Gather edible seaweed, inhale aromatic oils, sail with the whales, discover an average workday in the life of bees, and explore the wild side of Sooke on a variety of cultural and adventure tours. Pick up The Cool Guide to Coastal Sooke at the Visitor Centre. Most of tours are predominately offered during the spring, summer, and fall high season.
Seaweed Tours
Sooke's renowned "seaweed lady" Diane Bernard leads a variety of tours (from May to September) that explore the culinary and health value of edible seaweed varietals found along the coastline. Culinary seaweed tours include a meal of seafood and wild seaweed at the Sooke Harbour House, rated "Best Restaurant in the World for Authentic Local Cuisine" by Gourmet Magazine. Spa operator Christine Hopkins, another Sooke seaweed specialist, offers one-and-two hour educational sessions focused on the organic essential oils she uses in her Thalassstherapy, a therapy combining hydrotherapy and the naturally healing elements of seaweed.
Herb Garden Tour
Join the expert gardeners at the Sooke Harbour House for a guided tour of the hotel's famous gardens – home to more than 400 edible plants and herbs – and learn where organic seasonal all begins. Tours are held daily.
Whale Watching & Harbour Tours
Russ Nicks' Sooke Coastal Explorations (operating from the Sooke Harbour Hotel & Marina) offers regularly scheduled, three-hour, whale-watching tours, as well as two-hour eco wildlife tours, and scenic outings around Sooke Harbour (best seen under the light of a full moon) in his 12-peson, high-speed Zodiac. Sightings in local waters may include Gray, Orca and Humpback Whales, Harbour seals and both California and Stellar sea lions.
Honeybee Tour
Beekeeper Robert Liptrot takes visitors behind the scenes at his award-winning Tugwell Creek Honey Farm and Meadery in the Otter Point area west of Sooke. The tour includes a lingering stop in the farm's tasting room. Stop by the Visitor Centre or more information about cultural tours in Sooke.