Sointula Lodge

The 4 Day trip (three nights) is $7,035 per person plus tax and the 5 Day trip (four nights) is $8,375, fishing or wilderness, in Canadian dollars; the website also prices them at US$5,250 and US$6,250. Everything at the lodge is in: cabin, meals, drinks, gear, guiding and processing. On top: tax, getting there, the $38.85 fishing licence and a suggested 15% tip. A party of two can have a boat to themselves for $1,950.

Both cost the same and both put you on a guided boat every day. The fishing packages target five species of Pacific salmon, halibut, lingcod and other bottom fish minutes from the dock, and process what you keep. The wilderness package tours the Broughton Archipelago instead: whales, dolphins, bears, beach lunches, the Great Bear Rainforest. If one of you wants to fish and the other does not, the lodge recommends you both take the wilderness package: time on the water is customizable, so fish in the morning and look for bears in the afternoon.

A hot breakfast, then out on the water with your guide; the lodge tailors each day to weather and tide rather than printing a timetable. Lunch is out: one day the chef meets you on an island for the Beach Bistro (boiled crab, wine), another day the Burger Boat comes to you with a grill. Back at the lodge, your catch is weighed for bragging rights and processed while you have happy hour, then a four-course dinner in the great room over the water.

Afternoon breaks are for the bikes, the kayaks and paddleboards, the hot tub and sauna, a walk into Sointula or through the cedar forest at the back of the property, or a massage from the local masseuse.

Ten log cabins on the lawn above the dock, furnished, in the lodge's words, to feel like a home away from home, with private bathrooms. The lodge takes 18 guests a trip with 12 staff. The main lodge holds the bar, the dining room looking over the docks and Cormorant Channel (whales go by during dinner), and the covered deck with its fire table.

The last leg is always a 15-minute boat ride from Port McNeill. Most guests fly Vancouver to Port Hardy on Pacific Coastal and taxi to Port McNeill, or drive up Vancouver Island. Chartered floatplanes fly direct from Vancouver, Seattle and other points on the coast; the lodge helps arrange them, and it has a rate at the Fairmont at Vancouver airport.

Travel is not in the price. Contact the lodge before booking flights or ferries: it has set arrival and departure times.

Five 27-foot NorthRiver Sea Hawk OS boats built in 2021 and 2023, with fully enclosed heated cabins, private bathrooms, suspension seats, Lowrance radar, GPS and sounders, 250 hp Yamaha outboards and top-of-the-line rods and reels. Three to four guests to a boat; a party of three or more gets its own.

Your catch is filleted, frozen and packed in insulated boxes for the trip home; the boxes check as luggage on commercial flights, and fish from the lodge have flown as far as France, Norway, Bahrain and Australia. If you have a fishing package and come home empty-handed, the lodge makes sure you take home high-quality locally caught salmon. Catch and release is encouraged, and BC tidal limits for Area 12 apply; your guide briefs you.

Yes, everyone, including children under 16 and wilderness guests (so the crew can set prawn and crab traps with you). Buy the five-day BC tidal licence with a salmon stamp from Fisheries and Oceans Canada online for your trip dates, print it, and bring it. The lodge puts it at $38.85.

The lodge welcomes families and says the guided fishing suits first-timers as well as seasoned anglers. Children's life jackets are provided and children 12 and under get a discounted rate, which is not printed; ask. No minimum age is published.

Basic wifi at the lodge and cell coverage in the general area. A few fishing spots are out of range, but only for a few hours at a time. The lodge recommends unplugging.

Passport, printed fishing licence, sunscreen, polarized sunglasses, hat and gloves, warm layers (the lodge suggests three while fishing in the morning), a jacket, casual clothes for dinner, a swimsuit for the hot tub, a camera. Rain jackets, rain pants, rain boots, life jackets, fishing gear and binoculars are all provided. Summer temperatures run from 2 to 20°C, so check the forecast.

Tips are not in the price. The lodge suggests 15% of the trip value per guest.

Yes. The lodge hosts corporate retreats and family reunions and prices a private, all-inclusive 4-day fishing retreat for the whole lodge at US$64,000 and a 5-day one at US$80,000; half- and full-day helicopter adventures for one to five people are priced on request.