Today is officially the last day of summer because school starts tomorrow. We wanted to do something special with our granddaughter so we booked into a whale watching tour with our friends at Springtide Whale Charters and Tours. They do such a good job you just can’t go wrong booking with them. We went out on the Marauder IV. It has a spacious heated cabin with lots of seating and the viewing decks offer 360 degree panoramas for great photos. They also provide complimentary hot drinks will you visit with the whales. The whole day is a series of unique experiences. We started by heading across Juan de Fuca Strait in search of the whales. Soon we came upon a small fleet of huge transport ships waiting for the pilot boats to bring local navigators to each of the ships. Very few people get a chance to see these ships up close. Before long we were with a couple of performing humpback whales. I say performing because they gently swam along the surface, showing often as you will see from the pictures. They often chose to swim right over to and under many of the boats in the vicinity including the Marauder. They gave us many opportunities to see them up close. Our captain was very respectful of their presence and stayed well away from the whales, but the whales often chose to come close to us. It was truly exciting and memorable for everyone aboard. The cameras were firing often. When the whales approached a school of salmon, we often saw the salmon jump out of the water. All throughout the trip, the scenery was spectacular.
Then we left the whales and went to the ecological reserve at Race Rocks. There is a light station there and lots of sea lions. The large tan colored ones are stellar and the dark black ones are California sea lions. There were also lots of harbour seals on the rocks, affectionately called “rock sausage”, said our naturalist Fiona. I have included a few underwater photos of Race Rocks so you can also see what is below the surface at this incredible location. Then we were off on our trip back to Victoria Harbour. The trip and in an out of the harbour is also a great experience as there is always something to see. A few days ago, some transient orcas came right into the harbour, shutting it down totally till they leave. That means, no boats, no kayaks, no seaplanes, nothing until the whales leave. It seemed like everyone really enjoyed their outing with Springtide. Great staff and an incredible experience made our last day of summer indeed special. Thanks to naturalists Izzy and Fiona, and captains Dave and Bill.
After we docked, we walked up to Earl’s Café and treated our granddaughter to dinner. Photos are enclosed. Earls always does a great job. Our meals were delicious. For more pictures please go to our
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We did a trip to Vancouver island and wanted to go to Victoria and go whale watching but on the way we stopped in Tofino and tried surfing. We were instantly hooked and burned up all our vacation time there. We rented a vacation rental cabin called the Dunes http://www.thedunestofino.com at Chesterman Beach and surfed almost every day. Although we spent most of our time at Chesterman, we also went to Cox Bay and Long Beach. After getting super tired surfing, we had some Tofino Brewery beers and soaked in the hot tub. There was 1 day that was raining so hard that while we were in the tub, it was like being in the shower at the same time. Incredible! Lots of good memories and would love to go back to the island and visit more and maybe try whale watching in Victoria.
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