We were told by lots of Canadians before arriving that Tofino was their happy place. As soon as we got there it was easy to see why. We had a spate of bad weather for most of our trip but even that couldn’t diminish the atmospheric beauty of the area. If you love wildlife watching, deserted beaches, rugged coastline, and forest hikes, Tofino will be for you.
if you have just a few days or a whole week, we’ll help you make the most of your time on this beautiful corner of Vancouver Island.
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1: Black Bear watching by boat
2: Exploring Pacific Rim National Park
3: Walking the Wild Pacific Trail
4: Sunset at Long Beach
5: Tacofino
6: Finding a deserted beach
7: Seal & whale watching from land
8: Searching for the crashed bomber
9: Coffee at the Tofino Coffee Roasting Company
10: Gray Whale Watching
11: Visiting an island hot spring
12: Storm Watching
The 12 Best Things to do in Tofino
1 - Go Black Bear watching by boat
If you’re a wildlife lover this trip is a must. We know if you’re Canadian you may have seen black bears many times before but watching them in their natural habitat - searching for crabs, rather than raiding dumpsters - is a whole different experience. It was one of our favourite experiences on Vancouver Island.
You’ll take a trip out on the Clayoquot Sound which is beautiful in and of itself but the excitement comes when you find your first bears combing the beach for shellfish. We were lucky enough to see eight bears, including a cute cub, as well as seals and Bald Eagles.
One bear even swam in the water close to the boat and then proceeded to entertain us cracking crab shells for about 20 minutes! The guide shared a wealth of information and had binoculars so you could get really close up views of the bears.
You don’t need to worry about seasickness because it is a Sound rather than open water. There are a couple of different boat operators you can choose from. I did a lot of research and wanted to go in an open zodiac boat, I always prefer sitting outside anyway and it’s also much better for photography. We went with Adventure Tofino (not sponsored) and would highly recommend them.
Trips take place between April and October when the bears are out from hibernation. Tours last 2-2.5 hours (ours lasted the full duration and I got the impression they will always give you as long as possible with the bears) and cost CAD$109 exc tax for adults and $79 for children aged 6-12.
Read this post for more details on Black Bear watching trips as well as Grizzly tours that run from the north of the island.
2 - Explore the rainforest of the Pacific Rim National Park
The rainforest in the Pacific Rim National Park is pretty incredible. You’ll make your way around either loop A or B (or both!) feeling completely dwarfed by giant old growth trees. It’s incredibly atmospheric and though the walks are short you could spend a long time in this forest simply taking in the individual plants and trees. There are even a couple of those Parks Canada iconic red chairs to sit and soak up the sounds of the forest.
Loop A is just over a kilometre long and loop B is a kilometre. The boardwalk makes the walking easy but there are several staircases so it’s not fully accessible in its entirety. If you only have time for one track make it loop B.
3 - See the rugged coastline of the Wild Pacific Trail
The Wild Pacific Trail which is based in Ucluelet, a 35 minute drive from Tofino, is one of the most popular hiking trails on the island. It’s got a bit of everything with beautiful forest, wild beaches and lots of views out to the rugged coastline. We’d recommend hiking the section between Big Beach Park and Rocky Bluffs which is roughly 6km including the Ancient Cedars Loop. The hike is one way and best done with a car shuffle.
The full trail is 10.1km but it’s not fully connected yet with some road walking in the middle. For this reason we recommend this section and seeing the Ucluelet lighthouse separately, which we detail further down this post.
There are a few little ups and downs but it’s not a difficult trail and the track is well formed, there are even stroller bypasses to help you avoid stairs! We saw very few people on the hike and got to enjoy the forest and coastal views in absolute serenity. We’ve outlined the hike in greater detail in this post.
4 - Check out a sunset at Long Beach - if you get lucky
So Long Beach is one of the most famous beaches on Vancouver Island and a sunset here is generally a real treat. Before visiting we’d seen so many photos of glorious sunsets which had perfect reflections in the wet sand, creating a scene that looked like it was from a dream world. Now sadly that didn’t happen to us as you can see from the picture. We had heavy rain every evening - which is said to be common in August which is known locally as ‘Fogust’.
Having said that, even in grim weather this beach is pretty incredible. It’s absolutely ginormous and could never feel crowded! Even if you suffer the same weather as us you just have to visit Long Beach!
5 - Get your taco fix at Tacofino!
It’s not often we single out a place to eat and put it in a things to do post but we visited this place with Joe’s parents and we all thought it just had to get a mention! Tacofino is a taco van with a reputation so good that queues can be up to an hour long.
Personally I hate long queues and will generally walk away but I’d heard too many good things about this place and I’m glad I stuck around.
They serve tacos, burritos and gringas and have meat, fish and veggie options. We went for fish tacos and were not disappointed! You can sit on picnic tables outside and there’s a great atmosphere, we actually met more locals than tourists which is always a good sign!
We have it on good authority the fudge cookies are to die for but they were sold out on our visit, if you get lucky let us know what you think!
6 - Find a deserted beach
It’s not hard to find a deserted beach in Tofino but that doesn’t make it any less exciting! The beaches here are those wild and rugged windswept types that make you feel like you’re an old fashioned explorer. There’s just something about them!
You’ll unlikely have sunbathing weather (I mean it was cold for us in August!) but you’ll have plenty of sand for beach combing and the chance to sit on a piece of driftwood and watch some pretty wild waves. Swimming is not advised due to the often huge swells but you can definitely have a paddle!
