Welcome back, friends. Grab your iced coffee, sit down, and prepare yourself for a six-day fever dream involving seaplanes, e-bikes, one extremely opinionated brindled bratwurst (our pitbull/dachshund mix), and a wolf lore drop that we genuinely cannot stop thinking about. This is our Vancouver Island trip report. And as always, Tilly was the real trip leader while we just handled logistics and snacks.
We could’ve taken the ferry like many people choose to do, but we did not. We flew Kenmore Air straight from the Seattle area to Victoria Harbor via seaplane. If we’re going to spend money on this trip, it’s going to be on the option that’s faster, more scenic, and lets our dog come with us without a meltdown. (Full seaplane-with-a-dog logistics post coming soon, because we know you’re all wondering how Tilly handled it.) Landed in Victoria by mid-afternoon, feeling extremely main-character about the whole thing.
Since we’d both already done Victoria, we bailed on the city immediately. Original plan was river tubing, a sacred summer tradition for us, but the weather said absolutely not. So five days out we pivoted to chasing beaches on the southwest corner of the island instead, the ones you can’t easily hit from Tofino. Grabbed the rental car and hit the road.
A quick PSA: Vancouver Island roads are windy, occasionally cliff-adjacent, and rougher than we expected. This made for some excellent involuntary car-surfing on Tilly’s part. Two and a half hours later we arrived at our beach. We leashed Tilly up on her long lead, laced up the waterproof shoes, and got to tide-pooling. Every single wave was, according to Tilly, an active threat to our lives. She takes her Safety Supervisor role very seriously and we would not have it any other way.
Seven hours in the car later, we rolled up to our Vrbo, nicknamed the Skylight Cottage. Yes, the skylights were doing the absolute most, in the kitchen, the living room, and both upstairs bedrooms. Cute, secluded, close to both Tofino and Ukee, hot tub in the back. Genuinely lovely. One glaring issue: zero functioning blinds anywhere! This meant we were waking up with the sun whether we liked it or not. We did not like it.
Bonus plot twist: no external waste bins for dog waste, which, fine, makes sense given the wildlife. When we asked the property manager what to do with it, their answer was to bring it *inside* and call them so they could come pick it up. After every single bathroom trip. We did not do that. The bags stayed on the patio. When we left, our very much-not-picked-up bags were still exactly where we left them. Cool system, guys.
Slow morning (again, courtesy of the sun-blasted bedroom), breakfast at Rhino, a Tofino local favorite. Coffee, smoothie, donuts for both of us, a breakfast sandwich for Kira, and a pancake-wrapped sausage for me. Immaculate vibes, very on-brand for Tofino. The donuts were fine, good, not a religious experience.
From there: Middle Beach for morning zoomies and more tide pools. Then the Tofino Saturday Market, which is dog-friendly and full of genuinely great local artisans (it moves to Ukee on Sundays, FYI). We wandered, met a lot of very good dogs, browsed downtown Tofino, and did our best impression of people who have nowhere to be.
In the afternoon we stopped at the Pacific Rim Visitor Center to get the lay of the land, and this is where the trip took a turn. We met a woman working there who was clearly obsessed with, in the best way, the park and its surrounding communities. She was deeply knowledgeable and genuinely lovely. She clocked immediately we were traveling with Tilly and made sure we knew exactly where dogs are and aren’t allowed. Which brings us to the story.
She told us about a local woman whose dog, allegedly the *best* dog, so well-behaved the owner never even bothered with a leash, caught a scent one day and wandered straight into a wolf den full of pups. Chaos ensued. The owner managed to pull her dog out without getting bitten herself. The visitor center woman seemed almost disappointed about this, on the theory that a bite might’ve actually taught her something. The wolves apparently took the lesson to heart instead: dogs equal danger, dogs equal food competition, and they’ve since gotten better at luring unleashed dogs into the woods. This is the real reason dogs are banned from the beaches in the national park (they’re still allowed in the wooded trails). Because the wolves here are sea wolves, strong swimmers who move between islands and live in and around the shoreline.
So: a PSA from us, unprompted but necessary. Leash your dogs. We are begging. We’re so tired of hearing “he’s SO friendly!” yelled from thirty feet away while said dog charges a leashed animal. Be responsible. That’s the whole post.
