Tofino Journey Information: Greatest Issues to Do, Where to Stay, and How to Get There

Fellow nature lover Carley Fortune cemented herself as one in every of my favourite authors along with her knack for transportation. While romance isn’t my go-to style, Fortune’s heartwrenching and nostalgia-washed story arcs, usually that includes rekindled teenage love, have at all times pulled me in. But what retains me glued to the web page is her skill to whisk me straight into elements of Canada I’ve by no means skilled, whether or not that’s the sundrenched shores of Barry’s Bay or the sweeping landscapes of Prince Edward Island. Her sense of place is beautiful. When I learn that her fifth and latest e book, Our Perfect Storm (Penguin Random House; May 5, 2026), can be set in my favourite British Columbia city, Tofino, I practically squealed with delight.

Perched on Vancouver Island’s central west coast, the little city of Tofino is sandwiched between old-growth, temperate rainforests and vast, sandy seashores that draw surfers to the mellow shore break. It’s simply north of the island’s well-known backpacking route, the West Coast Trail. I first skilled the alchemy of this place the place forest meets sea in 2017. Most folks most likely select someplace you don’t want a 4mm wetsuit for his or her first browsing expertise, however I hardly ever comply with typical knowledge. I flew alone to Vancouver International Airport to satisfy up with a gaggle of strangers off the Internet to study to surf for every week. What I didn’t notice I’d discover was a magical spot I haven’t been capable of get off my thoughts since.

Fortune’s first foray into writing about Canada’s west coast was all the things I’d hoped it might be and extra. Readers are given the proper friends-to-lovers seashore learn set in one in every of Canada’s most beautiful out of doors cities, however we’re additionally given loads to contemplate, together with methods to discover pleasure amidst local weather anxiousness. Childhood greatest pals Frankie and George head to the sanctuary of Tofino after Frankie is left by her fiancé the evening earlier than her marriage ceremony. They’re taking Frankie’s honeymoon, and whereas which means a keep at a luxurious resort, reservations at one of many buzziest eating places on the town, and, predictably, the pair realizing that they’ve at all times beloved one another, a lot of their keep strays from what you’d count on from a romance novel. It’s the proper journey for somebody like me, who lives and breathes out of doors journey. Here’s methods to recreate Frankie and George’s Tofino journey from Our Perfect Storm.

How to Get to Tofino

Start by flying into Vancouver or Victoria and renting a automotive. The journey is about the identical size from both metropolis, however Vancouver requires a ferry experience. The drive into Tofino winds alongside the beautiful Pacific Rim Highway, full of views of towering timber, mist-shrouded mountains, and riverbeds, however as each Fortune and I can vouch, it’s brutal for those who get carsick. Pack the Dramamine.

Where to Stay

While Frankie and George partake in my dream out of doors Tofino journey, they’re additionally on a visit that was initially booked as a honeymoon. It’s decidedly a little bit extra glam than my price range permits, nevertheless it’s enjoyable to dream. The Moss & Stone Resort they keep at is fictional, however Long Beach Lodge Resort (from $482) presents related non-public rainforest cottages with out of doors sizzling tubs and totally outfitted kitchens culinary-school-trained Frankie can be stoked to cook dinner in.

What to Do in Tofino

Kayak Around a Floating Sauna

Head to the marina (after grabbing espresso at Frankie and George’s favourite, Rhino Coffee House), the place you’ll need to have made a reservation upfront for the floating sauna expertise. A non-public shuttle boat will ferry you into the guts of Clayoquot Sound, located on Tla-o-qui-aht First Nations territory and in the midst of a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, Fortune notes in her novel. You’ll be dropped on a distant dock with no Wi-Fi or cell service, only a floating sauna, kayaks, and limitless blue water and forested island and mainland views. Frankie and George spend their five-hour keep having a heart-to-heart, and the setting is romantic (dream proposal, anybody?), however I counsel you bounce between the sauna and 60-degree ocean, or discover the world by kayak or standup paddleboard. The private experience runs around $900 for four.

