Absolutely amazing. Just do it!the guides were very knowledgeable and the captain was a very interesting young man
Hi Kathy, thank you for your review! We are happy to hear that you had an amazing experience. We are very proud of are team, and are thrilled thrilled that you thought they were interesting and knowledgeable. Thank you for the review and we agree, just do it! I:mote!
If you have the opportunity to go on this tour, then I would high recommend. We went on a rainy day but that didn't matter. The scenery was still fantastic. We felt very fortunate to see eight grizzlies during our visit. Our guides, Damian, Cassie , Ian and others were all excellent. Holly in the office made checkin a breeze. New boat was very comfortable. Guides were all extremely safety conscious.
Hi Skye, thank you for leaving us a review and recommending us! It's so good to hear that the tour was remarkable and that you enjoyed the fantastic scenery, the excellent guides and the eight (!!!) grizzlies. Sounds like there was some great sightings. We are so glad that you were comfortable and felt safe on the boat as well. Thank you again for sharing your experience with us. I:mote!
Homalco tour was fabulous in every way - great indigenous welcome, great stories and safety practices, staff sweet, kind and fun! New boat!
Bears cooperated! Memorable time! Must return.
Thanks Flavian for history lesson on massive impact of church and state, residential schools on your people and way of life. Congratulations on your social enterprise!
Hejka! Kleko, kleko!
Hi Navigate519125, thank you very much for the wonderful review! We are thrilled to hear that you thought the trip was fabulous in every way! We are also glad to hear that you enjoyed the welcome, the stories, the staff, the boat and the wildlife. Please do return, we would love to take you on a tour again!
We will make sure your thanks get to Flavian! It sure is powerful to hear first-hand about the history of colonization and its impacts on the Homalco people.
Thank you again for the fabulous review!
Great photos by the way! Looks like the bear viewing was fantastic!
I:mote!
Amazing tour! From the get go everyone involved was friendly and personable. The boat itself is great-got us around the Discovery Islands through beautiful channels and water ways. The option to be inside or outside was great. Saw humpbacks near the beginning, seals, sea lions, birds, etc. We missed a grizzly at Orford Bay by mere minutes, but the beauty of that bay is breathtaking. My friends and I enjoyed the heritage and language learning. It was a great tour!
Hi AllAroundCanadian, thank you so much for the review! It's so good to hear that you enjoyed your tour through the discovery islands and up to Orford Bay. We are thrilled that you loved all the wildlife, the language and culture, the boat and scenery. Too bad about the missed Grizzly bear. !t sounds like there was a ton of other wildlife though, which is wonderful! Thank you again for letting us know how you liked the People, Water, Land tour. I:mote!
I'll begin this review by saying just how unbelievably lucky we got at the end of the tour, when a very special 10 year old female Grizzly finally showed herself after a few hours of patiently waiting.
We knew the potential risks involved by going so early in the season (day 2) and had become a little nervous when the previous day, supposedly no bears had shown up. With issues like global warming affecting when the salmon arrive in the Bute Inlet it obviously has a knock on effect on the bears arrival, too. Because of this information, I went into our tour with a reluctant optimism that maybe today something would show.
That isn't to say the bears are the only stars of the show. On the way to Orford Bay we came across a Humpback whale tail slapping the water. I've seen a number of Humpbacks but this was the first time I'd seen this which was very cool and really gave an idea of their size as the splashes were not insignificant. Later in the tour we were fortunate enough to see a Bald Eagle, as well as a large number of Seals and Sea Lions.
The boat ride itself was incredibly scenic and you really felt like you were out in the 'wild'. To keep us occupied for the 2 hour(ish) boat tour, our brilliant guides Cassie & Damien provided information on both the wildlife and Indigenous history and culture. A bonus of this trip is the contribution and support it offers to both the protection of the bears and the First Nations people, which more than justifies the cost (which I would say does appear expensive at first glance).
There were definitely some nerves in the group about potentially how close the bears would get to us but the guides at the base were so assured and had a wealth of knowledge that all worries evaporated pretty quickly. I can't recall everybody's name unfortunately, but I do recall the fortuitous nickname of our driver; One Bear.
After around 2 hours and 55 minutes of our 3 hours at the Inlet, all hope seemed lost, with no bear to be seen. Then, close to when I assume our guides were going to call it quits, a small brown silhouette appeared in the distance and to our amazement headed right towards the observation tower we were residing in for around 10-15 minutes and even attempted to fish for salmon.
No one could believe quite how lucky we'd been (as demonstrated from everyone's beaming smiles) and even though it was 'only' one bear, that bear bumped this tour straight from a 4 to a 5/5. As an extra callout, I'd also like to commend the guides on their great respect for the bears and other wildlife. Once back in the bus we caught a 2nd glimpse of the same bear but instead of following it and startling it (potentially meaning it wouldn't come back the next day), we kept a respectful distance and opted to move on from the area. Overall, a fantastic day out!
We are so happy that you had a great day and that our wonderfully supportive grizzlies cooperated with a walk-by and fishing demonstration. We will be sure to share your appreciation with bear and guides!