Post-wolf-lore, we needed a walk that felt slightly less like a horror movie. So we did one of the boardwalk hikes through the forest. Similar landscape to what we get in Washington, but next-level trail infrastructure. Raised boardwalk planks instead of dirt paths, which does mean stairs, and does mean some drop-offs (a few inches in some spots, several feet in others). You might want to skip it with small kids. As someone with two knees that have filed complaints in the past, I can confirm: manageable, and worth it.
Dinner plans took a hit when we discovered The Shed. Cute, great patio, seemingly dog-friendly, is in fact *not* dog-friendly on the patio, despite what patio-logic would suggest. They offered takeout, we declined, and pivoted to Tacofino instead, which we cannot recommend enough. Dog-friendly patio, great staff, shade and sun seating options, and a burrito bowl I am still thinking about recreating at home. Early night, because Day 3 required us to be functional adults.
Started with breakfast at Roar, genuinely delicious, and good enough that we’re now considering staying at the attached hotel (Hotel Zed, noted for future reference) next time we’re back, given their rental and activity options.
Then: e-bikes in Ucluelet from T-Bird E-Bike Rentals. Mine was outfitted with a trailer for Tilly plus extra gear. Gordon even gave us an extra battery from the rental shop to offset the additional weight. We buckled Tilly into her seatbelt, braced for a meltdown, and got… none. She settled in immediately and spent the ride people-watching from her trailer like the tiny celebrity she is.
We biked out toward the tip of Ucluelet to see the lighthouse, planning to loop back through town after. Great call, mostly. The foghorn was in full effect when we arrived, which Tilly took as a personal attack. Our lighthouse visit was brief but scenic, with great views of the cliffs that make up this stretch of the island. We met a couple from Alberta there, also touring by e-bike, who tipped us off to lunch at Heller’s on the opposite end of town.
Bikes locked up, we wandered the Ucluelet Sunday Market, which felt noticeably less touristy than Tofino’s, genuinely enjoyed it more. (“Ukee,” by the way, is the town’s own nickname for itself, presumably because they were tired of everyone botching “Ucluelet.”) Lots of shop-hopping, lots of dogs, lots of strangers complimenting Tilly’s trailer setup. Ended up at Howler’s for lunch instead (ran into our Alberta friends again, small island energy), which we’d also recommend for the drinks and solid lunch variety.
Post-lunch, on a whim, we took our bikes down the path running through Pacific Rim National Park that we’d been eyeing from the road all trip. Correct call. Beautifully maintained, well-used by locals and tourists, and covered in bear warning signs urging you to talk or make noise so you don’t startle anything. Our bike shop guy had mentioned bear sightings are rare and usually just a bear booking it in the opposite direction, equally unenthused about the encounter.
We didn’t see a bear, but we did see a lot of suspicious evidence that one had been through recently. Kira ran over a snake she mistook for a stick while I screamed “NOT A STICK” loud enough to concern every hiker within a mile radius. We sang the entire way through, loudly, off-key, and completely unbothered by however annoying we were to literally anyone else on that trail. Bear safety first.
Dinner was at Browns Socialhouse, inside the Best Western Tin Wis Resort on Mackenzie Beach, enclosed patio, still dog-friendly. Mackenzie Beach also gets our official recommendation for sunset photos (Kira’s working on a whole photography post coming soon).
Time to leave Tofino behind and head east, with a mandatory stop at the Old Country Store for the famous goats-on-a-roof. Bigger than expected and genuinely in the middle of nowhere. This store has zero other reason to be in that specific stretch of road, but worth the detour. It’s part grocery store, part gift shop, part Trader Joe’s-meets-backyard-furniture-showroom, and yes, there are actual goats, on the actual roof. We stocked up on snack roulette supplies since we had been sorely disappointed by the lack of proper gas-station snack chaos in Tofino and Ukee. Bonus: ran into our Alberta lighthouse friends again at checkout. Small island, apparently.
The rest of the day, we’ll be honest, was a letdown. Pretty drive, sure, we’ve covered that windy-roads situation already. But Campbell River gave us nothing. Dog-friendly restaurants were nearly impossible to find. The vibe was deeply suburban. And we ended up settling for a fish and chips spot despite neither of us being fish and chips people, which should tell you everything about how limited the options were.
