Vancouver Island Photo Tours

Orca Whales, Humpback Whales, Black Bears, Sea Otters, Eagles & other wildlife
6-8 hour boat tour - Maximum of 4 guests

Wildlife & Whale Watching Boat Tour around the BEAUTIFUL Broughton Archipelago, The Traditional Territories of the Kwakwaka'wakw People, British Columbia, Canada.⁠

Ethics, Experience, Knowledge and time is the secret to good wildlife watching – and we have it all!

The Broughton Archipelago marine-based Wildlife and scenery whale-watching boat tour shows you as much marine wildlife as possible in a full day (6-8 hours). It departs from Port McNeill, Alder Bay, or Telegraph Cove on the northern part of Vancouver Island. The tour is limited to a maximum of 4 guests (5 with Children) on board my covered, insured, safe custom-built boat

This Family and photo Tour is geared toward whale watching and the beautiful scenery of many Islands. There is an excellent chance to watch killer whales (orcas), humpback whales, black bears, eagles, sea lions, dolphins, and much more. We will spend all day around the Broughton Archipelago, Queen Charlotte Strait, Blackfish Sound, and Johnstone Strait. It is a magical place with hundreds of little islands and passages.

While we have a rough outline for the day, we will create the tour depending on the interests and cooperation of the wildlife.

Important notes:!!! (Please also check my FAQ page)
No wildlife sightings can be guaranteed (expect nothing and be happily surprised). We see Humpback Whales, Sea Otters, Eagles, Seals and Sea Lions on almost every tour, Black Bears and Orca Whales on many (in season!), and Dolphins on some of the tours. 

I never had anyone getting seasick on my boat. I operate only in protected waters, not the open ocean. While the Broughton tour is fairly protected, I do not recommend it for pregnant women or guests with back problems. 

I can’t guarantee you wildlife, but I can guarantee you to do everything in my power to make it the very best day for you possible.

A "typical day" on the Broughton Archipelago wildlife & scenery photo tour:

This photography tour is similar to our Knight Inlet tour with the big difference that we don’t have to travel as far but only have a very small chance to see grizzly bears. We will decide together what the best time will be to leave the B&B, depending on sightings the days before, tides, weather and if you prefer to leave early or later. Our main focus will be clearly on whales, dolphins and birds.

Depending on the season we have excellent chances to photograph the northern resident killer whales, with some luck maybe even some transient orcas. We normally also see a good “bunch” of Humpback whales. Humpback whales are coming back to this area in very healthy numbers and we actually have not had a tour yet without seeing humpback whales. We also have enough time to search for dolphins. They move around a lot so we must be patient but we know in which areas they normally hang out and we will do our best to find them.

We also will be listening to the whales via our hydrophone, a underwater microphone. It is always a treat hearing the amazing sounds of the northern resident orcas.

With a bit of luck, we might run into a pod of pacific-white-sided dolphins, always a treat and lots of fun, no matter if you trying to get good photographs or if you just want to enjoy them.

While cruising through the beautiful Broughton Archipelago, we will keep our eyes open for other marine wildlife like sea lions, seals and different kinds of birds. We will also spend some time watching and photographing bald eagles, which we have plenty of in the area.

We will be checking some beaches and hopefully find black bears foraging along the tideline. The amazing scenery and waterfalls are a “nice bonus”.

This photography tour is posted with a duration of 6-8 hours. It always depends on you as well as on the wildlife but we want to allow enough time to stay out if “things” are happening on the water.

This is not a typical photography teaching photo workshop. Rolf will have plenty of time to talk about your questions, he will share his experience as well as tips and tricks around photography. He also will make sure you get the best shots possible, but the day is too busy for a typical “photography workshop.”

 

A spectacular wildlife tour with a wonderful host! Highly recommend - do not miss!

DESHIKAA2
Tripadvisor

A wonderful experience we'll remember for ever!

SALLYWOOLY
Tripadvisor

This was the highlight of our holiday and a day that we'll be talking about for some time!

JAMES BUFFORD
Tripadvisor

A spectacular wildlife tour with a wonderful host! Highly recommend - do not miss!

DESHIKAA2
Tripadvisor