Kayaking Vancouver Island, Haida Gwaii, and the Great Bear Rainforest

AMAZING - MAGICAL - POWERFUL Adventure Myself and 5 friends just returned from an AMAZING 4-day base camp "Kayak with Whales" adventure. The adventure was sooo much more than kayaking with whales. We saw and heard lots of different marine and wild life (Orca and Humpback whales, Sea Lions, Seals, Eagles, Porpoises, …

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+

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.

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.

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.

What a trip Wonderfull Kayak trip around basecamp.
On our 1st day we already saw orcas and humpback whales from basecamp, sitting whit a beer watching the sun go down
We kayaked every day and met whales and sealions.
Last day they picked us early, and we went on a bear watching tour we saw grizzly and black bears
Sleeping in a tent where you can here the whales breath at night when the are passing,Wonderful
Great guides, they make the best breakfast ,lunch and diner!
Its a must do when you visit Vancouver island!

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, …

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 loved, but this was so special.
Our trip was the last one of the season, but you wouldn't have known it. Our guides, Julian and Jess, were so friendly, personable, knowledgeable, hard working and good fun whilst always being conscious of the different skills, abilities, confidence levels and safety of the 6 members of the group.
The kayak combination of singles and doubles worked well for carrying all the food, equipment and personal belongings, but also allowed the group to swap and change between kayaks when we wanted to. The daily 3D Tetris challenge of repacking the boats was always done with good humour.
The tents, mats and sleeping bags were cosy and comfortable and all the food was plentiful, tasty and excellent - I never knew powdered hummus was a thing until this trip!!! Preparing such amazing food in such basic circumstances is a real skill.
Both Julian and Jess were very observant at spotting both land and sea-based wildlife - and we saw plenty: humpbacks, Dall's porpoises, Stellar sea lions - we had one keep us company for about 1/2 an hour one day, plus seals, deer and eagles to name but a few. The sheer joy of sitting on a rock at sunset watching and hearing whales in the Sound below us is something we'll never forget.
This is a trip which will live long and strong in our memories, but I really, really hope we get to go back and do another trip with them!

Best way to experience Vancouver Island's wild west coast My husband and I just returned from our second trip with Kingfisher - an expedition trip in the Nutchatlitz area: Kayaking with Sea Otters. It was even more fabulous than our first base camp trip in the Broughton Archipelago. We saw sea otters every day, tons of eagles and even a curious mink at one of our campsites. Our guides, Carter and Julien, were great - looked after our safety, regaled us with stories, jokes and a poem, and somehow managed to whip up amazing fresh meals and snacks from what we carried in our kayaks. Carter even baked a cake on our third day! They shared their knowledge of the area and the wildlife and helped us improve our kayaking techniques. Every day brought a new adventure: kayaking into the mouth of a cave to inspect a waterfall, a group of sea otters putting on a show off the beach where we were enjoying "happy hour" appies and wine, and paddling in the ocean swells . We're seniors (69 & 72) and we'd highly recommend Kingfisher for anyone of any age who is reasonably fit.

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.