| If you are an adventurer looking to pick your | | | | for days and see many new things each day is |
| next vacation, consider taking an ocean kayak | | | | possible. There is so much to explore in a small |
| tour. There are some amazing destinations all | | | | area. Moving beyond the middle of the group, the |
| over the world to get into an ocean kayak and | | | | waters get a bit more movements and are more |
| see the marine life. If you are particularly looking | | | | prone to wind waves as well as ocean swell. The |
| for abundance and diversity of sea life, the | | | | outer island can be challenging for beginners, but |
| temperate waters are incredible. The west coast | | | | also bring a wildness that is not found anywhere |
| of Canada fits this perfectly. During the summer | | | | but just at the boundary of the open ocean. This |
| months, the kayaking possibilities around | | | | is where the sea lions haul out and play, the |
| Vancouver Island are immense, ranging from | | | | whales swim by, and the surf crashes onto the |
| warm, calm waters to misty, Pacific swell. | | | | beaches. Just inside these outer islands, a beginner |
| The Gulf Islands are on the east side of | | | | can get the feeling of the wildness without |
| Vancouver Island, protected from the weather | | | | committing to dynamism of the open ocean side. |
| and waves of the open Pacific Ocean. These | | | | The diversity of sea life here explodes into a |
| islands are a paradise, so the residents tell. The | | | | scene of color everywhere. |
| communities are small and quaint, but leavened | | | | Another west coast destination that is more |
| with an international flavor from the diversity of | | | | remote, but just as diverse, is around Nootka |
| backgrounds of the residents. The southern Gulf | | | | Sound. One of the most interesting area around |
| Islands sit in a rain shadow stretching from the | | | | the sound is at the northwestern tip of Nootka |
| Olympic Peninsula in Washington state to about | | | | Island where the Nuchatlitz Inlet opens into the |
| mid-Vancouver Island. The drier climate allows the | | | | island. This area has a number of small island |
| beautiful arbutus trees to grow in abundance and | | | | groups that offer protection from much of the |
| makes for some award winning vineyards. Touring | | | | ocean swell, but allows visitors to peek out into |
| by kayak among these islands means paddling by | | | | the open ocean. This area is prime habitat for the |
| sandstone cliffs that look like they were foamed | | | | endangered sea otter. Rafts of hundreds, floating |
| up from the earth and the bubbles popped, | | | | on their backs together among the kelp beds can |
| leaving an incredible landscape. The southern | | | | be seen from the small islands. Whales pass by on |
| resident orcas also ply these waters, often | | | | their migrations. Eagles call their shrill cry overhead, |
| swimming through the areas looking for the | | | | and ravens cackle their mimicked calls of many |
| salmon. Kayaking here can be a close and intimate | | | | strange sounds in the trees. The diverse history |
| experience with a life that few live, but is | | | | here connecting the First Nations peoples of the |
| dreamed about by many. | | | | area and the explorers that came and took |
| The west coast of Vancouver Island has some | | | | control has had world importance, affecting |
| of the most abundant and diverse waters on the | | | | European history in big ways. For west coast |
| planet. A number of locations offer protected | | | | adventures by kayak, this is one of the best. |
| paddling, yet fully reveal the west coast, Pacific | | | | Although there are many more possibilities around |
| experience. The Broken Group Islands in Barkley | | | | Vancouver Island and up the BC coast, These |
| Sound are about 100 small islands, forming a | | | | destinations are important because of their |
| roughly rectangular group. The eastern part of | | | | accessibility to beginners. A number of guiding |
| this group is near a large bay and several other | | | | companies offer guided tours of these areas, |
| small island groups. These groups are full of | | | | catering specifically to beginner kayakers, or those |
| oysters, although mostly claimed by commercial | | | | who have never kayaked before. So, if you are |
| interests. In the eastern half of the group, the | | | | looking for a Canadian ocean kayak experience, |
| summer waters are warm and calm. Because of | | | | look at one of these. You will get a new |
| the number of islands, the ability to paddle around | | | | appreciation for the sea and our planet. |