Seniors, Bring Your Fish Pole To Tofino

Oh yes, and also your golf clubs, a pair of quality hiking boots and a surfboard (Tofino was named the best surf town in North America in Outside Magazine’s 2010 Editors’ Choice awards). Senior visitors will find Tofino a pleasure spot for each of these, plus much much more. We’re talking Tofino, BC. That’s British Columbia in Canadian talk.

Tofino is a district of around 2,000+ residents on the west coast of Vancouver Island.  Today it’s a popular tourist destination in the summer for all you senior nature lovers to take in a whale watch and just be close to mother nature. Accessing Tofino by car from the US involves taking a ferry to Vancouver Island from Vancouver, Seattle or Port Angeles. And get this…Tofino’s winters are so mild that it can grow some of the most exotic palm trees. In Canada!

The Official Tofino Website invites senior tourists to check out  the many amenities that Tofino has to offer. Punch in the View Map button to put a precise location on Tofino and the See Details button for a listing of Things to Do. The Michelin Road Atlas rated the drive from Victoria to Tofino one of the three best drives in Canada. TripAdvisor notes not six or seven attractions, but a total of 18 and they all look way cool.

A host of fun events tailored to maintain vibrancy through the year include November’s Tofino Oyster Festival, May’s Shore Bird Festival, the Tofino Food & Wine Festival in June and the big one, the Pacific Rim Whale Festival in March. June 21 is Canada’s Aboriginal Day, and celebrations in Tofino include Native song, dance, storytelling and arts and crafts demonstrations.

Seniors Discover Beaches, Rain-forests and Whales

Tofino and the area had a population of over 100,000 at one time prior to the arrival of Europeans and their decimating diseases. Thousands of years before Tofino was named after a rear admiral in the Spanish Navy, the people of the Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations lived and worked there. They’ve occupied the west coast of Vancouver Island for as long as 10,000 years. The Legendary Captain James Cook was the first European to come sailing by in 1778.

Tofino is known for its long beautiful beaches and towering rain-forests. Experienced sea kayakers will be delighted with the sights and sounds of the waters along Clayoquot Sound (adjacent to Tofino) that is a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, and Pacific Rim National Park.  The biggest sign of spring in Tofino, literally: 20,000 Pacific Gray Whales, migrating past the shores. Tofino offers the best way to experience BC’s pristine wilderness first hand.

And it’s right on the coast so you will enjoy great seafood year round.  jeb