In September of 2002, we joined our friends Kush and Priya for a trip to go sea kayaking with the Orcas (killer whales) that reside in the inlets of British Columbia during the summer months. We added on a few days in Vancouver and Victoria at the beginning of the trip. The descriptions that follow are in reverse chronological order, since the highlight of the trip was the kayaking portion.

Kayaking and Whales

Inbetween the mainland of British Columbia and Vancouver Island is the Inside Passage and Johnstone Straight. Here is where the Orcas come during the summer months to gorge themselves on salmon and seals, depending on the type of Orca. If you're interested in learning a little bit about the Orcas we went to see, click here.

There are two ways to see these Orcas, either by motor boat, or by sea kayak. Your chances of seeing the Orcas (and perhaps Grey Whales) is increased by going by motor boat, since your mobility is limited in sea kayaks. But with sea kayaks is the ability to basically be in the water with these huge animals and maybe be lucky enough to have one swim underneath your kayak, which is not unheard of at all. Also, sea kayaks are completely unobtrusive to the whales, as they make no sounds and emit nothing harmful. We chose to go in sea kayaks and camp for 3 nights.

We used Tofino Expeditions to do our trip. We had two guides, Don and Crystal, and they did most everything for us. After a 5 hour drive from Victoria to Port Hardy, we had a 1 1/2 hour boat ride to an island in the inlet where we made camp. We had dahl's porpoises ride the bow of our boat on the way out. The campsites were very nice, and there was a great place where we would always just lounge and soak up the sun, called the point. There were also nice rocky beaches where we would set up our nightly campfires until the tide came in and washed them out.

The water where we were is incredibly clear..you can probably see down 50-60 feet. Its also amazingly still when the winds aren't up, which they weren't. Reflections in the water were perfect. Often the water looked like glass.

We generally spent about 2-3 hours in the morning in the kayaks, had a nice long lunch, and then spent another 2-3 hours in the afternoon. Since we had a base camp, there was never any certain distance that we had to achieve, so it was all pretty casual and relaxing. Sea kayaking can tire your shoulders, but you don't get winded at all, and when we would return in the afternoon, we could always just laze at the point, and look for dolphins in the water (we saw them swim right up to the shore once). Don and Crystal would make us snacks and great meals, while we just enjoyed the sun and incredible sunsets.

We saw a lot of dahl's porpoises and harbor seals while kayaking. We also saw 2 sea lions and quite a few bald eagles up close. On the second morning, we saw a large pod of orcas from the 'point' early in the morning. It was too early to get into the kayaks, so we just watched them swim by from shore. It was very exciting, but they were pretty far away. In the afternoon, we came back to camp having not seen any whales, but it was only 4:00, so there was still a chance. After about an hour sitting at the point, I was just about to give up when Priya spotted a dorsal, and I confirmed the sighting. We both started yelling 'Whales', but by the time everyone else got there, we couldn't see them anymore...and we were a litte embarrassed. Kush even got off the "boom box" (you can figure it out) to come see them. After everyone settled down again, we again unmistakably saw a large dorsal which could not have been dolphins. No doubt, there were orcas coming.

Don, our guide, saw them also, and said that we could rush into the kayaks and try and meet up with them. For some unknown reason, Niyati and Priya decided to stay on shore, but Kush, myself, and one of the other guests were right out there with Don in no time. We paddled hard to position ourselves. By the time we got out there, many whales had already passed by, and we thought we were too late. Little did we know how many more whales would be coming. We had whales all around us. Behind, in front and to the side. Unfortunately, the closest only came to within about 100 feet (3 of them), but it was still remarkable to have whales 360 degrees around you. Don put a hydrophone in the water, and we could hear the whales. It was like very high pitched singing. After the whales were gone, the sound was silent. The following morning we heard on the radio that it was a pod of 111 orcas. It was really remarkable....and Niyati and Priya watched the whole thing from the shore.

We still had 1 1/2 days more of kayaking. We didn't see anymore orcas up close, but still they were nice days on the water. Lots of bald eagles, and close encounters with the harbor seals. Always perfect weather, and sometimes a cool spooky fog in the morning.

We were hoping to see some orcas on the boat ride out, but settled for a few dahl's porpoises near our boat. Upon return, we had a 5 hour drive back to Victoria and our first showers in 3 days.

Victoria

Niyati and I had two days in Victoria before Kush and Priya arrived. We stayed at the grand old Empress hotel right on the waterfront. We rented a tandem bike, and rode along the shore, only to find that it was too hilly to get very far. So, the next day, we rented a moped instead, which allowed us to get much further. We also went on a whale watching trip one morning on a motor boat. We saw some orcas way out at sea, which were doing some interesting things like spyhopping and breaching. We also spent some time at the Butchart Botanical Gardens, which were beautiful. I failed in my quest to purchase a 'welcome bear'...those wooden carved bears with the welcome sign. The one I wanted was $500.

    

Vancouver

We had two days in Vancouver before we took the ferry to Victoria. We stayed at the Pacific Palisades hotel, which is a nice hotel similar to the Alegro in Chicago. Its in an ideal location on Robson street, close the center of town and also walking distance to Stanley Park.

I think that Vancouver is one of the premier cities in all of North America and the world, primarily because it has a beautiful geographical location, it is very diverse, and it is culturally rich. We spent most of the first morning biking around on a tandem bike in Stanley Park, then through some of Vancouver's neighborhoods, including Chinatown (the second largest after San Francisco). We saw a native dance exhibition along the way, as well as these rock formations that this guy seemingly spends all his time creating along the beaches of Stanley Park. We also did a fair amount of shopping (things are cheaper in Canada because of the exchange rate), and walked around a few additional neighborhoods. We probably did not explore as much of the non-tourist areas as we would have liked, but there was limited time.

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