Great Bear Rainforest Adventures

Every year for more than the past 30, our boat GNOSES has spent a lot of the summer and fall in the Central Coast of BC, in the Great Bear Rainforest. In the past decade we have spent more time here, and are now offering tours in the spring and early summer, in one of our two favourite places in the world. The other is Gwaii Haanas/Haida Gwaii, where we started our tour adventures.

This year, 2022, we have space left in later May, and some of June, we are booked for the rest of the year. All our Great Bear Tours are Exclusive Custom Tours.

Trips leave from either Bella Bella or Bella Coola, which are both accessible by BC Ferries, or plane (Pacific Coastal Airlines). You can also drive to Bella Coola by highway, via the renown "Hill" (a very long and steep gravel section of road with steep side-hills, at the end of the long Chilcotin Highway).

The trips are an exclusive offering with the following objectives: every day begun and ended with opportunistic objectives made by all of us as conditions suggest. Maybe see waves, maybe whales. Maybe sea lions, or sea-stars. Sometimes there will be low tide rambles, weather permitting we might look for a sea otter. Paddling the coast-line or walking uphill for a view. We acknowledge local Nuxhalk, Heiltsuk, Kitasoo Xai Xai, Wui'Kinuxv and Gwa'sala-'Nakwaxda'xw  cultures as we pass through their territory. We revel in the natural history. Please be prepared for variety. Bring your enthusiasm, we’ll show you the most interesting that we know of and you’ll be repaid in kind.

The central coast offers long coastal inlets and exposed outer coastlines, beaches and thousand foot granite walls, the views range from ocean spray on coastal cliffs to spectacular thousand foot waterfalls plummeting to the ocean. This is a relatively remote, untraveled area: a relatively intact wilderness. We explore by sailboat and kayak. We are opportunistic and make the most of what each day has to offer; we may get spectacular sunsets; we may get spectacular rainfalls.

We provide the kayaks and you get to experience a self-propelled connection with the water, the coast and your own observations (we are alongside you in our own kayaks). Weather will generally determine our destination and schedule, but definitely let us know where your interests lie. The geology/geography is fascinating, flora and fauna abound. We are both enthusiastic about our natural surroundings and excited to share them.

There will be a limited number spaces for these voyages. Trips will be run with a maximum of approximately 4 (3-5) people to make things personable (exclusive). Take the trip for yourselves-- make it as exclusive as you want, bring your family or another couple and include them, if you prefer.

We will tailor specific dates to your trip. We offer shorter and longer trips: 5/6 days and 8-10 days, again depending on your specific requirements.

The cost for these trips is dependent on your specific expectations. An approximate total cost for 4 people for 6 days is $6,650.00 plus tax; for 8 days it is $9,800.00 plus tax. The longer the trip the deeper the experience but we understand the limits of your available time.

As with all of our trips, we supply the food, as much of it organic as possible, provided there are no special dietary requirements.

For the record: we spend less money on the web page, more time on people and the adventures we offer them-- you. 

Here's the pitch:

We offer interactive, participatory sailing adventures in the waters of the central coast of BC Great Bear Rainforest (we also offer destinations elsewhere on the BC coast, notably in Gwaii Haanas Park, Haida Gwaii/ Queen Charlotte Islands. Please ask).

We cater especially to kids and families, and those with outdoor enthusiasm.

Help and learn to sail, paddle ashore, explore a beach, perhaps see a whale along a coast rife with old village sites. Or hike a wilderness mountain for the view. See what there is to see. Feel the rain and the waves. Delve into the environment while traveling by sailboat.

Be a part of the wilderness scene.

The sailboat is a 40' ketch—"GNOSES"—our home. We sail when conditions permit; there is a reliable diesel engine for contrary winds, calms and deadlines. We have been most places on the coast, Mexico to Alaska and offshore to Hawaii. I am a licensed Canadian captain, with 45 years of sailing experience all along the Pacific coast, the last 33 mostly in Central Coast and Haida Gwaii waters. SV GNOSES exceeds Transport Canada safety requirements; we are fully licensed.

You don't need sailing experience to join us.

We speak a bit of Spanish, Hablan un pocito Espanol; and have studied German enough to be able to boast rudimentary fluency—Wir sprechen auch Deutsch.