Vancouver Island Sightseeing

How does an adventure like the Vancouver Island sightseeing sound to you? Vancouver is a coastal city that can be found in the Lower mainland of British Columbia in Canada. It is also the largest metropolitan area in Western Canada and the third largest in the country. Its principal industry is forestry because of its abundance of nature. Vancouver is a well-known urban hub surrounded by nature so it is not surprising that the second largest industry is tourism. If you want an exciting and fun vacation, you might want to check out Vancouver.

Your Vancouver Island sightseeing adventure can include a lot of activities that would expose you to the beautiful and well-preserved outdoors of Canada. Your adventure will not be complete without a visit to a natural park or reserve. Due to the abundance of wildlife, some of the more popular activities you can do include birding, whale-watching and salmon-fishing, which are very popular activities for both tourists and locals. There are several popular birding spots in the area including the one found in Duncan, which about an hour away north from Victoria. There is also an estuary found in Courtenay, also an hour away to the north from Nanaimo. The Pacific Northwest Raptors Visitor’s Center is in also in Duncan, while Swan Lake is 15 minutes away from Victoria. Another birding site, the Esquimalt Lagoon is 25 minutes away west from Victoria and Goldstream Provincial Park is another 25 minutes away northwest from Victoria.

Another popular activity you can do while Vancouver Island sightseeing is whale-watching. You cannot miss doing this while visiting Vancouver. It’s not surprising because Vancouver is home to about 80 wonderful Orcas or killer whales which thrive in the Island’s southern coasts. Vancouver boasts of its easy-to-reach whale-watching locations which a lot of tourists never fail to visit. In fact, in September of 2010, Vancouver was included in a travel magazine’s list of best whale watching destinations in North America. Salish Sea, which is composed of the waters of the southern part of Vancouver and Gulf Islands, is home to a variety of marine life, aside from Orcas, there are grey whales, which migrate in huge numbers from March through October. Permanent residents in the area include porpoises, dolphins and sea lions. The waters of Johnstone Strait, Blackfish as well as Broughton archipelagos have nearby locations to view Orcas, minke whales, dolphins, porpoises, sea lions and seals. For serious anglers, the attraction includes five species of Pacific salmon.

If you want to enjoy Vancouver in a hassle-free manner, you can try the garden tours around the island. You can visit the Butchart gardens where you will surely enjoy horticulture at its finest. You can avail of private tours to get you around the area.

Indeed, there is so much to do if you like outdoor activities in Vancouver. You can choose to play golf, go hiking, biking camping and picnicking. Water activities like kayaking and swimming can also be enjoyed. However, the fun is not limited to outdoors-loving people; there are plenty of indoor activities to be enjoyed in Vancouver. You can visit museums and heritage sites, tour art galleries, vineyards and enjoy live theater. Then after all the day’s activities, have yourself pampered in a luxury spa.

 

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