Gulf Islands Explorer
3-5 Day Tours
The Gulf Islands 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.
Note: 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 |
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