Sea Kayaking, Wildlife Viewing & Indigenous Exploration
North Vancouver Island, British Columbia
Departing August 11, 2025 (6 nights)
There are few animals that elicit such a sense of awe as the killer whale. And there is no better place in the world to see them than in the famed Johnstone Strait and Broughton Archipelago off the remote, northeast coast of Vancouver Island. A land of deep, glacier carved channels, snow-capped peaks and lush coastal rainforest, this is the ancestral home of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people, whose iconic orca-inspired art, ancient totem poles and indomitable spirit are imprinted throughout this wild and beautiful place.
This special edition six-day tour combines the best of the North Island. We spend three days kayaking the Inside Passage and some of the most wildlife rich waters in the world, on the look out for orca and humpback whales, Steller sea lions, dolphins, sea otters and more. We journey into the Great Bear Rainforest on the BC mainland, in search of grizzly bears fishing for salmon. And we take a deep dive into Indigenous culture and history, with a unique invitation into the lives and land of the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people.
Itinerary
- Day 1 – Visit the workshop of renowned Pacific Northwest coast artist. Learn about the history and traditions of Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw people and pick up some beautiful art direct from the source.
- Day 2,3,4 – Sea Kayaking and Wildlife Viewing. Stay at an island base camp in the heart of the Inside Passage and spend 3 days kayaking some of the world’s most wildlife rich waters.
- Day 5 – Grizzly Bears in the Great Bear Rainforest. Search for salmon-fishing grizzlies with local Indigenous guides and learn about the decades-long fight to remove fish farms from Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw territory.
- Day 6- Alert Bay and Telegraph Cove. Visit the site of a former residential school with our local Indigenous guide and explore the famed U’Mista Cultural Centre its amazing collection of ceremonial art.
Meet your RCGS Travel Ambassador
Robin Esrock is a bestselling author, journalist, TV host and public speaker. Having travelled to over 110 countries on 7 continents, his stories and photography have appeared in major publications on five continents, including National Geographic Traveler, The Guardian, The Chicago Tribune, South China Morning Post and Sydney Morning Herald. A former travel columnist for The Globe and Mail, Vancouver Sun, Outpost and MSN, Robin has been profiled as a travel expert by 60 Minutes, CBC, MSNBC, ABC, CTV, Global, Travel and Leisure, The Wall Street Journal and many others.
Sharing the stage with Buzz Aldrin and Ken Burns, Robin was honoured as Master of Ceremonies at the Explorer’s Club Annual Dinner in New York.
He is the creator and co-host of the 40-part television series Word Travels, and his passion for travel has been seen by millions of viewers in nearly two-dozen languages on National Geographic and Travel Channel International, and on OLN, Prime Video and CityTV in Canada. These adventures were also captured for his international bestselling book, The Great Global Bucket List.
Robin spent years scouring every province and territory for Canada’s most unique experiences, recording his journey in the smash bestseller The Great Canadian Bucket List. He has also written two bestselling travel books about Australia. A Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, Robin currently writes the national column Bucket Listed for Can Geo Travel. Born and raised in Johannesburg, South Africa, he lives in Vancouver with his wife and two children.
