noshed on some picnic fare -- it felt like a REAL adventure  and we'll do it the next time we're in the neighborhood.....

here's some info about newcastle provincial park:

http://www.britishcolumbia.com/regions/towns/?townID=307 
http://www.newcastleisland.ca/
http://vancouverisland.kulshan.com/...s/Newcastle_Island_Provincial_Marine_Park.htm


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## beejaybeeohio (Jan 17, 2008)

I agree with the Horne Lake cave trip suggestion.  We took a tour in '03 and enjoyed it tremendously.  A caveat is to beware of the logging trucks that barrel down the road to get to the caves.

Also, take the ferry to Hornby & Denman Islands.  It's a nice day trip and there are some artisans on each island plus a provincial park with short hikes.


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## oldee (Jan 26, 2008)

For an even bigger island experience try Gabriola, off of Nanimo, lots of art/craft and country sales spots. About a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown.


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## annetteterry (Jan 28, 2008)

Thanks for the great suggestions!

A 10 minute ferry ride sounds good and the destination sounds well worth checking out so I will look into it.

I've spent some time researching this last week,  and it seems like one of my challenges will be that we are going so early in the season (March 23 - 30).   Some of the attractions or activities or even the ferries to the islands are either not open or on a limited schedule.   Thanks to the websites, though, and the fact that we have some time before we head out I should be able to gather plenty of information before we leave so we can work around limited schedules or focus on attractions that are open that time of year.


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## Chrisky (Jan 28, 2008)

Hope you have a great trip. Let us know how it went.


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## Laurie (Jan 28, 2008)

oldee said:


> For an even bigger island experience try Gabriola, off of Nanimo, lots of art/craft and country sales spots. About a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown.


I second the suggestion - we did a day trip there from Pacific Shores, excellent choice!


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## sfwilshire (Jun 7, 2008)

oldee said:


> For an even bigger island experience try Gabriola, off of Nanimo, lots of art/craft and country sales spots. About a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown.



Is everything within walking distance here or do you need your vehicle? 

Thanks,

Sheila


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## BevL (Jun 7, 2008)

Living without a car is an entirely foreign concept to most of us here in Western Canada.

You will need a car to do anything.

If you're talking strictly about around Gabriola, a bike might be okay.  But Iyou'd need to take your bike to the ferry in the car.


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