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.