Vancouver Island, located off of the Pacific coast of Canada, is a land of rugged coastlines, ancient trees, and a plethora of wildlife. We opted to visit this island in the fall for cooler hiking temperatures, a chance to spot bears during the salmon run, and still have the possibility of seeing whales. Past mid October, Vancouver Island enters storm season where spectacular sea swells can be seen off the western coast.

There are several possibilities to get to Vancouver Island. Certainly, you could fly directly to the island as daily flights from Calgary and Edmonton bring tourists directly to Victoria, the capital. However, many visitors opt to take the ferry. There are three ferries that connect visitors from Washington state to Vancouver Island as well as ferries from the Canadian mainland to Victoria via BC Ferries. We opted for the Coho ferry, which provides a daily service between downtown Victoria and Port Angeles in Washington. We chose this as it was less expensive to fly to Seattle and rent a car versus renting a car once arriving on Vancouver Island. The Coho Ferry allows you to bring your vehicle; however, be aware that there not every ferry allows vehicles. I would highly recommend having a vehicle to explore the island. It would really be a shame to only see Victoria as there is so much more to explore. From tip to tip the drive from Victoria in the south to Port Hardy on the northern shore takes a bit over 5 hours. Given that we only had a week, we made more of a circle up to the midway point of the island from Victoria north to Campbell River, east to Tofino and back south to Victoria.