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Across the Straight of Georgia, Vancouver Island has some of the most spectacular canoe destinations in Canada. From the Nanaimo river during the Chum salmon spawning run, to remote valleys on the west coast with enourmous trees thousands of years old. This year we will be running 1 to 5 day trips from April until September. Lasqueti trips will start from the 9:45am ferry that carries people from French Creek (near Parksville on Vancouver Island) to Lasqueti. People coming from Vancouver are able to make it the same day if they take the 6:30am ferry. Please see our maps page for more information about getting to Lasqueti. For trips starting from Vancouver Island (e.g. Clayoquot and Nootka Sound), please check the details for the trip below. We welcome any level of paddler from begginers to advanced. If you are looking to bring your family, we are happy to accomodate you for some of our trips, please read about family groups below. While most of the areas we paddle in are relatively sheltered from wind and waves, we try and plan our trips around weather conditions and based upon input from our guests. Jedediah Island 1 Day - $85
If you are planning to visit Lasqueti Island and stay with a friend or at one of the local Bed and Breakfasts, we are happy to bring you on a day trip from our camp on Lasqueti to Jedediah. This is only a 1 hour paddle each way, and this leaves plenty of time for you to explore Jedediah Island. If you are coming from Parksville, it is almost possible to make it to Jedediah Island and back if you come on the 9:45am ferry, since the last returning ferry is at 4 pm. The only way around this is to use one of the local water-taxi services, which allows us to bring you from Lasqueti to Jedediah Island, and then you can return via water-taxi later in the afternoon, around 6 or 7 p.m.. Jedediah Island 3 Days - $250Day 1
After taking the 9:45am foot-ferry that leaves from French Creek to
Lasqueti, we will meet you at the dock on Lasqueti and load your gear into one
of our canoes and/or kayaks. We will then head for the Finnerty and Fegan Islands
around the north-west end of Lasqueti, before continuing along the far side
of Lasqueti to our base camp near Long Bay (see map). One of our staff will
have a good meal waiting for us when we arrive!
If the ocean is calm after dinner and the moon is not too bright, we can head out for a short paddle down Long Bay to see the phosphorescence (glowing plankton in the water). Day 2
We will sort out camping gear for the boats and head for Jedediah. Paddling past the cliffs at the south end of Lasqueti Island, we will work our way around the east end of Jedediah to Home Bay. This is a beautiful camping area in a sheltered bay with shell beaches and warm swimming water when the tide comes in. After setting up camp, we will go for a hike on Jedediah, possibly up Mt. Gibralter which has spectacular views across the Straight of Georgia.
Day 3After a leisurely morning around Jedediah, we will paddle around the south-east end of Lasqueti to Squitty Bay Marine Park. This is a beautiful spot to eat lunch, and afterwards you can take a short hike around the Ecological Reserve (wild cactus!). Around 2pm we will arrange for one of the local water taxis to meet us at the wharf and bring you back to French Creek on Vancouver Island. We should be back at French Creek by 3:30pm. Jedediah Island 4 Days - $350This is similar to our 3 day trip, except we will have an extra day to explore some of the smaller islands in the Sabine Channel or new park at the south end of Texada Island. If you want at least 2 full days on Jedediah Island, this is the trip for you! Clayoquot Sound and Kennedy Lake (4 Days)Enjoy the wild West coast of Vancouver Island. We start
most of our Clayoquot Trips from Kennedy Lake, and make sure our
group is experienced with sheltered waters before we head out to
more exposed West Coast locations such as Vargas or Flores Island.
For We will end our trip in in the world famous west coast town of
Tofino where accomidations and pickups can be arranged. Back to the top Custom Trips (1-7 Days)We believe our guided canoe trips are unique to the Vancouver Island region, and if you would like to explore somewhere not listed above in a large sea-worthy canoe, please contact us to make arrangements. We know a lot of very experienced paddlers, and if we haven't been to some place ourselves, we can find somebody that has! Please send us an email (info@jedediahcanoe.com) with details about the trip you would like to do. FamiliesWe would be happy to organize trips for anyone wanting to come with their family. Please phone us if you would like to bring smaller children. We can stay at the same camp each night and spend more time exploring in the woods or the beach if kids would prefer this. We can offer substantial discounts for families - especially if you would like to help us planning and preparing meals. Please give us a call at 250-333-8542. Advanced paddlersWe are happy to accomodate groups of experienced paddlers to cover greater distances than those described in the trips above. A good trip for stronger paddlers is to circumnavigate Lasqueti Island - there are some beautiful places on the south-west side of the Island that can only be reached with a long 5-6 hour paddle from False Bay.FoodWe will supply meals for the duration of the trip, which will include some goodies from the bakery on Lasqueti Island, and fresh produce from local farms (everything from garlic to lettuce to filbert nuts is grown on Lasqueti).
If you are coming with a group or your family, and would like to organize some of your own meals, please let us know and we will subtract this from the cost of the trip. Our boatsWe mostly use 22 ft. Clipper canoes that are large enough to handle ocean conditions and carry 4-8 people.We also have double kayaks from a range of manufacturers - Extreme Interface, Necky and Current Designs. Back to the top |
