kayaking with orcas

NM
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kayaking with orcas
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We have just returned from a 4-day trip in the Johnston Straits, billed as an “orca” kayaking trip. Several companies run these trips, some based in Campbell River, some in the Telegraph Cove area. We went with an outfit named Coastal Spirits. I can only speak to our experience, though I suspect the other outfits are pretty much the same.

Our camp was based immediately adjacent to the Robson Bight Ecological Reserve, prime orca turf, and our trip went out in the last week of July, which is prime time for orca viewing, as the salmon are running full force. As far as orca sightings were concerned we were fairly unlucky. We had several distant sightings—all the way on the other side of the straits, perhaps a couple of miles away—could barely make out anything with binoculars. One morning we had a pod swim by the beach where our camp was based, and that was quite wonderful, though quite brief. That was it though. I do realize that you are either lucky or unlucky in such endeavors, and we were unfortunately quite unlucky. However, the group before us did not see any orcas until their fourth and final day, so I suppose we were a bit luckier than they. I think these tours oversell the orca viewing—remember that seeing them a couple of miles away though binoculars is still seeing them, so they might tell you that every group “sees” them, but what does that really mean? Again, I do understand that you cannot orchestrate these sightings, but our expectations, based on the websites, were quite high.

But that was not my main problem with the trip. Rather, the main difficulty was that we were essentially “captive” at our campsite. There was absolutely nowhere to go! There are no hiking trails anywhere. The water is far too cold to swim in. We couldn’t even go after the salmon that were literally jumping all around us because no one had told us that we needed a rather inexpensive fishing license in order to do so. And kayaking? Forget it! Our kayaking excursions consisted of a single outing each day, lasting for about 2 hours. One day, with strong urging by the group, we were able to go out for another 30 or 40 minutes in the evening, as a second kayak outing of the day. An attempt to do so the other nights was vetoed by our guides, as they had “chores” to do.

The “chores” consisted of making meals and cleaning up after meals. All quite time consuming, to be sure, but who cares much about meals when you’ve paid over $1000 and invested a tremendous amount of travel time for a four day trip in which the goal is to kayak out on the Johnson Straits and see orcas. No one remembers the meals a week later, but kayaking with orcas……that’s a real experience! Keeping the meals simpler and more time out on the water would have kept our very disgruntled group a bit happier.

All ten of us on the group—several couples and a couple of singles all agreed that the trip was a real disappointment. It essentially consisted of sitting around a campsite and eating. Two hours out of the camp for a kayak paddle and that was that. Sit. Eat. Sit. Eat. I want to stress that we all liked our guides—they were both very personable. But the trip itself was really quite awful.

My advice, if you want to come to the Johnson Straits with the hope of seeing orcas, would be to take a couple of days and do the daily whale watching boat trips that leave out of Campbell River or Telegraph Cove. You’ve a much better chance of seeing the orcas, and you can take a hike afterwards. Unless, of course, you like sitting at a campsite and eating all day. And sitting. And eating. And sitting. And eating.

Port Moody, Canada
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1. Re: kayaking with orcas
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This sounds like a terrible trip and not at all what the website indicates. I'd contact the Better Business Bureau to file a complaint and I'd also write the company owners with a detailed description of your actual trip as compared to what the trip is supposed to comprise. You should ask for a partial refund at the very least. This won't make up for your poor experience but it is worth trying. The web site description clearly says you will be on the water from after breakfast until late afternoon with "lunch at a remote beach". Possibly the guides you had were simply being very lazy and /or inexperienced. I'd also complain to your credit card company if you paid by CC as you did not get what you paid for.

I do not think all the company's operate this way as I know people who have kayaked with many orca sightings and totally different experience..(they were also with a different company)

Vancouver
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After reviewing the site, I disagree that you did not get what was advertised. It basically goes on and on about their "great" camp site and gourmet meals. Although your review is a great insight into what these tour packages really offer. It makes sense that the Orcas swim up and down the straight and do not hang out at the beach like they imply. Plus it does sound like the guides were lazy, they should have just let you tour around out front of the camp area and focused a bit more on the fishing.