We’d recommend trying Halfmoon Bay or the side of Florencia Bay which you can get to along the Willowbrae trail. We got both these bays to ourselves in the middle of school summer holidays so we feel pretty confident they should be empty for you too!
If you wanted to visit both bays, you can do so on the one hike which is 3.7km return (obviously you can just do one and the distance will be less). You can read more about that hike and others in our Tofino hikes blog.
7 - Go seal and whale spotting from land
If you love wildlife but don’t want to fork out for one of the tours then you can try your luck from terra firma for free! There are quite a few places which have good vantages points but a great option is actually in neighbouring Ucluelet on the Ucluelet Lighthouse Loop.
Close to the lighthouse you’ll find an information board with all the species to look out for. Generally speaking you can see seals and otters all year round with Gray Whales more common from mid March to mid October (with spring and fall having the greatest numbers).
The lighthouse also happens to be one of the most photographed lighthouses on the West Coast of Canada and is renowned for beautiful sunsets. If you walk the whole lighthouse loop it is 2.5km and the track is very well maintained. It does gently undulate but overall it’s an easy trail.
8 - Search for the crashed bomber
*At the moment this trail is closed for repair work but we are including it here for when it re-opens.
This is easily one of the most unique hikes on the whole island, the Bomber Trail takes you deep into the forest until you reach the site of a WW2 bomber plane which crashed in 1945, luckily no one was injured in the crash so you can enjoy exploring without feeling like you’re being macabre.
The whole trail is 5.1km return and has very little elevation gain so it’s an easy win for such an interesting site at the end! The trail has a reputation for some serious mud but we believe it is in the process of being boardwalked on the worst patches so it should be better when it re-opens.
9 - Enjoy a brew at the Tofino Coffee Roasting Company
We wanted to finish off with something relaxing after all the outdoor adventures and we absolutely loved the vibe at the Tofino Coffee Roasting Company. It’s just outside town on an industrial estate type setting but don’t let that out you off because the coffee and pastries were seriously good.
It’s only a small space but we loved the upstairs area complete with comfy sofa and book on tiny houses (anyone else love tiny houses?!) and we could have happily sat their for hours. If you get some dismal weather - and let’s face it, that’s highly likely - this is the perfect cosy spot to head to!
Some other things we didn’t get the chance to do
10 - Go Gray Whale Watching
We had already gone whale watching in Victoria so we didn’t make this trip ourselves but we wanted to mention it as it’s a very popular thing to do in Tofino. If your visit is between May and October you will be spotting Gray Whales as this area is their feeding grounds at that time. If you are very lucky you might also see an orca if visiting in summer and fall, but these sightings are rarer, roughly once a month. Although to our dismay they saw one while we were there and we wished we’d just forked out the extra money for the extra trip having never seen an Orca before! If you’re visiting in summer you might also see Humpback Whales.
It’s worth noting when you’re weighing up which tours to take that on the whale tour group that we met when we were getting ready to go bear watching, they had seen two black bears! Now they didn’t spend a long time with them like we did, and it’s not guaranteed, but you might end up seeing both!
Tours last 2.5 - 3 hours and cost CAD$109 exc tax for adults and $79 for children aged 6- 12 if you go with Adventure Tofino but I’m sure it’s similar for other companies too.
11 - Visit an island hot spring
This one is a full day trip at 6-6.5 hours long. If we’re lucky enough to re-visit Tofino one day this is the trip I would opt for first. You’ll head to the island by boat which takes between 1.5 and 2 hours, looking out for wildlife along the way. You’ll then hike on boardwalk through the rainforest for 2km before arriving at the geothermal pools which you can bathe in with a view of the ocean!
12 - Storm Watching
Yes it’s a thing, and no we didn’t realise either until we visited! The storms in Tofino are said to be so incredible that many people book their whole trips around the chance to see them. Unfortunately it’s not all year round with the most reliable time for storms being between November and March.
Many people head to the beaches to take in the incredible spectacle but our Canadian friends said that for them it was the Wickaninnish Inn which is on the bucket list. This inn has been created with storm watching in mind, there are huge windows in the dining room and you can even watch from the spa!
Getting to Tofino
The easiest way to get to Tofino is to hop on one of the ferries from Vancouver to either Victoria or Nanaimo with your car. This means that you can simply drive off and get on with the journey to the west coast of Vancouver Island.
There are ferries very regularly to both ports, but book in advance to reduce the cost and not be stuck with a long wait (it can be a popular destination, especially in the summer).
Another option is to fly into Victoria and then hire a car from the airport.
Victoria to Tofino
The journey from Victoria is a pretty long drive, so you may want to stop somewhere on route! If you plan to do it in one go, then allow for five hours of driving. There’s no public transport, so you will need a car.
Nanaimo to Tofino
Nanaimo is the closest ferry port to Tofino and reduces the journey by quite a lot. Once off the ferry it takes three hours to drive to Tofino.
Where to stay in Tofino
Tofino is a pretty popular area with limited accommodation options, so if you are planning to visit during the summer, then we recommend booking a long way in advance. We planned our trip four months in advance and only had a couple of options to choose from and only on very limited dates!
If you are willing to drive a little bit (35 minutes to be exact), then it is well worth also researching Ucluelet for accommodation options. This small port doesn’t have quite as many things to do, but it is still a great place to stay.
Tofino Motel Harbourview
If we’d had the chance we would have opted for Tofino Motel Harbourview which has a really central location with amazing views and is reasonably priced. It gets well reviewed for being clean, comfy and eco friendly.
Check out the latest prices & reviews on:
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Are you planning a trip to Vancouver Island? If you’ve been, what are your favourite things to do in the area? Let us know in the comments below!
