Multi-Day Kayaking Expeditions in the Gulf Islands

Gulf Islands Explorer (3-5 Days)

The Explorer is one incredible paddling experience! Your guide will lead you to some of most beautiful camping and paddling destinations in the Southern Gulf Islands. Stunning white shell beaches, amazing sandstone formations, abundant wildlife and a Mediterranean-like climate make the Southern Gulf Islands a world-class kayaking destination.

* This tour can be challenging and therefore requires your have a decent level of physical fitness.

You have two options for the Gulf Islands Explorer Tour:

1) A fully catered tour complete with the best organic ingredients and wines BC has to offer. A typical first night’s meal on the Explorer includes:

• Seared Wild Salmon with Mustard-Caper Butter
• Organic Slow Roasted Garlic with Salt Spring Goat Cheese on a fresh Baguette
• Fresh Salt Spring Greens with Spicy Strawberry Vinaigrette
• Wines: Sandhill (VQA) 2005 Pinot Gris, Merlot or Cab Franc
• Dessert: BC Cherries and Chocolate Fondue

2) A self-catered tour where you plan and create your meals. Self-cater tours cost about 20% less and are a great option for budget-minded paddlers who want the professional leadership and local knowledge of a Salt Spring Adventure Co. guide but would like to save a few bucks making meals for themselves.

Destinations may include:

Day 1: Wallace Island Provincial Park – We will launch from Hudson’s Point on Salt Spring and paddle the 30-minute crossing over to Wallace Island. We will head straight to Chivers Point and set up camp. After, we head back out to explore Wallace Island and the Secretaries. Wallace Island, located in beautiful Trincomali Channel between the northern ends of Saltspring Island and Galiano Island, offers numerous beaches, coves and offshore islets to explore. Bald eagles, black-tailed deer and mink are common in the park, as well as harbour seals, sea lions and river otters.

Day 2: Dionisio Point Provincial Park – In the morning, we will learn to predict the day’s tides and currents over Salt Spring Organic Coffee and come up with a plan for the day. Our timing for the day must be just right as we head to Polier Pass, an area of fast tidal currents that result in fast moving whirlpools and standing waves. We need to be there at slack tide for safety’s sake.

Dionisio Point offers incredible scenery including headlands flanked by sandy beaches, picturesque bays and a unique shoreline that includes sculpted sandstone shelves, pebble and sand beaches and colorful wildflower meadows. Fast flowing tidal currents of Polier Pass have created a rich intertidal life - sea-stars, nudibranchs and chitons can be seen in the tide pools, and at times large quantities of swimming scallop shells can be found on the beaches. Sea Lions are often spotted in swimming and playing in the churning waters.

Day 3: Blackberry Point on Valdes Island – We will head back through Polier Pass to Blackberry Point. While sipping your Pinot Gris on the white shell beach of Blackberry Point, you’d swear you were in the Mederterainian. This is one of the Gulf Islands most beautiful campsites with an extensive sand beach, an attractive meadow for camping and extensive eroded sandstone formations to explore nearby.

‘The Cut’ between Thetis and Kuper Islands: You won’t believe there is actually a water passage between these two beautiful islands until you see it for yourself. We will stop in the picturesque Telegraph Harbour for a bite at the Thetis Island Marina Pub, then paddle south along the First Nations Reserve that is Kuper Island, past incredible sandstone formations filled with cormorant nests, and back to Southy Point on to Salt Spring.

GULF ISLANDS EXPLORER	Adult (12+)	Child (7-11)	** Children 4 – 6 must be accompanied by 2 adults in one G3 kayak Children 7 – 11 by at least 1 adult.   Price includes a guide / naturalist, all kayaking gear, tent and sleeping pad (does not include sleeping bag).
Catered	$190 / day / person	$160 / day / person
Uncatered	$155 / day / person	$135 / day / person

Prevost Island Circumnavigation (3 Days):

Prevost Island, or Hwu'eshwum ("Place of Seals") as it is known by the Hul'q'umi'num First Nation, is a fantastic kayaking destination offering abundant wildlife (the possibility of Orca sightings if you time it right), pristine forest wilderness and incredible vistas!

Day 1 – We will launch our packed boats from our private dock at the Salt Spring Marina, paddle past the Chain Islets, stopping at the beautiful Chocolate Beach for lunch. After, we will carry on out to James Bay on Prevost Island. We will set up camp and a kitchen in the old apple orchard in James Bay, part of the Gulf Islands National Park system. We will then proceed to enjoy a glass of wine and some delicacies while watching the sunset over the Coast Mountains, and talk of the discoveries we will make paddling around Prevost Island on day two.

Day 2 – Time to circumnavigate the island. We will have a look at the charts and predict our winds / currents over a serious cup (or three) of Salt Spring organic coffee, and then head out to do some exploring. Our first destination will be the ecologically significant Hawkins Islets. Meandering through the kelp beds and shallows of the islets, we will watch for small fish, crabs, sea stars, otters, seals and bird life. Next stop, Portluck Point for a gourmet lunch and walk along the forest trail to the Portlock Point lighthouse, built in 1895 on three sides, protecting the most visible part of Prevost Island seen by ferry passengers as they exit Active Pass on the way to Victoria.

Day 3 – After a world-class breakfast, we will pack up the boats and head out to the Mid Channel Islets on the opposite side of Ganges Harbour. The Mid Channel Islands are protected islets deemed of high ecological importance. They are one of the last places in the region you will find the threatened Prickily Pear Cactus. Its also a valuable seal haulout and a nesting site for Oystercatchers. Then we end the trip off at Beddis Beach where our transportation will be waiting.

PREVOST ISLAND	Adult (12+)	Child (7-11)	** Children 4 – 6 must be accompanied by 2 adults in one G3 kayak Children 7 – 11 by at least 1 adult.   Price includes a guide / naturalist, all kayaking gear, tent and sleeping pad (does not include sleeping bag).
Catered	$190 / day / person	$160 / day / person
Uncatered	$155 / day / person	$135 / day / person

Value Added Tours

We do our very best to give every customer their money’s worth, which is why on any Salt Spring Adventure Co. Expedition there is the opportunity for you to learn more about the finer points of kayaking such as:

• Paddle stroke technique
• How to read nautical charts
• Weather prediction
• Calculating currents and tides for a given area
• Wet exits and rescues

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