At least you got to see some orcas though. I would guess that some tours end up in the middle of a pod and others see nothing. Wildlife is unpredictable like that.

NM
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Yes, all the agencies go on about how great their meals are. Sure, it's nice to have something other than ramen noodles every night, but who really cares. And of course it is unpredictable with regards to the orcas--that's the way it is.

What I want people to understand is that you are a virtual prisoner in this camp--there is absolutely nowhere to go and nothing to do once there. And with over 18 hours of daylight it would have been nice to have been able to take a hike or something! We were all terribly disappointed with the nearly complete sedentary nature of this trip.

Eat, sit, eat.....

Ann Arbor, MI
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Wow--I can feel how disappointing this trip would be. I'm sorry you came away from such a highly anticipated trip with such disappointment.

I actually emailed back and forth with this company a little bit, trying to decide between this style of kayak orca viewing and the motorized boat viewing. My heart is pulled to the relaxed, quieter kayak/camping tours and I was asking them how much time you spend out on the water and what percentage of the time you are near the orcas. Their answers told me it wasn't the right trip for our family.

The reality is for people like my family, who want the highest likelihood of seeing orcas up close, the motorized boat trips are the way to go. The orcas are fast, wide-ranging pods so the boats need to go where they are on any given day so those loud motors are necessary. The kayak trip sounds fun as an experience, but not if the priority is being near the orcas. Some people are lucky to see them up close, others are not.

I do think you have a legitimate beef with the activities offered on your trip unless the limitations you experienced were due to weather. The company mentions forest walks and kayaking in the evenings. They cannot control the orcas, but they can offer up the activities listed on their itinerary. From my emails with them they were quick to respond (of course this is in the phase of trying to get a new customer).

Nanaimo, Canada
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Can I suggest that you post a review of the company on TA. That way others will have an opportunity of viewing this and the company has the ability to respond and perhaps clarify what happened from their point of view.

NM
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I submitted a review of the company at the same time that I posted on the forum--I'm waiting for it to be "approved" by TA.

Their website talks about evening kayaking, the possibility of night kayaking, and hiking. We had one very very brief evening outing. That was it. As for hiking, there are three "trails" that lead from the camp--all three take less than five minutes to walk, perhaps three or four minutes if you are a fast walker, perhaps even two.....These are very, very short little trails.

For me, this was a true disappointment, but I get a fair amount of vacation time every year and I view it as a "live and learn" experience. For some of the others on the trip, it was far worse. One had come from Australia and didn't even bring a book with him, as he thought he would be so active that he wouldn't even have time to read! He was bitterly disappointed. As was a woman from the Netherlands. A couple from Texas was absolutely livid: "This is my vacation for the whole year and we're just sitting here at a campsite waiting for our next snack."

Again, I want to stress that we all liked our guides. They were personable and likable. I even orchestrated the "tip" collection at the end of the trip, and we all tried to be as generous as we could be. After all, you certainly can't hold them accountable for the poor orca sightings!

In retrospect I think our guides should have taken us out on the water far many more times than they did--it was really appalling how little kayaking we actually did. Ultimately, however, it is the set-up that is the problem. The camp is a sort of prison--a beautiful spot, to be sure--but a prison nonetheless. I cannot imagine what this would have been like had we encountered foul weather!

Oh well.

I would highly recommend this trip for people who like to sit and snack all day in a remote setting. Orcas optional.

Port McNeill
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Hi dsbinder, Sorry to hear your tour was less than you expected. I run kayak tours in this area as well and thought I would add a few thoughts and comments so others who may be considering a similar trip in the future and hopefully avoid your experience or know what they may expect.