Given the disappointment, we cut Campbell River short and pushed on to Nanaimo earlier than planned. Nanaimo turned out to have a genuinely cute downtown, part island town, part neighborhood, pride flags at basically every intersection, and a wharf full of the expected gift shops and ice cream stands. We stayed at the Coastal Inn, right by the wharf, which was extremely dog-friendly, they’ll even let you leave your dog in the room alone as long as you give them a heads up and a phone number in case of barking. We didn’t take them up on it, but it’s a nice option to have.
Dinner priorities that night had nothing to do with proximity and everything to do with finding a dog-friendly spot with a TV, because the US Men’s National Team was playing their World Cup quarterfinal. Found a pub six minutes away with great wings and about 80% visibility of the screen. Tilly napped through the wings, and we rushed back to the hotel to catch the second half in bed. Apparently even after careers in sports, sometimes all you want is to watch a game horizontally. I was coming down with a cold at this point, so “horizontal” was less a choice and more a requirement.
Another slow morning, walking to Gabriel Gourmet Café for breakfast, great patio, solid breakfast options. Tilly sulked dramatically in the corner about the injustice of not being served her own plate. Eggs and potatoes for me, pancakes for Kira. We wandered the local art shops afterward and all but one were dog-friendly. Most clerks handing out treats so Tilly absolutely did not need to beg as hard as she did.
Being honest: Nanaimo didn’t get the time it deserved because my cold had fully set in and my energy was tanking. We made it to Neck Point Park, which is apparently prime tide pool territory at low tide. We missed the 6 a.m. window, so we caught it as the tide was heading back out instead, still got some good views and beach time before Victoria.
This is also where Tilly officially clocked out for the trip. Mid-beach-nap-nesting-ritual, another beachgoer wandered too close to her makeshift bed, and Tilly let her know, vocally, and for the first time ever, that this was a hard no. Message received. We packed up. Girl had beached hard for a week straight and was formally requesting a vacation from her vacation.
Checked into the Château Victoria that evening, upgraded to a suite on the dog-friendly floor. Nice hotel, well located, has parking, but a fair warning if you’re going in summer: no AC. Victoria cools down enough overnight that cracked windows get the job done, city noise aside. Since we’d both done Victoria before, we just wandered, people-watched, and found a quiet dinner spot.
Fiamo, an Italian restaurant downtown with a lovely, quiet patio and staff who were fully invested in Tilly, bringing her a water bowl and taking turns coming over to say hi. The focaccia was outstanding. Dinner itself was just fine, but the whole slow, unhurried vibe of the evening more than made up for it. Tilly napped through the entire meal. The plan was to catch more World Cup and go shoot night photos after sunset. The cold had other plans, and I was out cold before dusk. Woke up and the day was just… over.
Late flight out meant a lazy final morning, room service, late checkout, zero motivation to leave the hotel until we absolutely had to. Once we checked out, we did one more lap around the Victoria harbor, which pulls an impressively diverse crowd of tourists for people-watching purposes. Eventually we just parked ourselves on the harbor steps, got lunch to go, fed Tilly early so she could eat alongside us, and watched the taxi boats and foot traffic roll by. Multiple strangers complimented how well-behaved Tilly was, unaware she was simply too exhausted to cause trouble. Toddler-fighting-nap-time energy, but make it a dog.
By the time we hit the seaplane dock, she was more than ready to go. Flight home was smooth, and Tilly spent it exactly where she wanted to be, in my lap, watching out the window. Landed in Seattle, cleared customs, caught our final short flight home, and somehow ended up with the entire back of the plane to ourselves for the last leg. Kira rode copilot up front, I had the whole cabin in the back with Tilly curled up in my lap. Closest we’ll probably ever get to a private jet, and we savored every second of it.
Tofino and Ucluelet get our full, unqualified recommendation, go, eat the burrito bowl, do the boardwalk hike, leash your dog near those wolves. Nanaimo deserved more time than a cold-riddled version of us could give it, which just means we’re already plotting a return trip. Ten out of ten, minor cold-related deductions, would absolutely do it again.
** Written by Emily **
