Things to do
5-
Chesterman Beach
Closest of the long beaches to town, a curve of firm sand with a bar running out to Frank Island, walkable at low tide and cut off at high. Houses and a cedar-shingled inn sit back in the trees. Beginners take lessons at the south end where the break is gentler, and tide pools fill the rocks at the north. Storm watching from those rocks is a winter tradition.
-
Long Beach
Sixteen kilometres of open sand in the national park reserve between Tofino and Ucluelet, backed by wind-shaped spruce and broken by headlands at low tide. Surf schools work the middle section, though rips make the water serious swimming. Winter gales pile logs the size of trees along the strand and fill the lodges with storm watchers. A park pass is needed for the car parks, and fog often lasts until afternoon.
-
Cox Bay
The most consistent surf near the town breaks in this crescent bay to the south, which is why competitions and lessons gather here and why the lineup can be crowded. Lodges stand directly behind the sand. A steep scramble up the headland at the north end reaches a lookout over the whole arc and the lighthouse offshore. Water is cold enough for a wetsuit the year round.
-
Hot Springs Cove
Geothermal water surfaces at about fifty degrees in a provincial park up the coast, runs over a small waterfall and cools through a chain of rock pools at the tide line. Reaching it means a boat of roughly ninety minutes or a floatplane, then a boardwalk of two kilometres through rainforest. Whales and bears are often sighted on the crossing. Early departures find the pools empty, and midday brings several boats at once.
-
Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Canada's Pacific coast reserve comes in three separate pieces: the beaches and rainforest boardwalks near Tofino, the Broken Group Islands for sea kayaks, and the West Coast Trail, a week-long route on an old shipwreck rescue path that needs a permit and opens only in the warmer months. Rain is the constant, over three and a half metres a year. The visitor centre sets the coast in Nuu-chah-nulth history.