Learn to Surf with Surf Sisters

If I had any doubts that Fortune had hung out in Tofino, they had been assuaged on the look of Surf Sister’s bubblegum pink vans. A women-owned firm devoted to inclusivity, they shepherded me, Frankie, and George into constricting wetsuits, forgotten as quickly as we hit the waves. A non-public, 2.5-hour lesson for 2 prices roughly $240. If you’re not in your honeymoon, book a group lesson. You’ll really feel simply as taken care of by the knowledgeable instructors, and the price is $75—all gear included. Like Frankie and George, go forward and e book a second lesson proper from the get-go. By the tip of day one you’ll be standing up, driving the light waves, and the sensation is totally addictive.

Hike a Rainforest Trail

Just a few stress-free days in Tofino swimming, sitting within the sauna, and indulging in native seafood feels like the proper finish to the 47-mile West Coast Trail thru-hike. But a protracted backpacking journey isn’t the one approach to benefit from the space’s trails. Pacific Rim National Park Preserve presents all the things from well-maintained boardwalk trails to boggy backcountry excursions that left me lined head-to-toe in mud. I might not suggest the latter; keep on with the maintained trails like Frankie and George, and hike the mile-long Rainforest Trail Loop A or B.

Take a Float Plane to Hot Springs Cove

“I’m going to freak out if they go to the hot springs!” I instructed my husband eagerly round web page 100. And then, I really squealed with pleasure 150 pages later when Frankie and George board a Cessna float aircraft to make their approach to distant Hot Springs Cove. Located 30 miles from Tofino, this unplanned journey was hands-down my favourite Tofino expertise. Do you continue to have the Dramamine from the drive in? Good. You’re going to need to take some. Fly over beautiful landscapes, together with the house of the wolves from the Netflix documentary, Island of the Sea Wolves, earlier than touchdown on the water of a distant cove. It’s a little bit below a mile hike via the rainforest to get to a wild-feeling sizzling springs on the sting of the peninsula, the place the incoming tide cools off the scalding swimming pools and waterfalls gush down the rock faces. While not unknown (you’ll discover loads of different folks right here), it’s completely magical. The journey by float aircraft is roughly $300 per person through Alteo Air.

Go on a Whale Watching Tour

A serious plot level is Frankie’s sophisticated relationship along with her mother, a marine biologist who studied endangered proper whales. Frankie’s dislike of whales is effectively documented all through the e book, however probably the most emotional scenes comes when George convinces her to go on a whale watching cruise. She finds herself crying, watching a household of grey whales breach round their Zodiac tour boat. “It’s the most humbling experience of my life,” she displays. “What I imagine it would feel like to sit before a god.”

Migrating whales begin passing Vancouver Island in February, whereas in May resident grey whales are a frequent sight. Transient orcas and humpbacks will also be noticed off the coast of Tofino, in addition to different sea mammals like sea lions, sea otters, and seals. Jamie’s Whaling Station presents three-hour whale watching tours on 12-seater Zodiacs for $130 per person.

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Romance, as a style, banks on a way of fantasy and escapism. While readers know the principle characters will face obstacles, they’re nearly at all times promised a fortunately ever after, normally in a made-up setting with charming-yet-unbelievable particulars. That’s the place Our Perfect Storm takes a detour. It’s grounded firmly in actuality, not simply because Frankie and George take a real-life trip to Tofino we will recreate.

George is a local weather reporter, and the state of our quickly altering world is an ever-present plot element in Fortune’s latest novel. There’s a gripping scene of George fleeing the 2023 Yellowknife wildfires on task, satisfied he’s about to die. We hear regularly about his assignments monitoring catastrophe and conservation efforts throughout the globe.

Whales are one other throughline, although it’s apparent they’re extra to Fortune than only a level of competition between Frankie and her mother. Spoiler alert: we get our happily-ever-after epilogue, however instantly after, we’re reminded that whereas fairytale love tales are doable, our world isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. Fortune features a two-page endnote about endangered proper whales and methods to contribute to their analysis and conservation. In her acknowledgements, she displays that Tofino is “a place where you cannot escape the wonder and majesty of the natural world–or how urgently we must care for it.”