GRIZZLY BEAR VIEWING DAY TRIP

Many of our guests add a grizzly bear viewing day trip with Sea Wolf Adventures before or after they join us kayaking. Grizzly bears are not normally found on Vancouver Island but are regularly seen on the nearby mainland coast.

Your First Nations guides will take you on an intimate and immersive wildlife experience in their traditional territories. This all in one experience brings you to the natural habitat of Western Canada’s grizzly bears, while looking out for whales, Pacific white-sided dolphins, wolves and eagles while you cruise towards the coastal Mainland’s viewing sites. Listen to the guides interpretation of local landscapes, and the ancient villages that were once occupied by the Musg̱a̱makw Dzawada̱’enux̱w people.

t is important to note that every season is different and we will take you to wherever we believe you will have the best grizzly viewing experience.

Viewing is mostly boat based as the grizzlies will be foraging on sedge grass and turning over rocks on the beaches looking crabs and mussels. June and early July is the mating season with lots of interesting interaction. The big boars chase the not-too-interested females, displacing other bears along the beach. July is the season of cubs scrambling along behind their mom as they first explore their wilderness home. Later in the season the salmon return to the rivers which may bring viewing opportunities on land.

2024 Adult Price:
$$657.50 ($575 plus plus 10% fuel surcharge, plus $25 Salmon Stewardship Fee per person) plus 5% GST

2024 Youth Price (10 to 16 years old):
$602.50 ($522.50 plus plus 10% fuel surcharge, plus $25 Salmon Stewardship Fee per person) plus 5% GST

Departs: At 7:00 am daily from 1514 Broughton Blvd. in Port McNeil (same building as MacKay Whale Watching), Vancouver Island.

Duration: 8 to 9 hours

How to Book: When booking any of our Port McNeill departure kayak tours you can add the grizzly bear viewing option the day before or the day after your kayak tour. A $100 deposit is required to reserve your spot on the grizzly bear tour and the remaining balance is due at the same time as the balance for your kayak tour.

Please note: That due to possible windy and bumpy conditions on the boat ride to view grizzly bears, this tour is not suitable for people with back and neck issues, people with osteoporosis, or pregnant women. If this may be an issue please contact us to discuss this in greater detail.

Includes: The grizzly bear tour includes boat transportation from Port McNeill to the viewing areas and back. Breakfast, lunch, snacks, and drinks, binoculars, a rain poncho (sizes small to large) and a cultural sustainability fee are also included. Most dietary restrictions can be accommodated given sufficient prior notification.

Remember to bring: Come prepared with proper footwear and clothing for moderate hiking in the forest and on rocky
terrain. Bring your a wind and rain proof jacket, a hat, camera, medication (if needed), and insect repellent. When it is raining you will also want to bring waterproof pants and waterproof hiking boots or knee-high rubber boots. When it is sunny don’t forget your sunscreen and sunglasses. To ensure that our tour has a minimal impact on wildlife, we ask that you wear dark clothing. If you bring a camera, please turn your flash off, it scares the bears.

Deposit, Payment, and Cancellation Policy

A 25% deposit is required to permanently reserve your spot(s) on all tours.
Deposits are fully refundable up to 72 hours after your booking. Please notify us by email if cancelling within this 72 hour period for a full refund. After 72 hours the deposit is non-refundable.
Payment of any outstanding balance is due 60 days before the tour’s departure date.
If you must cancel your tour with 60 or more days notice of your tour’s departure date, a full refund of any amount paid above your required non-refundable deposit is provided.
If you must cancel your tour with less than 60 days of your tour’s departure date the full amount of the tour is non-refundable.
All cancellations must be received by email.

Kingfisher strongly recommends all booked guests to purchase travel insurance for their trip that includes coverage for cancellations and trip interruptions and medical expenses and evacuations in Canada. Most insurance policies need to be purchased within a short time of booking. For more information on different types of insurance, click here.

Additional details to consider…

Please do not book before first reading and understanding the Deposit, Payment, and Cancellation Policy.
If you book and cannot join your tour for any reason, including vaccination status or travel restrictions, our regular Deposit, Payment, and Cancellation Policy applies.
You fully assume the risk concerning entry requirements into British Columbia and Canada.
For the latest information on travel to Canada including the updated federal requirements and restrictions, please visit the Government of Canada’s Travel and Tourism page.

