Bella Bella visits Tofino

Surf’s up!

I may just be a grommet, but I’m really stoked to hang ten on plenty of gnarlatious waves. I’m totally amped to get some good air on the next feathering curl!

In 2010, Outside Magazine named Tofino, British Columbia “the best surf town in North America.” And they added, “Who knew?”

Well, I’m glad I’ve found out.

Tofino is a village of about 2,000 (not counting any of the black bears wandering through) at the tip of Esowista Peninsula, just north of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on the western coast of Vancouver Island. The waves that hit local beaches come in from the open Pacific Ocean … next landfall, Cape Lopatka on Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula, over 5,000 kilometres away.

This is Chesterman Beach, and prime surfing territory:

Hahah, yes, I love going bearfoot.

If you don’t know how to surf, you can take classes:

Tofino sits at the southern end of Clayoquot Sound, one of five sounds (or deep inlets) along Vancouver Island’s west flank. The word “Clayoquot” comes from the name of the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation, who are part of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council.

People have lived around here for at least 9,000 years. The Tla-o-qui-aht community of Opitsaht has been inhabited without a break for over 5,000 years. This is a beautiful land rich in natural resources – and the use of those resources has shaped Tofino’s history.

Tofino Inlet was named after Vicente Tofiño de San Miguel. He was Spain’s chief hydrographer – a specialist in measuring and mapping coastlines – during the 1780s. He taught the explorers Dionisio Alcalá-Galiano and Cayetano Valdés, who in turn honoured their old teacher when they mapped some of British Columbia’s coastline in 1792.

Think about honouring your favourite teachers, too.

In those days, Europeans were interested in this area mostly for the fur trade – especially the trade in sea otter and seal pelts. The sea otters, with their beautiful thick coats, were hunted almost to extinction before conservation began in the early twentieth century.

By 1900, prospectors were exploring Clayoquot Sound for gold, silver, and copper. Settlers built homes on the Esowista Peninsula in the 1890s, and the town of Tofino was officially established in 1909. Fishing has always been important around Tofino, and logging was too by the 1950s.

The first road to Tofino, though, was built only in 1959 (and it was gravel, paved only in 1972). This road marked the official western end of the Trans Canada Highway.

Until the road opened, people came to Tofino either by boat or by airplane. The Royal Canadian Air Force built an airbase in Tofino during the Second World War, when Canada was worried about possible attacks by Japan. That old airbase still serves as the airport for both Tofino and the neighbouring town of Ucluelet.

The road made it easier for more visitors to get to Tofino – and to bring along their surfboards.

People nowadays also come to whale-watch, kayak, bird-watch, camp, hike, beach-comb, and scuba dive. Visitors even come to watch dramatic storms during the wintertime.

This fellow assured me that people also visit Tofino to bear-watch:

Hmm, seems to be true! I hear that humans especially enjoy watching us turn over rocks at low tide as we search for little crabs and other seafood. Who knew, indeed?

In January of 2000, Clayoquot Sound was recognized by the United Nations as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

 

There were heated protests over logging around Clayoquot Sound during the 1980s and 1990s. Now, people are guided by the Nuu-chah-nulth idea Hishuk ish ts-awalk – “everything is one.”

Tofino is home to many working artists, with lots of art galleries, shops, restaurants, and yearly festivals.

I’d love to come back here next March for the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. Every March, some 25,000 grey whales swim past Tofino as they travel 13,000 kilometres from the western coast of Baja California to the Bering Sea, off Alaska. Humpback whales also migrate between March and September, while Orcas – killer whales – are around all year.

 

Look, Tofino is patrolled by Canada’s national law enforcement agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police:

The RCMP was formed in 1919 when the old Royal North West Mounted Police and the Dominion Police were combined. It now has over 750 detachments like Tofino’s across Canada’s three territories, eight of our ten provinces (Ontario and Québec have their own provincial police forces), over 190 municipalities, and 184 First Nations communities.

This officer is almost as good-looking as Constable Benton Fraser. And you know, Dudley Do-Right was very nice to bears.

 

Don’t let me get started about Constable John Constable, or handsome Sergeant Bruce!

Say, do you like surf music? Classic surfing tunes were written by groups like The Beach Boys, Jan and Dean, and The Surfaris.  

 

Now you know, too, that it’s not only the surfing that draws people to the ocean near Tofino. The area’s tremendous fishing is also music to my fuzzy round ears; stay tuned.

Story © S. Clouthier

Photos © S. Clouthier and D. Wei

Map of Vancouver Island courtesy Demis / Wikipedia

Map of North Pacific courtesy David Rumsey Historical Map Collection

Mountie carving courtesy Folkart Interiors

Rose-Marie clip courtesy Restless Rusalka

Dudley Do-Right clip courtesy bullwinklecanada