The first things that caught our eye were the vast sandy beaches and surfers in thick wetsuits walking along the shore. Then came the dense fog wrapping around ancient cedars—some over 800 years old. It’s mind-boggling to think these trees outlived the Vikings.  

After driving 100 km of winding roads, we finally found a gas station—but still no cell service. Now we were moving along a 40-km sand spit washed by the Pacific waves. My daughter Alya and I had reached Tofino, a tiny Vancouver Island town Canadians seem determined to keep secret.  

“Secret to the point where half the signs are in some mysterious language,” Alya observed.  

It turned out to be Nuu-chah-nulth, the Indigenous language being carefully preserved. As a gesture of respect to the land’s original inhabitants, sacred words like hishukish ts’awalk (all is one), uu-a-thluk (care), and iisaak (respect) appear alongside English on signs.  

I found myself hoping the WiFi password would at least be in English.  

A Destination Worth the Effort  

Tofino sits perched on Vancouver Island’s untamed west coast, purposefully difficult to access. Canadians describe such landscapes as “rugged coast”—all cliffs, crashing waves, and minimal human footprint. Alya called it “where nature forgot to clean up.” Yet this remoteness attracts Hollywood stars on honeymoon. Sting comes to meditate at local retreats. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been spotted surfing here when he was supposed to be attending to state affairs. Rumor has it Uma Thurman owns property in the area.  

We camped by the ocean for Easter, drinking tea from a thermos and chewing beef jerky while sitting in our open trunk.  

“Two happy beavers,” Alya joked. This was Canadian relaxation at its finest.  

A park ranger drove up and told us about a young bear that had wandered through the night before, frustrated by the complex locks on the garbage bins. So far we’d only encountered deer grazing on shrubs.  

“Here for surfing or biking?” he asked.  

Alya made a face. The 44-km rainforest bike trail sounded like torture to her. Though Tofino is Canada’s surfing capital, with waves reaching 8 meters and water temperatures barely hitting 12°C—hence the 7mm-thick wetsuits.  

Beach Treasures and Coastal Wonders  

Long Beach offered the classic Tofino scene: surfers in wetsuits, sunlight filtering through mist, children building forts from driftwood, and bald eagles circling overhead. We took up beachcombing—searching tidal pools for purple starfish, sea urchins, and chitons (strange mollusks that cling to rocks). Alya declared this her “new official hobby.”  

At Amphitrite Point Lighthouse, named after Poseidon’s wife, we stood braced against the wind at a site nicknamed “Graveyard of the Pacific” after the 1906 SS Valencia disaster. While visitors can’t enter the lighthouse, the view of raging waves and crying gulls was dramatic enough.  

Rainforest Discoveries  

The Rainforest Trail completely changed Alya’s perspective. At first she dismissed it as “just trees,” but the 800-year-old cedars and educational displays won her over.  

“Look! They’re actually connected underground!” she exclaimed, fascinated by the mycorrhizal networks—fungal connections that let trees share nutrients.  

“This tree was already ancient when Peter The Great ruled Russia,” she realized aloud. (Though enrolled in Canadian school, she studies Russian history independently.)  

We encountered banana slugs with 27,000 microscopic teeth, skunk cabbage flowers that smell like marijuana to attract pollinators, and old man’s beard lichen that indicates clean air quality.  

Stories in the Air  

The local radio station, 102.1 FM Off The Edge, became our unexpected entertainment. Instead of typical programming, it featured tales of shipwrecks, interviews with eccentric locals, Indigenous legends about Raven the trickster, and even tips for identifying wolf tracks. After our trip, Alya started devouring nature podcasts—proof of what I call the “Tofino effect.”  

We departed with salt in our hair, peace in our hearts, and no cell service to disturb it. Tofino remains gloriously wild—unchanged by visitors, unforgettable to those who find it.