Amazing! I am well traveled and done many different types of adventures and trips. I have only wrote one review on trip advisor before and that was giving a 5/5 rating cage shark diving with Great Whites in New Zealand. This trip deserves my 2nd 5/5 review! It was incredible!! Great mix of kayaking, island time, solitude, games, nature, etc. I did the 4 day/3 night base camp trip with my brother. All the guides were great with a special shutout to Fin! Very knowledgeable, personable, patient, and passionate about his job. When he spoke people listened. A kind of guy you want to grab a pint with sometime and maybe watch the Habs beat up on the Canucks !! We seen it all (both from our kayaks and from the many view points at camp)... a couple pods of orcas, sea lions swimming close to us, porpoises, humpbacks , eagles catching fish... and the list goes on and on. This trip is so much more than that though!! Nature is incredible and much more fun and cheaper than therapy. This trip is one I’ll remember forever!! No photos needed, just go see for yourself!! A+
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Brent A.
8/03/2019
Excellent guiding company! I participated in an 8-day Haida Gwaii tour with Kingfisher and was impressed with their customer service, the quality of the gear provided, the well trained and friendly guides, and the FOOD was amazing as well. Highly recommended.
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Mary Y.
9/08/2019
Outstanding company with focus on safety and enjoyment - loved it We nearly booked a tour with another company but so glad we went with Kingfisher. We also booked our accommodation (Black bear resort) and the separate grizzly tour through Kingfisher and more than happy with both of those. Kingfisher is very professional, extremely well organised and very respectful of the wildlife. We also felt very safe and comfortable at all times. My husband and I (both late 50s) are regular kayakers at home but this was a very special experience in a beautiful area. The wildlife is everywhere (seals, sea lions, dolphins, eagles and even a mink spotted one time) although whales are mostly some distance from the kayaks. That did not worry me. I loved just being in their territory and seeing and hearing them surface. The seals and sea lions are beautiful to watch in the water and they often followed us. We had a small humpback surface briefly and unexpectedly very close to us and I still cannot believe that happened. All the equipment was great including the camp setup. The kayaking is fairly leisurely but I was pleased at how much we did over the four days We were lucky to be in a wonderful group of people and have three terrific guides - Sabina, Cam and Tess thank you for all your hard work and great cooking. We had a month in Canada but this was definitely the highlight.
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NewcastleKiwigirl
10/06/2018
Base Camp Kayak With Whales and Grizzly Bears My husband and I participated in a 4-day-3-night base camp Whale and Grizzly Bear trip with Kingfisher and we had an AMAZING time! We are both scientists and have gone on lots of cool outdoor adventures, but this trip was exceptional. We saw so much wildlife that we could hardly …
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Kristen R.
9/01/2019
Best kayaking/whale adventure on Vancouver Island I took Kingfisher's 4-day whale watching kayak trip from Port McNeill, BC. I have taken wilderness adventure trips all over the world, and this is one of the best experiences ever.

Orca whales seemed to be everywhere, and I enjoyed their "Shaker" camp on Hanson Island in Johnstone Strait, which was beautiful and well-appointed for a wilderness camp, including canvas tents on platforms and a covered kitchen/dining area, although the weather was perfect.

We had 3 guides for 9 people, and they were highly competent on the water and in the kitchen. The trip exceeded my expectations.
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560allanm
8/10/2021
Unplug and enjoy beautiful northern Vancouver Island Our whole trip was wonderful. We were very excited about the kayak base camp trip we had signed up for and everything lived up to all our expectations and more. Our guides, Julian and Katie were such great people firstly and our trip was immeasurably more enjoyable because of their friendship, leadership, hard work, culinary skills and of course their exemplary knowledge of the outdoors, wildlife, ocean tides and kayaking skills. It was never a stressful time paddling or at camp. I would absolutely come back for another visit with Kingfisher. It was very well organized and all the pre-trip information and packing lists were great. Those large dry bags held much more than I thought they would so we could pack everything we wanted. We ended up not needing all of the warm weather clothes due to our fantastic weather and crazy warm sleeping bags Kingfisher provided. I WILL be back one day and I still cannot say enough about our guides Julian and Katie. I hope to see them again.
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H341PImarkd
8/10/2021
Wow, just wow! We did the 6 day Whales and Wilderness Explorer trip very near the end of a 7 week long trip to Canada. We expected to like and enjoy the trip, but we didn't expect to be absolutely blown away by it! We had done lots of other outdoor adventures during our trip, all of which we'd …
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347liz
10/01/2019
The West Coast at its BEST! We did a four-day base camp with whales tour in September 2020. I have been on many kayaking trips all over Vancouver Island and Haida Gwaii but this trip is a highlight. I have never seen so much marine life in one area - humpbacks, orcas, sea lions, porpoise, dolphins, seals, eagles, herons, ravens.

Our group has done expedition trips in the past but loved the base camp experience -- a level of comfort that let us enjoy the kayaking even more.

The area in which we did our paddling provided excellent variety. A perfect mix of days.
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John G.
9/23/2020
SO much wildlife, incredible food, and awesome people!!!!! We had such an awesome time on our trip. We had exceptional luck seeing wildlife, we saw humpback whales, orcas, porpoises, dolphins, sea lions, seals, and more!!! It was such a great time. The food was UNREAL and the accommodations were really nice. I feel as though we really did get our moneys worth. Our guides (Kelsey and Connor) were awesome, they cooked, they cleaned, and they put up with our groups obsession with finding orcas.
Overall, I would highly recommend this experience to anyone who is interested in seeing marine life in the wild and respects wildlife/nature.
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P6420ZHsabrinac
8/27/2021
Two sea kayaking trips I have never sea kayaked before but did two back to back with them in August - one base camp and one wild camping. All the equipment was first class and the tour guides/leaders were excellent giving someone who was very nervous the confidence to happily paddle a single kayak …
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Yvonne R.
9/01/2019