King Pacific Lodge: Whales in the Wilderness

June 29, 2012 | Updated: October 31, 2015 | By Elizabeth | Reply More

King Pacific Lodge is located in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest.

Since I wrote this, King Pacific Lodge has been moved and is now, primarily, catering to fishermen. For details, go to King Pacific Lodge.

Seeing whales in the wilderness had been on my bucket list for quite a while before I read about King Pacific Lodge in Canada. In the meantime, I’d seen whales at SeaWorld and through binoculars as they migrated down the California coast.

Neither of these encounters satisfied my need for an authentic experience. However, the whale and wilderness photos on the website of King Pacific Lodge looked like the real deal, so my husband and I flew to Vancouver. From there, we took another plane and a seaplane to reach a spot in northern British Columbia that is 150 miles south of Alaska and 400 miles north of Vancouver.

King Pacific Lodge offers luxury in the Canadian wilderness

It was a long trip and well worth the effort. The seaplane splashed down in front of a floating luxury lodge built on a barge in the Great Bear Rainforest. Arriving by road or rail is not an option. King Pacific Lodge is located in an isolated area inhabited by a small community of indigenous people and an amazing array of wildlife.

I was impressed by the luxury lodging, but it was the wildlife encounters that made the most indelible memories. Over the next few days, we kayaked among crowds of pink salmon, watched sea otters squabbling over fish scraps at the edge of the barge, saw large purple starfish clinging to the rocky coast, and watched eagles, ravens, and gulls soar overhead.

However, I’d come for close encounters with whales, and I wasn’t disappointed. On several occasions, I watched in awe as fin whales and humpback whales put on a breaching, tail slapping, fin-slapping ballet that put SeaWorld to shame.

Majestic whales took my breath away with their tail slapping displays.

I can’t even begin to describe the wonder I felt – sitting in a boat out on the water without one manmade thing in sight. The scenery and the experience were breathtaking, and the water was so calm I didn’t even need my SeaBands.

If you can’t make it to British Columbia right now, you can see footage from this area in the new film Harmony, A New Way of Looking at Our World. Inspired by HRH The Prince of Wales (Prince Charles), who has been voicing concern for the environment for decades, Harmony was introduced by Robert Redford at the Sundance London Film and Music Festival in April 2012.

While at King Pacific Lodge, producers captured spectacular images of the pristine wilderness along British Columbia’s coastline, and learned about the lodge’s efforts in conservation and sustainable tourism.

In addition to whale watching, my husband and I had time to try our hand at fishing at King Pacfic Lodge.

I hope you’ll also read “Luxury in the Wilderness,” the article I wrote about our time at King Pacific Lodge.

By the way, King Pacific Lodge operates from June 1 to September 24, 2012 – and this year, during the month of June, Canadians are entitled to a 50% discount.

Whether you are Canadian or not, the whales are waiting – so go.

Travel tip: Chances are good that your flight into Vancouver will not connect with the plane headed to northern BC. In this case, I suggest you overnight at the Fairmont Hotel in the airport. We really enjoyed it.

Cheers,

Elizabeth Hansen