Find guided BC boat tours of the wild British Columbia coast. These tour operators create unforgettable adventures with world-class experiences with wildlife, wilderness, and cultural heritage, unique to BC’s coast.
You don’t need to own a boat to be face-to-face with wildlife
For those who don’t own a boat — or even those who do — the best way to experience the wildness and wildlife of British Columbia’s coast is with a luxury or Instructional tour charter. Tours feature small groups (6-16 guests) living and travelling aboard Transport Canada certified passenger vessels (both sail and power), operated by expert mariners and guided by expert naturalists. Tours range in length, typically between 5 and 12 days. In contrast to a classic cruise-ship experience, a defining feature of adventure tours is having no fixed itineraries. Instead, each tour becomes a unique adventure guided by weather, tides, wildlife encounters and the interests and expertise of our guests and crews.
Sea for yourself
Tours go to the secret spots and most guides let you plan your activities. Depending on both the region and season, daily activities include exploring remote beaches and old-growth rainforests, guided tours of ancient First Nations villages, inflatable boat tours of kelp forests and estuaries. Every moment is filled with bear viewing, whale watching, sailing, sea kayaking, swimming, fishing and wildlife photography. Guests enjoy wonderful meals prepared by on board chefs, featuring sustainability grown, caught, or harvested produce, meats, and fish. Often guests enjoy fresh prawns, crabs, or fish they caught that day.
One of the best reasons for taking an adventure tour is learning from experts and locals about the ecology and human culture of each region. All operators are guests of the First Nations whose traditional territory they visit and have signed protocol agreements. Guests go ashore to experience life as it is lived on the rugged coast. Close encounters are one of the reasons these trips have won international awards, including designation in National Geographic Traveller’s Best of the World (2013).
Tour operators share a passion for proudly showcasing and contributing to the conservation of the British Columbia coast. They follow sustainable protocols in the purchase of supplies, conduct at sea and on land and when observing wildlife. All offer an eco-friendly experience of one of the most awesome places on earth. The adventure tour operators of British Columbia provide unique and world-class opportunities to experience the wildlife, wilderness, and cultural heritage of most regions of BC’s coast. See the directory of Adventure Tour Charters below to find out who sails where.
Adventure Tour Charter Operators
