


Ucluelet Things To Do
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For a town of its size, Ucluelet or "Ukee" (as the locals call it), has almost too much to do. Its natural assets of ocean, beach and rainforest might easily fill a summer. Fishing, kayaking, surfing, whale-watching, bear-watching, bird-watching and hiking are just for starters.
Water Activities Fishing The waters off Ukee represent some of the finest fishing grounds on the planet. This is the realm of the prized Chinook or spring, coho, sockeye and silver bright salmons, Pacific halibut and ling cod. Forty km/24.8mi from Ukee's shores is the phenomenon they call the "Big Bank". Maybe because anglers can bank on landing the tyee, a salmon weighing 13.5kg/30lb or up.
Ocean Kayaking With its bay, inlets and Broken Group Islands, Ukee offers some of the best and safest sea kayaking on the planet. Local companies offer a variety of affordable tours for newbies and old hands in wilderness settings.
Surfing Pacific Rim National Park offers the best surfing in Canada. Water temperatures remaining constant at about 10°C/50°F allow surfing all year round. Long Beach is 16k/10mi of incomparable grandeur and Pacific rollers all the way from Japan. Surfers gallivant the wild waves even in storm-watching season.
Whale Watching Ukee's great whale show is the year's highlight on sea and land. Every March and April, Ucluelet experiences the world's greatest whale migration, as 17 thousand grey whales pass by en route to their summer home in the Arctic. One Ucluelet outfit, West Coast Wild, offers the once-in-a-lifetime chance to view it from above in a floatplane. But whale-watching isn't just a spring event. Whale-watching is available most of the year because of lingering pods of grey whales in Barkley Sound, humpback whales and resident pods of killer whales. Ukee outfits offer guaranteed sightings or clients get their money back. With the sometimes bumpy ocean in mind, visitors can choose between speedy little Zodiacs designed for the occasion and larger cruisers outfitted with stabilizers. Adventure Touring Comfy is the word for Archipelago Cruises' Rainforest Maiden that offers the great Pacific safari: full-day, whale-watching and wildlife cruises on Barkley Sound and through the Broken Group Islands. The 16m/53ft cruiser comes outfitted with state-of-the-art hydraulic stabilizers that guarantee a turbulence-free cruise even on open sea -making life all the sweeter for passengers with cameras. The cruiser accommodates 23 passengers with ultra-comfortable seating both inside the cabin and atop the upper deck. Binoculars are available for every passenger. Refreshments and a delicious salmon/chicken/ vegetarian lunch come included. And yes, there's an easily accessible washroom below decks.
Bear Watching And with the greatest concentration of black bears on this continent, bear-watching now rivals whale-watching among encounters with nature's big guys. Visitors can follow the bears in Zodiacs or dories. Best time to see bears is in the fall, when salmon return to spawn and provide a black bear's gourmet treat of the year.
Land Activities Golf Located between rainforest and ocean, the Long Beach Golf Course & Tofino Campground is one of the most scenic courses in Canada. Only minutes from Long Beach, it boasts a famously challenging nine-hole championship course and 18-hole Mini-Golf-Course.
Cycling & Mountain Biking Bike trails abound in and around Ucluelet, traversing rainforest and following the ocean, offering breathtaking views in every direction. Check with the Pacific Rim Visitor Centre or the Ucluelet Visitor Centre at 100 Main St at the Whisky Dock Landing Building. Bikes can be rented from Ukee Bikes for a modest charge. Although biking and mountain biking are not allowed on hiking and walking trails in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, the place to let loose is the 10km/6mi of Long Beach and another 6km/3.7mi at Florencia Bay on packed sand. The might of the Pacific Ocean provides a thundering backdrop. For more information about things to do in and around Ucluelet, contact the Visitor Centre.
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