A few things to ask or consider before booking a trip:

Where is the camp located and what kind of kayaking routes are offered? Some sites are next to or close to the ecological reserve which is closed to all traffic and this really limits where you can go. Robson Bight Ecological Reserve is well known and publicized but it is a closed area set aside for the orcas so you cannot really see them when they are in there. Some sites are also more exposed to the wind where some others may have other possible kayaking routes available if not possible to paddle in one area due to the wind.

What activities are offered around camp if weather or sea state does not make kayaking possible?

When the orcas are not present what other wildlife is likely to be seen? Some camps are excellently located for viewing orcas when they are there but offer little else when they are not whereas some other camps are located in areas where a greater diversity of wildlife is found and viewing other animals is much more likely.

Compare trips that different companies offer and even the different trips that one company may offer. Some offer just the base camp style trip where other offer more expeditionary type trips where you are moving from camp to camp through the trip. Some styles of trips are more suitable to some individuals than others.

Ask for a sample itinerary if none are provided on their websites (it should come with a disclaimer that things may change due the the nature of wildlife, the weather, and the wilderness) but some things to look for is when do you arrive at camp and when do you depart. Most of these trips use water taxi transportation to and from their camps and some take longer to get there than others. Most companies offer a 4 day trip but depending upon who you go with you could be leaving camp to go home anywhere from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm on the last day - so some trips may get in a good day of kayaking on the last day where others may only have a short morning paddle or none at all).

Do not rely solely on what a website states. I personally believe you get a much better idea of what a company offers (regardless of what they are selling) if you ask some specific questions and how they reply will help you decide who to choose - some may give you a cookie cutter reply or refer you to their website, others may promise you the world

(if it sounds to good to be true....), and others will take the time and answer your specific questions and concerns in detail.

Nanaimo, Canada
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Since this post keeps going on, I just wonder why you didn't go out in the kayaks on your own? Is there some limitation on usage? Do you have to have a guide with you? Personally I would have organized a mutiny and gone out with anyone who wanted to go. I mean how much trouble can you get in if you are kayaking on a kayaking trip? Curious to hear your answer.

Regards,

Dave

NM
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A mutiny? Wow, now that would have made for an interesting vacation! I want you to come along with me on my next trip down to Central America, Dave. How's December looking for you?

We were only permitted to go out on the kayaks with the guides.

I think Kingfisher has an excellent post above. The big question is: what else is there to do if conditions preclude kayaking. Excellent question! Here the answer would have to be, "Well, you can always sit. And eat."

Missoula, Montana
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We were also part of the tour group discussed in this post, and concur with @dsbinder's observations.

The camp is in fact right next to the Robson-Bight orca preserve. However, not only is the preserve completely off limits to kayakers, we were not allowed to hike along its shoreline. The orca rubbing beaches are not visible at all from the camp--you have to paddle half a mile out into the straight, which can be a bit precarious with all of the large vessels, including cruise ships, that move through the strait.

The paddling is thus limited to crossing the strait, having lunch and paddling back, or paddling east some distance along the shore. We did both, but can't say either of the beaches we stopped at was "remote." The one near Naca creek was in sight of an RV campground, and the other was not far from a competitor's camp across the strait.

The guides were both personable and did their best with the resources provided. The website describes "Orca researchers who visit our Camp", but that apparently doesn't really happen, or at least, not for every camp. The guide knew some about the whales, but also pulled out a dilapidated book for us to look at if we wanted more information.

We really were stuck in camp most of the time. No "interpretive rain forest walks", no "visit of Orca research station", no "underwater microphones to listen to the songs of the whales", no "night kayaking on calm nights, to enjoy the spectacular phosphorescents" (too dangerous, our guide said), but plenty of mosquitoes (despite the website's claim that "due to the proximity to the ocean we have much less bugs than other places.")

We know that a trip like this isn't like going to Disneyland--wildlife appear on their schedule, not ours. However, the Coastal Spirits website does seem to "over promise" certain controllable aspects of the trip. All in all, we were very disappointed as well.

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