Ask a Vancouver local where they stay when visiting Vancouver Island and 9 times out of 10 they are going to say Tofino. Tofino is a quaint little town on the West Coast of Vancouver Island that hugs the Pacific Ocean and is also an actual rain forest. You can hike, surf, boat, shop and eat your way through this magical little town.
The girls and I stayed with my husband in Vancouver, Canada for 2 months over the summer. I knew that I wanted to visit Vancouver Island but didn’t have a plan on where to go until talking to locals and getting an overwhelming amount of recommendations to visit Tofino. When looking into accommodations I realized that I might have waited too long to book, due to the popularity of Tofino. Lucky for us, this guesthouse on vrbo.com had a cancellation and I jumped on it before it got swooped up by anyone else.
My brother had mentioned that he wanted to fly up from Los Angeles to come visit the girls, so I invited him to come with us on our road trip from North Vancouver to Tofino. He had no idea what he was in for. He is a single guy who works in investments and I’m not sure that a 6-hour road trip with two toddlers was exactly what he was talking about when he mentioned that he would like to fly up for a “relaxing week away”.
It started out a bit shaky, as my brother must have asked me about 10 times in the first 24 hours why the kids talk so much. But as soon as we drove onto the ferry at Horseshoe Bay, all of the tension lifted and we began our gorgeous journey to Tofino BC. The drive alone was worth the visit.
As we drove across Vancouver Island, we stopped just a few times. Once in a town called Coombs. Coombs Country Market, also called Goats on a Roof, is a market and shopping area. It was the perfect place to stop for lunch. The sandwiches and salads that we ordered in the market were exceptionally good, and also there really are goats on the roof! I mean – how crazy is that? Our second stop was at West Coast Wild Zip, off of Pacific Rim Highway. My brother zip lined across a river in the forest. The view was breathtaking.
I originally planned to try a few of Tofino’s popular restaurants, but the weather was so fantastic that we ended up spending most nights on the beach around a bonfire. We did happen to catch a bear watching bear tour that did not disappoint. This tour company guarantees you will see bears and we did see a number of black bears fishing on the waters edge and a ton of bald eagles as well. I was told over and over to explore the Wickaninnish Inn. We ended up going for brunch and had a great experience.
Watching the girls run on the beach was by far the best thing about this trip. They loved chasing each other in the water and burying each other in the sand. It was also a great bonding trip. They are now closer to their uncle than they have ever been.
Overall the road trip to Tofino was well worth the time and definitely one of the highlights of our summer in Vancouver, BC.
