I was pleasantly surprised at the animal viewing from camp. The guides were great - appreciated their knowledge of the area and their respect for wildlife.
Robin Riggs, California

The Best Kayaking and Camping Trips
in British Columbia, Canada

The advantages of camping/kayaking trips? Foremost is this; if your goal is to take in the wilderness with all your senses and in all its completeness, 24 hours a day outside (and in your tent) is the way to go. You’ll hear the little sounds of the forest and ocean that bring such a sense of peace. The blowing, exhalations of whales may wake you in the middle of the night. And you’ll get a real sense of the pulse of the wilderness. But what do you give up? On our camping trips: not much.

We make our camps, and camping with us, as luxurious as camping can be. But we’re careful not to take the adventure, and the wildness, out of the wilderness. Location, comfort, state of the art equipment, and taking superb care of our guests: these are the elements at the top of our list.

Northern Lights started the phenomenon of kayaking in the waters of the killer whales and the islands of this archipelago. Since day one in 1983, our tireless efforts have been directing at providing every element of every trip at an unsurpassed level to each of our guests. Thousands of Northern Lights guests have called us “the best,” by far.

Whether you have four days or six, want to focus on seeing whales or want a broad sampling of the area. We have three camping & kayaking options for you.

Inside Passage – Wildlife Discovery – 6 days As well-rounded a kayaking adventure as you can imagine, where our goal is to paddle the best routes available and at the same time see the largest variety of wildlife of any kayaking journey we know. Our group will migrate between two distinct habitat zones. There are the intricate, narrow waterways where otters, seals, and harbour porpoises are seen in the water, and the small islets where black bears and deer can be occasionally seen on beaches. Then we explore the more open waters of Blackfish Sound and Johnstone Strait where the orcas roam. Orca encounters here are nearly as common as on our orca-focused Wild Orca Adventures, and the extra two days allow time for us to utilize two incredible and diverse camp locations as well as see more paddling waters and other wildlife. See trip details, itinerary and map of trip area
Inside Passage – Orca Humpback Odyssey – 6 days Our more whale-focused version of our classic Inside Passage trip, where, compared to our Wildlife Discovery trip described above, we’ll spend a little more time in the areas where we’re most likely to see whales, and thus likely less overall variety of kayaking terrain and wildlife other than whales. We use the same two campsites on this trip, with one move mid-week. But our goal is to spend an extra day in the waters whales are most often seen in, choosing to search for whales a bit more than we would on a Wildlife Discovery trip. See trip details, itinerary and map of trip area
Wild Orca Adventure – 4 days – our shorter camping/kayaking adventure Guaranteed whale sightings? Absolutely: if you don’t see a whale from this incredible camp site – or at any other time on this four-day adventure, you can return without charge next year! That’s what an incredible spot this is when it comes to encountering whales. Absolutely no place on Earth sees more orcas that this specific piece of water. On top of that, when the whales aren’t in view, this unique location offers a full variety of superb kayaking routes extending in all four directions from camp. And when in camp, you’ll have eagles perching in the trees above your tents, porpoises, dolphins and sea lions passing by, and always an eye out for the next pod of orcas to come into view. This trip is for the whale lover who just doesn’t have the time for a full six-day expedition. See trip details, itinerary and map of trip area

Campsites

After your enjoyable water taxi ride, you’ll arrive at a fully set up camp whose location, comfort and views will astound you. Our camps are designed to blend into the landscape and are nearly invisible from the water. Your roomy, expedition-quality tent will be set up and ready for you with a comfortable sleeping bag & liner, sleeping pad and pillow. When the day is done, all you have to do is crawl in and fall asleep to the sounds of nature.

We believe our presence in the wilderness is a high privilege and we have a responsibility to minimize our impact. So at our camps, you won’t find elaborately constructed facilities. You’ll find comfortable, yet of course rustic, toilet and shower facilities that won’t leave you feeling you’re at summer camp; they’ll help you feel like you’re living on the remote islands you are.

Your hand-crafted, expedition quality kayaks and lightweight wooden kayak paddles, comfortable life vests, rain gear, and a host of other items that contribute to a safe and comfortable journey will be ready to go. Our camp kitchen, the Blackfish Café, is renowned in the sea kayaking world for creating the finest wilderness meals imaginable.

We’ll have underwater microphones (hydrophones) to allow you to hear the sounds of the orcas who pass by. Spotting scopes will help you get up-close looks at eagles, ravens and all the other birds of the coast.

At most of our camps we have short trails for an evening hike before dinner. One leads to a perfect lookout over Johnstone Strait for another whale watching vantage point. Another wanders into the lush rainforest to view centuries old giant cedar trees.

Ultimately, you wilderness camp should be so beautiful and comfortable that you’ll only want to leave it in order to go kayaking and see what there is to see around the next corner. Your experienced guides will be working hard to make sure that’s the way you feel.

Location

Our camp sites are chosen to make the best of our chosen area: beautiful habitats, gorgeous views, and, in many cases, perfect viewpoints for seeing approaching whales. And they’re situated on the main paths whales travel, meaning you’ll often be dining to live whales passing by.

For more details on why we're located in the best spot for viewing whales and the best paddling click here.

We welcome you to join us on one of these memorable kayaking eco-tours. For more details on our other trips, please click on any of our specific trip listings above or go to our Trips page.

No experience is required on any Northern Lights adventure; join us and see why kayaking is the finest way to experience this British Columbia paradise.

Click here for our camping trip itineraries

Getting to our Departure Point (Port McNeill, BC)
Click here for our Travel Page.

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