Pre Trip:

At the pretrip meeting (the night before the trip began), we were informed of an unfortunate change. They told us the viewing distance for watching Orca on the water is 200 meters. I took note of this because I specifically recalled the pretrip information they provided us stating the viewing distance is 100 meters. This may seem inconsequential, but when you’re so low on the water, this turns out to be a significant change. I’ve since double-checked, the information presented on Kingfishers website is still factually incorrect and misleading. Furthermore, the website states “we avoid using imagery of whales in close proximity to our guests”. Well if you go to their homepage, the first thing you see is an Orca within 20 – 30 meters of a kayak. So don’t be fooled by the website, unless something drastically goes wrong, you will not kayak anywhere close to orcas or other whales.

Mid Trip:

Let me start off by saying that the Whales/Bears trip only constitutes two full days of kayaking. The first day is committed to transportation, orientation and the remainder of the afternoon is filled out with some paddling in the afternoon. On our trip, we had a solid first full day of kayaking watching Humpbacks and Pacific White Sided Dolphins, but that’s where the kayaking fun ended. On the second full day, we had to take it easy because people were “feeling it” (including a guide that was sick). As a result, we only kayaked roundtrip to the other Kingfisher basecamp (a few km’s each way) and only spent a few hours of actual paddling with a focus of finding sea creatures in the intertidal zone (not the intent of this trip). These details were not communicated to us by the guides at any point during the day. The last day was devoted to Grizzly Bear viewing and Tide Rip Bear Tours did a great job. It appears they are using a different outfitter next year for bear viewing, so that’s unfortunate.

One final observation that will leave a lasting impression: The oil sheen on the water is rampant. It’s really sad to think about all the marine animals living in these conditions. With all the boat traffic in this area, I doubt it will get better anytime soon.

Post Trip:

I considered giving this review a two, possibly three star review, but due to the dismissive responses I’ve received from the owner, I am left completely unsettled by this trip. In my post trip communication with the owner, he inferred that my grievances are solely my issues because I did not communicate with the guides and everybody else seemed to have a good time.

At the end of the day I will say the result of this trip was truly disappointing and a waste of my hard earned money.

In lieu of spending the great sum of money on this kayaking trip, I would recommend purchasing your own sea kayak and hiring your own guide for a personal tour of the area (it would still probably be cheaper). This would be a much more adventurous and lasting approach. Helpful hit, you can camp on Hanson Island for free!

We really had a perfect tour. The island is so nicely situated and it was amazing to sit at the vistapoint enjoy the sunset and watching humpback whales. Sabina, Cam and Tessa were the perfect guides-they nearly new everything about the life in and around the ocean and were a lot of fun to be around. The paddeling was great and we saw a lot of animals (humpback whales, orcas, sealions, seals, intertidal life, eagles and much more). The food was delisious-so yummy! I just would do the tour all again because of the food. ;) We also had a lovely group and I take a lot of good memories out of this trip.

Had such a great time on the 4 day basecamp trip, even though it was raining and we couldn't paddle for two days because of the wind. The guides are super friendly and know the area and the wildlife pretty good, cook amazing food and it felt like being on a trip with friends! Also we saw a lot of wildlife. I could write so much more, but I recommend you just go and experience it yourself!