Although we were situated just next to Pacific Rim NP, we actually wanted to get to its northern coast at Ucluelet and Tofino. A really long fjord up until Port Alberni in the middle of the island and the lack of bridges and streets renders it impossible to drive a more direct way. Hence we had a 320km trip before us – mostly through forests and along lakes.
After we finally arrived in Ucluelet, we checked for whalewatching tours! Luck was on our side as we were able to book a tour on a small, fast zodiac style boat 1.5 hour later. In order to keep the sightseeing-stresslevel high, we used that time to checkout a short hike around the tip of Ucluelet including a lighthouse!
And then we headed out for the whale watching on a fast zodiac boat. We first saw racoons feeding on the coast, bald eagles, sea otters and a sea lions colony. Then was the time for our boat driver to figure out the location of whales. Eventually, another whale watching boat radioed the location of a humpback whale!
We couldn’t get too close and my skills in whale photography are still very limited. Luckily we were able to witness so-called launch-feeding of the whale: After a dive of 3-5 min, the whale tries to corner shrimp towards the coast and then launches into the air with the mouth wide open!
After we returned in the evening, we decided to do some more short hikes as long as the weather is nice (which turned out to be a good idea as the next day showed). First, we went on a short rainforest trail:
Then we went to Long Beach to enjoy the special evening lighting conditions from the sun hanging low above the horizon.
