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Thread: Vancouver Island Vacation Advice

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    Default Vancouver Island Vacation Advice

    Hi all,

    I saw the thread a few below about Vancouver Island, but I didn't want to hijack it (that's just bad manners!) and I have a slightly different question anyway.

    The wife and I are thinking about our summer vacation next year (2011) and we are thinking about the Island. I get the impression the Island is good for wildlife (correct me if I'm wrong and should think of somewhere on the mainland BC instead). What I'm looking for is locations where it would be good to see/photograph lots of wildlife (not so keen on the aquatic stuff though so that has less priority), and that is in reasonable distance to civilization (so the wife has somewhere to drink coffee and read books when she's not in the mood for hiking!). I really don't have any knowledge to go on, so anything is helpful.

    I live in Calgary BTW so we'll have a car.

    Thanks in advance for the help!

    Simon

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    Super Moderator Daniel Cadieux's Avatar
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    Hi Simon,

    Although I know Vancouver Island has great wildlife waiting to be photographed I am not familiar with that area personaly. I would suggest the same yo you as I did to Steve in that other thread.

    Also, a quick "Google" search gave me this link here. Hopefully that can get you started.

    Good luck on your trip next...and please show us some photos!!:cool:

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    Hi Simon,

    I live in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island so I can point you to a few places. Summer time things tend to get a bit scarce around the island, pretty sure everything heads into the deep bush. For eagles you are best to stick to the west caost (Ucluelet and Tofino) as they seem to head over there during the summer (Tofino has the coffee shops as well). If you time it early in the summer you can take one of the charters up Browning Pass out of Tofino, we saw plenty of eagles and black bears foraging along the shorelines. The guides are pretty good about getting you into position with good light and not pressuring the animals.

    Mount Washington is good for hiking, with the odd black bear around. There are elk in the Cowichan area but also up around Mt. Washington. Trips out of Campbell river over to Knight's Inlet will get you into some Grizzly bear. There are mule dear in pretty much everyones front yard ;-)

    If you have time for searching, South and Central Vancouver Island is good for owls and hawks in the summer time. If you spend anytime around Nanaimo let me know and I can take you around a couple places. At least touch base before you head out and I can give you the "current conditions".

    Grant

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    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel Cadieux View Post
    Hi Simon,

    Although I know Vancouver Island has great wildlife waiting to be photographed I am not familiar with that area personaly. I would suggest the same yo you as I did to Steve in that other thread.

    Also, a quick "Google" search gave me this link here. Hopefully that can get you started.

    Good luck on your trip next...and please show us some photos!!:cool:

    Thanks Daniel, I spent about 4 hours trawling google links but never found this one! It's strange how changes in search terms can miss stuff.

    I've lurked here for a while, but never been brave enough to actually post anything! Maybe this coming year will be my first showing :D

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    Quote Originally Posted by Grant Eldridge View Post
    Hi Simon,

    I live in Nanaimo on Vancouver Island so I can point you to a few places. Summer time things tend to get a bit scarce around the island, pretty sure everything heads into the deep bush. For eagles you are best to stick to the west caost (Ucluelet and Tofino) as they seem to head over there during the summer (Tofino has the coffee shops as well). If you time it early in the summer you can take one of the charters up Browning Pass out of Tofino, we saw plenty of eagles and black bears foraging along the shorelines. The guides are pretty good about getting you into position with good light and not pressuring the animals.

    Mount Washington is good for hiking, with the odd black bear around. There are elk in the Cowichan area but also up around Mt. Washington. Trips out of Campbell river over to Knight's Inlet will get you into some Grizzly bear. There are mule dear in pretty much everyones front yard ;-)

    If you have time for searching, South and Central Vancouver Island is good for owls and hawks in the summer time. If you spend anytime around Nanaimo let me know and I can take you around a couple places. At least touch base before you head out and I can give you the "current conditions".

    Grant

    Grant, thanks so much for the helpful information. I'm in the process of trawling a few guide books and discussing with the wife at the moment. Tofino would seem to be a bit of a "win for both of us" kind of location, so I suspect we will spend at least half our time there. We may pick a second location as well. Thanks for the offer on showing me some places.....if it turns out we will be staying nearby I'll drop you a line! Thanks again :)

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    Hi, Simon. I have also been thinking about visiting Vancouver Island. Below is a link to Glenn Bartley, an excellent bird photographer, who lives on Vancouver Island, I believe in Victoria. You might try contacting Glen for advice, and/or a one-on-one session, if you are so inclined, and if he in fact offers this.

    http://www.glennbartley.com/

    Jory

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