FINALLYYYY TRAVEL IS A THING AGAIN!!!!

okay only provincial travel but when your province is beautiful bc that ain’t so bad!

my family had planned a trip to tofino (my brother, sister-in-law, and little munchkins) so my mom and i decided to go a bit early and road trip vancouver island a bit. there’s so much to explore and no better time than now!

vehicle passengers are asked to stay in their car on the ferry during COVID.

if it’s your first trip to the island, you must stop in Victoria, BC’s capital, first. i won’t get into recos here but msg me if you want any. also recommend swinging by Cowichan Bay and if you want a real dreamy resort, Villa Eyrie is like a villa in Tuscany.

for our trip, we took the 2-hour ferry Tsawwassen-Nanaimo, i stayed at my bestie Christie’s in Duncan and my mom went to Lake Cowichan. both are nice places to check out. also make sure to stop at Willow Cafe in the quaint lil seaside town Chemainus, it’s owned by my mom’s best friends! they have an awesome patio that would be soo lovely to post up and work from.

from there, we headed up island!

Qualicum beach

Qualicum is a little beachfront town 30 mins out of Nanaimo. We stopped at Rathtrevor Beach along the way, which was soo vast and beautiful! lots of cute bunnies and seashells, and a nice spot for a stroll to break up the drive.

stayed for just 1 night at the Casa Grande Inn, we had a nice and clean ocean view room and the sunset was SOOO amazing! went for dins at Shady Rest on the water, strolled along the beach both ways, saw seals and bald eagles.

Hornby Island

a beautiful little island with amazing beaches, clear warm water, cabins nestled in the woods, great hiking and mountain biking, and deer everywhere 😍

things to know:

it is booked solid in the summer so book wayyy ahead! also v expensive

the only resort is sea breeze and it is goals. otherwise you can camp, rent a cabin, stay in a bnb, or glamp. wouldn’t recommend the la isla lerena glamping (weak bang for your buck, would not recommend) but the fossil farm glamping on the cidery is on a beautiful oceanfront property (but is also hella expensive but welcome to hornby/bc/canada i guess).

you take two 10-15-minute ferries: buckley bay to denman, denman to hornby. they dont take resos so you sit in line probably an hour during peak season, more if the first ferry fills up.

most things shut down by 8, so plan ahead for food. also the pizza truck usually sells out.

the little town is a little dot just up from tribune bay. it’s got a cafe, bistro, couple shops. quite cute n artsy. got a breakfast wrap from Vorizo Cafe that was the size of my head. across the st is a market with pretty flowers, fresh juice, and produce.

there’s a farmer’s market on saturday 11-1 was nice but overhyped imo.

dine at sea breeze
sunset at grassy point
walk the 45-min loop around the Helliwell bluffs
hike up Mt Geoffrey, take the Cliff Trail from Lea Smith Rd entrance, it’s got pretty ocean views and is a nice hike
big tribune bay is sooo beautiful, the water looks almost like the carribean when it’s blue sky. i LOVED adventuring over the rock formations lining the side. lots of people kayaking, floating, SUPping here.
visit Ford’s Cove marina, get fish n chips
Whaling Station Bay Beach was also really nice

Amazing ocean views from Mt Geoffrey Cliff Trail

The water was actually WARM at Big Tribune Beach!

Comox Valley

we stayed in Courtenay and visited Cumberland and i LOVED that cute little town!! it’s nestled in the woods, one main st that reminded me of Abbot Kinney cause of its street art, trendy little bistros with twinkle lights, cute boutiques, and little standalone coffee shop shed, Grind. DEFS get an ice cream (raspberry vanilla swirl) at Love’s, sooooooso delicious and their lil set up is so cute. Biblio Taco is also good!! theres also a brewery and even a fun hostel there! it just seems like fun, chill, happy vibes, very outdoorsy, the ocean is 7 mins away and Comox Lake is a few mins drive, lots of hiking trails, everyone had their mountain bikes. looks like a lovely place to live, so glad we went here!

in Courtenay we just stayed at Bayview Hotel, it was nothing spectacular but just nice to stay in a hotel after glamping in Hornby. i went and visited some friends Jenna and Nate and baby Morgan and sipped wine on their porch. my mom and i walked along the river and my mom biked it, it was so lovely. “downtown Courtenay” is 5th street and it has some cute shops. definitely worth a visit!

Ucluelet

i LOVED Ucluelet! it’s about 40 mins from Tofino, which gets most of the hype cause of its surf scene, amazing beaches, and cause it’s more trendy/developed/tailored to tourists. but i am so glad we did both.

right when we got there, we went to the lighthouse and saw a mama deer and 2 adorable spotted fawns over on the rocky shoreline while the waves crashed up against the cliffs. quite magical tbh.

you’ll see deer all throughout the woodsy town, and bald eagles flying overhead. we went whale watching here (our first of 2 whale watching tours on this trip!) and saw a grey whale, along with tons of noi sea lions, sea otters with babies on their belly, mighty eagles, and a sneaky raccoon. no bears just yet. the landscapes in Ucluelet actually took my breath away, i thought they were like the west coast i’ve only seen in paintings. i was like oohhh this is what people picture when they picture canada. this is why everyone wants to come here. just rugged, untamed, crashing waves, jagged cliffsides, islands covered in towering trees — so so so stunning.

definitely do the 45-min Lighthouse Loop, the trees are so funky and i stopped at every viewpoint along the way (which was a lot) — i can’t describe how pretty this was. here are some pics for a little glimpse.

we got pizza at Cedar Grill, coffee at Zoe’s (take it down to the harbour for eagle viewing). Frankies looked like a fun lil bar! stayed at Canadian Princess on the harbour and loved it, there were always deer outside our patio. Black Rock Resort is goals 🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼. loved the rocky view for sunset at Big Beach, it reminded me of Hawaii.

Tofino!!

i’m embarrassed it took me so long to get here, but it lived up to every expectation. here is a full blog post on all my Tofino recos!

it’s a laid back but vibey surf town with trendy restaurants (1909, shed, tacofino, the brewery) and shops (salt, storm, surf sisters), and incredible oceanfront accommodation. fancy hotels are wickanninish inn or pacific sands, and my family stayed in this dreamy vacation rental house on the water where there were always black bears across the inlet.

had the most amazing tour with Tofino Whale Centre where we saw everything including an ORCA !! and just loved biking and exploring along Chesterman Beach. there’s hiking, hot springs (but not during COVID), surfing, biking, yoga, fun bars, tourist-heavy as well as secluded beaches, and that stunning west coast scenery. again, more deets are in my Tofino blog post, but definitely add this to your bucket list if you haven’t been because it is a dream!!!!

let me know if you have any questions or things i can add to this post. and send me any of your own recos for my next canadian adventure that i’m currently planning: road trippin’ to Banff! 🏔✨

Road trippin’ Vancouver Island

Qualicum beach

Hornby Island

Comox Valley

Ucluelet

Tofino!!