Thanks to Tide Rip Tours, Tourism Nanaimo was invited up to the small community of Telegraph Cove to experience a one-of-a-kind opportunity: Grizzy Bear Watching. Like Whale Watching, Grizzly Bear Watching is one of the most exciting tourist attractions on Vancouver Island. So, comfortably aboard a two of Tide Rip Tours‘ boats, we left Telegraph Cove at 7:00am and spent the next nine hours enjoying the beauty of Vancouver Island. Along the way, we ran into dolphins, deer, cormorants, orca whales and, of course, grizzly bears!

Wanting to share a glimpse of what we saw, we brought along a camera and took a whole bunch of photos!

Courtenay, Amy, Heather and Amanda were more than happy to drive up the island and take in the sights at Telegraph Cover.

Telegraph Cove. It was quiet in the morning, but when we arrived back in the afternoon, it was an absolutely bustling little village, full of locals and travellers, alike!

After a two hour boat ride, we arrived at a floating dock and transferred into two separate herring skiffs. They’re the perfect way to travel through the many estuaries of Knight Inlet.

Baby animals everywhere!

Our awesome guide, Lindsey, took us into water so shallow that he was able to pull the skiff himself! On the shoreline we found grizzly bear prints, left behind when one of the bears came down to the shore to look for salmon!

Mama Bear and her three cubs.

On the way home we were met by a pod of 40 or 50 dolphins. They trailed along beside us for about ten minutes, playing in our boats wake and jumping high out of the water!

Fed by glaciers, the water in Knight Inlet is an amazing turquoise colour.

Courtenay, our Manager of Visitor Services, gives Tide Rip Tours a big thumbs up!

Tide Rip Tours also has a great video about their service:

It was a wonderful adventure, and we’re very grateful that our hosts invited us to experience the grizzly bears and other animals of Telegraph Cove and Knight Inlet! For more information on Tide Rip Tours you can visit their website or find them on Facebook.

All photos © Aidan Moher, 2010.

Whether you’re a visitor or a resident, Nanaimo’s an easy city to love. This video showcases some of the best aspects of our great city, and shows why it’s one of Vancouver Island’s most exciting and diverse travel destinations!

While kayaking, Amanda saw several Eagles, an endless array of Jellyfish and Starfish, and even a pair of Blonde Raccoons!

This is just the beginning of another wonderful Vancouver Island summer!

The Package includes:

We’ll be back in 2011 with an even bigger and better Passport to your City promotion, and you’ll have another great opportunity to explore the great Harbour City of Nanaimo!

• Newcastle Island
• Wild Play Element Parks
• Snorkelling with the Seals
• Cathedral Grove
• Free Spirit Spheres
• Horne Lake Caves

With a line-up like that, It’s no wonder they had such an enjoyable experience in Nanaimo!

There are various ways to watch the program:

West Coast Adventures can be seen twice weekly in various PBS stations throughout the Norhwest, reaching viewers in British Columbia, Alberta and Washington State, plus parts of Western Montana, Northern Idaho, and the Northeast of Oregon. The show can also be seen nationally across Canada via satellite providers Shaw and Bell Expressvu which carry the flagship PBS station KCTS 9 (based out of Seattle). West Coast Adventures has a potential of reaching approximately 12.8 million viewers.

In BC and Washington State, it airs on KCTS 9 (Check your local listings.) The show is also available in High Definition for those who have a HD cable package.

You can also watch Episode 6 of West Coast Adventures, featuring Nanaimo, on their website!

For a Google Maps driving directions to each place from Nanaimo, click HERE. When you click on one of the following YouTube videos, be sure to click the HD box at the bottom right side of the YouTube video timeline so you can watch it in Hi Def (slower to load, but worth it).

• Nanaimo Harbourfront Walkway
• Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Park
• Little Qualicum Falls Park
• Englishman River Falls Park
• Newcastle Island Park
• Neck Point Park (photo tour)
• Biggs Park (by Duke Point ferry terminal)
• Lady Rose return day cruise up the Alberni Canal to the West Coast
• Chemainus Murals
• Coombs
• Hike Mt. Arrowsmith
• Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet on the West Coast

This blog post was written an compiled by the lovely folks at Living Forest Oceanside Campground and RV.