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Craig and I are living on the Sunshine Coast in Roberts Creek for two months this summer and man we feel lucky! Beaches, lakes, and lush parks are why they call it Beautiful B.C. Not even a fortnight, my parents have followed us, so we’ve hired a car and headed north to see what natural delights the Sunshine Coast offers, starting with Pender Harbour.
Sunshine Coast Road Trip
The Sunshine Coast is so easy to navigate, which was helpful for Craig driving on the wrong side of the road.
You’ll find Madeira Park on Highway 101, where boat tours of Pender Harbour commence.
Pender Harbour
The SloCat Boat tour by Slocat Harbour Tours has been recommended by Martin, the manager of Up The Creek in Roberts Creek.
He advises that all the small areas around Pender Harbour were historically not reached by wheels; there was no paved road access until the ’60s!
Slocat Harbour Tours
We met our captain, Mark, at 3pm and set sail with another group of five.
The boat was comfortable with padded seats and was equipped with a hand drawn map, Mark putting his Geography degree to use and binoculars, which we used to spot bald eagles and blue heron but unfortunately not killer whales like the week before.
The beauty of the tour was not only what we could see – the mountains, the animals, fancy boats and plush houses but Mark’s knowledge and charm!
Mark’s tour is a geography, historical, cultural and political tour of the harbour.
He told us stories about shipwrecks, pressure for the input of First Nations, the Sechelt Indian Band and the bust and boom of the housing market.
Mark is originally from Vancouver but fell in love with Pender Harbour – the small drinking town with a fishing problem after he accidentally stumbled across the area, mainly Ruby Lake, on an impromptu cycle trip.
His previous resume includes a Geography degree tours around Whistler and a radio announcer, so the transition to the captain of the Slocat Tour was logical.
It’s easy to see why he transitioned from life in the big city to the waves of Pender Harbour.
Be sure to reserve your seat on a small boat tour of Pender Harbour during your trip to the Sunshine Coast, BC.
- Address: 12967 Madeira Park Road
- Contact: 1-604-741-3796
- Email: [email protected]
Our Sunshine Coast BC Guides
Thanks to Mark at Slocat Harbour Tours for our ride, honest review as always.
For some reason we always seem to end up on boat tours when we travel! We did a great trip around Lake Como when we were in Italy a few months ago. Not really a tour. Just a public ferry but still amazing!
I would love to see more of Italy. Especially for the food, I’d put on two stone easy!
Cool stuff again guys!
Love to see a bit more of Canada through your eyes now that we’ve left! 🙂
Hmmm, best boat tour we’ve taken?
Not best value by any means, but 5 days boating around the Galapagos was an incredible experience (closely followed by a slow boat down the Mekong… or the even slower boat from Iquitos in the Amazon, back to civilisation)!
I read your Galapagos post. I am so jealous! It looked well worth the money. I’ve never done a slow boat. Does it feel claustrophobic at all?
Can’t go wrong with a local guide on a boat trip. It certainly gives you a great view of the backdrop that is beautiful B.C. and I cannot lie, I am a sucker for little Canadian fishing towns
We’re living in Roberts Creek just now! Such a beaut.
This looks like tons of fun even without spotting the whales!! LOVE BC and hope to get back soon – there’s just so much to see and so much natural beauty and since I want to go whale watching, we’ll be looking for this tour when we do! One of my favourite boat tours was down the Seine River in Paris – It was a great way to see the city and, like your boat ride, our guide was great as well!
Oh I never even knew you could do boat tours in Paris, if I find myself there again I will check that out.
I’ve never heard of the Sunshine Coast in BC, but now I want to check it out.
I love your adventure. Want a 3rd 30 year old to tag along?
Hop aboard Valerie. Craig is now 32 so too old for our gang!