6 Day Johnstone Strait Kayak Tour

While we do not guarantee sightings on any of our tours, the Queen Charlotte and Johnstone Straits attract an abundance of marine mammals during the summer. Because of this seasonality, we ask guests to pair their wildlife hopes appropriately with the dates of their visit. Your guide will be using marine VHF radios to communicate with other guides regarding wildlife sightings. If there are any reports of orcas, humpbacks, bears, or other mammals in your immediate area, your guides will do their best to ensure your group does not miss the opportunity to see them!

EXPERIENCED SEA KAYAKING GUIDES

Our outstanding team of certified guides is the backbone of our company, facilitating your experience from start to finish. On trips, our guides fill the roles of group leader, paddling instructor, naturalist, risk-manager, weather forecaster, chef, and wildlife tracker.

REMOTE CAMPSITES

Our nomadic trips camp at a variety of remote island sites between Vancouver Island and the mainland. Campsites’ amenities will vary from established sites with tent pads and composting toilets to rugged forest sites with nothing more than level patches of ground for tents. Some of the most rugged campsites are in the most beautiful locations.

CAMPING EQUIPMENT:

• 3 man MSR Tents (One to two people per tent)
• Exped Sleeping Pads
• Warm Sleeping Bags

Delicious Home Made Meals

You will not go hungry on a NIK trip!

We provide homemade breakfast, lunch, and dinner each day, plus appetizers, desserts, granola bars, coffee, tea, and water. If you are still hungry, your guide will whip up something else to fill you up. Our menu is designed to be nutritious, delicious, substantial, locally sourced, environmentally friendly, and flexible to dietary restrictions. We can safely manage food allergies, as well as cater to gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian diets upon request.

All our guides are Foodsafe Level 1 certified. 

We guarantee your guide will surprise you with their culinary skills. Here are just a few examples of what you could be served on your trip:

BREAKFAST

• Frittata
• Shakshuka
• Breakfast burritos
• Granola and fresh muffins
• Pancakes or french toast
• Fresh fruit

LUNCH

• Greek salad with hummus and pita
• Chickpea salad
• Sandwiches
• Bagels with cream cheese and smoked salmon

All lunches include fruit, cookies, and chips

DINNER

• BBQ salmon with risotto and roasted vegetables
• Halibut and prawn soba noodle stir-fry
• Homestyle chili
• Quinoa soup and burritos

QUALITY EQUIPMENT

We provide all kayaking equipment for our day tours. Come with the clothing and personal items noted in the ‘What to Bring’ section and we do the rest. Some of the equipment we provide for our trips includes:

• DOUBLE KAYAKS: safe and stable, the best way to enjoy your tour together!
• DRY BAGS: Photos are a must, having a waterlogged phone is not. 
• PADDLES, SPRAY SKIRTS, PFDS, AND SAFETY EQUIPMENT: The essentials for safety and comfort. 

FLUID ITINERARIES

No two trips are the same! We pride ourselves on our fluid itineraries. The weather, tides, wildlife, and interests of groups are different every trip. Because of this, we both trust and empower our guides to adapt the trip as they see fit, so you can have the best experience possible!

Overview

The Six Day Nomadic Adventure will use a water taxi on either its first or last day, determined just a few days before departure, depending on the tides and the weather forecast. The following itinerary is just an example of a possible trip plan. This trip is designed to be incredibly flexible, which allows your guide to provide you with the best experience possible!

The Day Before

We recommend you stay in Telegraph Cove or Port McNeil the evening before your scheduled departure. We will have your dry bags available for pickup at our office anytime before 5:30 p.m. the day before your trip. If you are wondering where you may slumber nearby, please see our list of places to stay! If you are not able to pick up your dry bags the day before, please let us know. You will have to check-in at 7:30 am on your departure date, if you have not picked up your dry bags. If you have please meet us for 8:30 am.

Day 1

Your 6 Day Nomadic Adventure begins at 8:30 a.m. on your start date. You will meet your guide at the North Island Kayak gathering area, at the end of the historic Telegraph Cove boardwalk. Your kayaks will be set out on our dock and all of the group gear will be already loaded.

In the early afternoon, your group will stop to stretch their legs and enjoy a picnic lunch on a remote beach before paddling the last stretch towards camp for the night. 

You will likely reach one of our six camps by mid-afternoon. You'll be able to get settled into camp with lots of time to enjoy the late afternoon sun. Orca, Steller sea lions, dolphins, eagles, river otters and seals are frequently seen hunting in the kelp forest near our camps. Keep your eyes and ears open!

Once you are settled, an appetizer will be served while your guide cooks up a homemade beachside BBQ dinner that will leave you smiling, stuffed, and nourished. 

After dinner, enjoy card games with your party, take a stroll and explore the beach, or hang around the campfire and get to know the other members of your group.

Day 2 - 5

Breakfast will be served between 7 and 8 a.m., and there will be lots of time to relax and get organized. 

The plan for the next 4 days will be to head northward, towards the mainland. Your route will depend on the weather but you will likely head through Blackney Passage, into Blackfish Sound, past Swanson Island, through the islets surrounding Bonwick Island, and possibly up as far as Insect Island and the Burdwood Group! The tides and weather forecast will be the driving factor of this journey, but your guide will manage them and ensure your journey is as pleasurable as can be.

Each night you will set up camp on one of the multitude of small islands that populate the Broughtons. After you have set up your tent your guide will prepare a delicious meal and some light snacks to refuel after a long day of paddling. Our meals are designed to keep well and provide you with the calories and nutrition you need to paddle each day, but that won’t stop our guides from wowing you with restaurant quality flavours and presentation.

 After dinners you can gather around the fire, enjoy the stars or play games with other members of your group before getting cozy and comfortable in your tent.

Day 6

On your final morning you will wake up to another sizzling breakfast paired with hot coffee and the companionship of your wonderful guide. No matter how many days you spend in this area there always seems to be one day too few. Your final day can be structured at the leisure of the group, do you want to take it slowly and enjoy the long morning sun sipping coffee on the remote shell beach? Or are you keen to get every last drop of paddling in? Whatever your group feels like doing, your guide will come up with a great plan for the day. 

Regardless of the plan for the day at some point you will break down camp and prepare for the water taxi’s arrival. The water taxi will arrive around 2:30 p.m..

During your 45 minute boat ride you will retrace your strokes as you get closer and closer to Telegraph Cove. As you watch your trip fly by you in reverse, you may realize that a true appreciation for the Broughtons can only come from slowing down and basking in them. As we get closer to the cove keep an eye out for the larger wildlife in Blackfish Sound and the Johnstone Strait.

You will arrive back in Telegraph Cove around 3:30 p.m., after which you may simply grab your belongings and be on your way, we will take care of the entire cleanup! However, many guests choose to stay a while, reminiscing on the adventure with new friends and exchanging contact information so photos may be shared. Be sure to take time to visit the Whale Interpretive Centre’s incredible collection of skeletons before leaving this little slice of ecological paradise.

This is an example of a typical itinerary. On some occasions we need to make changes due to weather or tidal considerations. Our goal will always remain to provide you the best possible experience. On some occasions it will not be practical or desirable to change camp every day.

Multi-Day Tour Packing List