Vancouver Island is a special place to go on a whale watching tour, and there are a few things that make whale watching in Campbell River particularly unique. Locals and domestic travellers embrace wildlife watching excursions as a way to more intimately know the place they call home, while international visitors marvel at marine mammals they’ve unlikely ever seen before in the wild.
When Is Whale Watching Season on Vancouver Island?
Whale watching season is typically centred between April to October. There are resident whales, but otherwise there is a steady increase in whale activity as migratory whales come through these coastal waters as the weather warms up outside of the winter months. Outside of peak season, the spectacle of the herring run, usually in late February and early March, is a major draw for orcas and humpback whales.
The salmon run in the fall is another time when there is a flurry of condensed whale activity. It’s a fantastic time to book a trip as it’s quieter than peak school holiday season, and can be combined with a Grizzly bear watching tour.
What Wildlife Might I See from Vancouver Island in Addition to Whales?
Come for the whales, and potentially see other species from the huge variety of wildlife that calls this coast home—from bald eagles, dolphins, and otters to the elusive sea wolf, Grizzly bears and black bears, seals, sea lions, and other seabirds like oystercatchers, surf scoters, and even, at certain times of the year on a tour from the North Island, puffins.
Where Is the Best Place To Go Whale Watching on Vancouver Island?
Whale watching tour operators depart from Campbell River out into the waters of Discovery Passage, around the Discovery Islands, and to the southern edges of the Great Bear Rainforest. Meanwhile, Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours takes visitors through their traditional lands and waters into the heart of Bute Inlet, depending on the selected tour, sharing cultural stories and millenia-old knowledge along the way.
As you hug the coast around the Discovery Islands, you’ll also be on the lookout for wildlife on shore and be exposed to breathtaking, seemingly untouched landscapes and the remote, tucked-away communities that call these places home.
Tofino and Ucluelet on the west coast, and Port McNeill and Telegraph Cove in the North Island are also destinations on Vancouver Island that offer whale watching tours. Boats from these locations and Campbell River tend to be smaller and offer a more intimate experience. Naturalists on board are always eager to share their passion for whales with visitors, and operators abide by marine regulations that put the health and safety of the marine mammals at the heart of their business.
Before you arrive for your whale watching tour, why not explore the vibrant whale-centric campaigns and education from Island-based organizations like MERS and 4TVI so that you can head out empowered with stewardship principles in your back pocket.
