My Favourite Places on Vancouver Island: Broken Group Islands, PacificRim National Park

Broken Group Islands by kayak

Trip details:

Route: Port Alberni to Seachart Lodge via the MV Lady Rose

• Day 1: Seachart to Hand Island
• Day 2: Hand Island to Clarke Island
• Day 3: Clarke, Wouwer, Gilbert and Effingham Islands, return to Clarke
• Day 4: Clarke Island to Gibralter Island
• Day 5: Gilbert, Reeks and Nettle Islands, return to Gilbert
• Day 6: Gilbert to Seachart, return to Port Alberni via the MV Lady Rose

Location: Pacific Rim National Park, west coast of Vancouver Island

Trip costs:

• Kayak rental, ferry, ferry kayak transport and park fees, $370 per person
• Food: About $45 per person for 6 days

Our ride to Seachart Lodge:
Frances Barkley Ferry, MV Lady Rose

Our Broken Group Islands kayak trip was one of 3 kayaking overnighters we did around Vancouver Island this summer and was by far my favourite (though, I gotta say, they were all pretty spectacular). We were fairly lucky with the weather, crossed paths with seals, sea lions, otters, eagles and humpback whales, and, with the exception of a couple of slightly choppy channel crossings, encountered ideal paddling conditions.

We spent 6 days and 5 nights in the islands staying one night at Hand Beach, 2 nights at Clarke Island and 2 nights at Gibralter. We also toured by the other 4 campsites in the park. The best campsite we encountered was on the westward facing beach on Clarke Island where the sunsets were beyond description, the water was warm enough for swimming and we enjoyed one night of storm watching and one night of meteor viewing (gobsmacked, I tell you!)

Broken Group Island Tips

• We didn't come across any water sources in the park, though we did hear of a possible water source on Benson Island. We brought 4L of water per person per day (about 25L per person for 6 days in total) and found it was just enough.
• Most of the beaches are picked clean of smaller pieces of driftwood for campfires, but you can usually find ample supplies on nearby less busy islands. We would often set up camp and then head out to make a quick stop on a nearby island to load up our kayaks.
• The small beach on the east side of Nettle Island is a great place to stop for lunch or hang out if you've got some time to kill before catching the ferry at Seachart. For whatever reason this beach has the softest sand I've ever encountered in the north-west.
• Most of the culinary offerings in the ferry canteen on the Frances Barkley are pretty okay (from the point of view of someone who has been eating out of a backpack kitchen for close to a week), but steer clear of those hotdogs - unless you happen to enjoy fried baloney sandwiches.

Check out my Broken Group Islands photoset on Flickr.