Campbell River BC

If you’re touring Vancouver Island, you really should get up to the Campbell Waterway area.

OK, if you’re stopping in Victoria while you’re on a cruise, it might be a small hard to get here. Save it for your next visit. But if you have the time, you’ll be glad you built-in it in your itinerary.

This is a fantastic area for enjoying the outdoors and watching wildlife. The rhythms of life here revolve around the salmon…. It’s long been known as the Salmon Capital of the World. The fish returning to their spawning grounds attract anglers and animals.

More recently this area is becoming known as a destination for adventure and eco-tourism.

If you are interested in fishing, you probably have heard that here are five species of Pacific salmon that you can fish for depending on the season. You can fish for Chinook Salmon all year. (These are also known as King Salmon.) If you plot a trip for August you can fish for all five species!

Whether the salmon are hatching, feeding and on the rise in the waterway, traveling to the ocean or returning to progeny, their travel around and through the Discovery Passage attracts and sustains a wide variety of wildlife. It’s like a Canadian trip… you can hope to see whales, bears, otters, eagles and ravens among other wildlife.

You’ll see representation of these animals in the First Nations art too. The “First Nations” name encompasses native people all crosswise Canada. Here in the Campbell Waterway area, the members of First Nations tribes carved totems and made masks with gorgeous representations of all of those animals.

Museums have fantastic collections of the art, and cultural centers host drummers, singers and dancers wearing ceremonial regalia. Step back in history at the Museum at Campbell Waterway and Kwagluth Museum.

Here is a busy arts and culture scene. You’ll find lots of local shops that feature facility by local artists including authentic First Nations art, jewelry and carvings.

Here is rock climbing, hiking, kayaking and canoeing. You’ll find thousands of caves to explore if you like spelunking. Here is even scuba diving, though I have to tell you, I’m a warm water diver… I took a pass on this one, but among divers, the Discovery Passage has a reputation as having clear water and lots of sea life to see. One unique experience is to “Snorkel with the Salmon” as they make their way upstream to progeny.

You can join a tour to visit the area or visit with a rental car. It’s 95 miles (155 km) from Victoria. If you come over on a ferry and arrive at Nanaimo, it’s 165 miles (265 km). You can even sail in if you have a boat. (Consult tide tables and marine charts for approaches to the Campbell Waterway.)

As far as accommodations, you can go wilderness camping or you can delight in destination resorts for fishing and adventure. Some of the resorts place forward float plane tours, golf packages, and whale or bear watching tours. You can glide in on small local carriers.

Campbell Waterway may call itself the Salmon Capital of the World, but you don’t have to be a fisherman to visit and delight in it.