About Us

To find the best kayak tour for you, you should first consider what you want out of a trip with us. We offer a wide variety of kayak tours and the truth is that there is not one "best tour". They all offer something different and each is special and unique. The information below should provide you with a good idea of what we offer at Kingfisher.

We recognize you have a choice of kayak tour companies to choose from and encourage you to compare us with others. We are confident you will have great time with Kingfisher and if you need help in choosing a kayak tour please do not hesitate to contact us with any questions.

Base Camp Tours - Our Base Camp kayak tours are ideal for beginners and are wildlife viewing focused. The camp is well located for a wide diversity of wildlife. The base camp offers camping equipment that is bigger, roomier, and more comfortable than what you will find on our expedition style kayak tours.

We provide roomy 4 person tents (only 2 people per tent), thick comfortable sleeping pads, warm barrel style sleeping bags and full size pillows. The tents are permanently set up for the summer and are situated throughout the forest, have views of the ocean, and are raised off the ground on wooden platforms. A large covered kitchen and dining area made from locally milled cedar makes for a very comfortable camping experience. As the base camp is permanently set up for the summer more of your time can be spent exploring and relaxing.

The base camp is also equipped with a permanently installed hydrophone so we can listen to orcas from camp (we also have a portable version to take with us kayaking), a re-charging station for guests cameras, an extensive library of natural history books, a propane heated shower, rustic beach side sauna, and an outhouse with a fantastic view.

We chose the location of our base camp for the great wildlife and variety of kayaking routes available. As well as excellent orca viewing opportunities the waters around our base camp are home to a wider diversity of wildlife not seen as often in other parts of the strait. The tides that funnel though the nearby Plumper Island and Weynton Passage concentrate plankton, krill, and small fish attracting a wide variety of sea birds, bald eagles, seals, sea lions, porpoises, and humpback and Minke whales.

Expedition Style Tours - Our expedition style kayak tours range from 5 to 15 days in length. These tours camp at wilderness locations with little or no improvements; in some cases we may be the only people to camp there all year. These tours require more group participation in setting up and taking down our camps than our base camp tours.

Our 5 and 6 day Vancouver Island kayak tours are suitable for beginners with a sense of adventure. These tours usually camp at 2 or 3 different sites throughout the trip.

Our 8, 10, and 15 day Haida Gwaii kayak tours are best suited for guests with some previous kayak experience. You don't want to be on day 3 of an 8 day trip and realize you don't like sitting in a kayak for more than an hour at a time.

Our 15 day Great Bear Rainforest kayak expedition is designed specifically for guests who have a moderate amount of kayaking experience. Both our Haida Gwaii and Great Bear Rainforest tours plan to move campsite most days unless conditions dictate otherwise.

Adult and Family Oriented Tours - While we enjoy tours with younger children we also recognize that not all our guests want to be spending their vacation around children. At Kingfisher we limit participants to 15 year or older on most of our tours. For families with children aged 6 to 15 we have our Family Orca Waters Base Camp and custom kayak tours.

Tour Focus - Each of our kayak tours offer a mix of wildlife viewing, remote wilderness experiences, first nations culture, and physical challenges. Each of our tours offer each of these experiences to varying degrees.

Wildlife Viewing - If wildlife viewing is your priority all of our tours are suitable but our Orca Waters Base Camp and Orca Waters Explorer kayak tours have by far the most reliable wildlife sightings, especially for orcas and humpback whales.

Our Nuchatlitz Inlet and Nootka Island kayak tours offer the best opportunities for viewing large numbers of sea otters.

Please lease keep in mind that while these areas offer great opportunities we are still dealing with wildlife and we cannot guarantee any particular sightings.

Remoteness - All of our kayak tours take place in wilderness locations with varying degrees of remoteness. Our Haida Gwaii and Great Bear Rainforest kayak tours are the remotest and see the least number of other kayakers and boaters.

Our Haida Gwaii tours take place in Gwaii Haanas National Park and Haida Heritage site that has strict limits on the number of tour companies and visitors to the park.

In the Great Bear Rainforest we have kayaked for more than a week without seeing any other people or boats!

First Nations Culture & History - Each of our kayak tours operate in the traditional territories of many different First Nations and we try to incorporate interpretation of their culture and history into our trips.

Our Haida Gwaii tours have the strongest first nations aspect as we visit many of the parks Haida cultural sites, including a visit to the UNESCO World Heritage site of Ninstints on most tours.

Our Great Bear Rainforest tours start with a tour of the Klemtu Big House and we may visit an ancient cultural site during the trip.

On our Broughton Archipelago tours we visit the ancient village of Meem Quam Leese which is slowly being reclaimed by the forest.

For our Orca Water Base Camp and Orca Waters Explorer tours we work with three local first nations to lease campsites. These tours include rainforest hikes to view culturally modified trees.

We highly recommend our Vancouver Island guests visit the Umista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay and our guests in Haida Gwaii visit the Haida Heritage Centre in Skidegate to learn more about the local first nations culture.

Physical Challenge - While most of our tours are suitable for beginners our Great Bear Rainforest expedition is designed for kayakers with a moderate amount of previous kayaking experience and is our most challenging trip.

Due to the length of our Haida Gwaii tours and their remote location they are also best suited to people with some previous kayaking experience.

Group Sizes - At Kingfisher we have a maximum group size of 8 guests and a guide to guest ratio of 1:4. Our Great Bear Rainforest Kayak Expedition is even smaller with a maximum of 6 guests led by 2 guides.

In addition to minimizing our impact on the land we find the smaller group size allows us to better manage our groups around wildlife giving us better viewing opportunities.

Guide Qualifications - All of our kayak guides are certified with the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of British Columbia. Each of our guides are chosen for their ability to lead and instruct, their knowledge of the local area and wildlife, and their ability to ensure everyone fully enjoys their trip. Most of our guides have been with Kingfisher for a number of seasons and it is because of them that we have many guests returning year after year.

Kayaks and equipment - At Kingfisher we provide premium kayaks and equipment and all equipment is included in the cost of the trip. All you need to do is bring your clothing and toiletries.

We use both single and double kayaks made by Vancouver Island's Seaward Kayaks. On a full trip with 8 guests we will have 4 single and 2 double kayaks allowing you to spend time in each type. Our kayak paddles are lightweight carbon/vinyl paddles made by Werner Paddles. A Kokatat paddling jacket and neoprene paddling mitts are provided to keep you warm and dry while kayaking.

At our base camp we provide each couple with roomy four person tents. For single travellers and couples on our expedition trips we provide roomy 3 person tents. Our tents are made by Sierra Designs. All tours also include provide comfy camp chairs, Therm-A-Rest sleeping pads, and warm sleeping bags and liners.

Water Taxi Transportation - Each of our multi-day kayak tours use water taxi transportation to quickly whisk us away from civilization and to our kayak destinations. You can spend more of your vacation time kayaking the best areas and less time in transit.

No Trip Cancellations - Once we have confirmed your spot on one of our tours you can rest assured that the tour will not be cancelled. We do not cancel a trip in the event of low registration – that is our guarantee.