Wildcoast Adventures

$2,491.86 per person for the 4-day, 3-night trip on departures 1 to 7 July and 2 to 14 September 2026, and $2,797.86 from 10 July to 30 August, plus 5% GST. The price includes the water taxi from Campbell River, the tent, all meals, kayaks and guiding, and a $20 sustainability fee. Solo travellers get their own tent and pay a $600 single fee only on the 10 July to 30 August departures.

The 7-day trip is $3,693 per person for departures from 29 June to 22 August and $4,043 from 25 August to 12 September. In the summer weeks day 2 is a 6-hour zodiac or covered-boat wildlife tour of the Discovery Passage; from 25 August it becomes a full-day covered-boat run to the Orford River valley, where the Homalco First Nation's viewing platforms look down on grizzlies feeding on the salmon. Both include three nights at a Campbell River hotel with continental breakfast, the water taxi and three nights at Orca Camp. A $600 solo fee applies to departures from 8 July to 28 August.

Orca Camp is water access only. For the 4-day trip you meet the water taxi at 7:30 am at the Campbell River Whale Watching office at Discovery Harbour Marina, or at 8:00 am at the Quathiaski Cove dock on Quadra Island. The ride up Discovery Passage, through Seymour Narrows and into Johnstone Strait takes about two and a half hours, and porpoises, dolphins and whales are common on the way. On the last day you are back in Campbell River between 3:30 and 5:30 pm.

Campbell River is about four hours from Vancouver by road and the Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo ferry, about five from Port Angeles, or a 40-minute flight from Vancouver with an airport shuttle to the Quadra ferry at $20 per person. Free parking is behind Wildcoast's shop at 685 Heriot Bay Road on Quadra Island; the lot at Discovery Harbour Marina is half paid and half free. You book your own bed the night before.

Getting to Orca Camp, step by step →

A seasonal base camp on a rocky beach beside a glacial stream, directly beside the Michael Bigg (Robson Bight) Ecological Reserve, where the northern resident orcas rub on the gravel. Full-height safari tents on wood platforms sleep two on real mattresses with warm bedding; a solo traveller is never bunked with a stranger. There is a wood-fired cedar hot tub, a beachside sauna on the final night, an on-demand hot shower, a heated communal tent for meals, campfires, trails into the rainforest and a library. The camp takes 18 guests with three guides.

None is required; the guides teach you before the first launch. Orca Camp is a base camp, so kayaking is the main activity but not compulsory: a longer afternoon paddle each day, with sunrise and sunset paddles offered on top, and you can sit a day out on the beach watching for whales. Day 2 is a full day along the coast with a walk inland to a waterfall; day 3 crosses Johnstone Strait to the island opposite, watching for bears on the beaches. The expeditions are different: you paddle to each night's campsite and set up your own tent, and a good level of fitness is recommended.

Wildcoast pins its dates to historically good months and says plainly that the whales decide. The northern resident pods spend the summer feeding on salmon in and around the reserve beside camp, humpbacks have returned to Johnstone Strait in recent years, and whales often pass the beach itself, so even a day at camp has a chance.

Wildcoast prefers guests of 10 and up at Orca Camp and 12 and up on the expeditions, with one adult for every child of 15 or younger. A younger child with real kayaking experience can be discussed, and the office will try to book families together.

A menu designed by a Quadra Island chef and cooked at camp: local fare including salmon and locally grown vegetables, with hot and cold non-alcoholic drinks. Vegetarian, vegan and other modified menus are provided without losing quality or portion size, and may carry an additional fee. Wildcoast is not a peanut or nut-free operation and says severe allergies may make its wilderness trips unsuitable.

Cell reception is spotty at best, and there are no electrical outlets and no internet. Bring portable battery packs for cameras and phones; the packing list puts them first.

Only personal things: kayaks, paddles, tents, bedding and dry bags are all provided. Wildcoast's list is layers for warm or cool days with no cotton on the water, a rain jacket, water shoes or rubber boots plus camp shoes, a sun hat and a warm hat, headlamp, sunscreen, insect repellent, a fast-dry towel, a water bottle and battery packs. A fishing licence with a salmon stamp if you want to cast from the beach. A medical form and waiver are due 30 days before departure.

Open the sea kayak base camp packing list →

Gratuities are optional and not in the price. Wildcoast's general rule is $5 to $10 per guide per day.

Salmon leap in front of the beach and Wildcoast lends rods to anyone who arrives with a licence and salmon stamp; on the expeditions bring your own rod and tackle. Alcohol is not sold at camp; you may bring your own for the evenings, and none is permitted before or during time on the water.