People who know how to fish (I don't) have come back to camp with salmon and lingcod. Bald eagles ar

"Further away from the rocks!" uk coach tour operators I shout to my friend Tom from the top of a big ocean swell, as behind me the ocean explodes against the rock pinnacles uk coach tour operators that guard the entrance to an unnamed bay on Vancouver Island's west coast.
We point our kayaks uk coach tour operators to give the hidden reefs a wider berth. We nervously time the swells so we don't hit hidden rocks and don't get shot through narrow openings like a rocket, either. Carefully, we weave through the obstacle course until we land on the beach through small surf.
If there's a heaven for sea kayakers, it may well be the west coast of Vancouver uk coach tour operators Island. I've spent many weeks kayaking parts of the island and have still explored only a tiny fraction of its crinkly shoreline.
The longest was two weeks, where we navigated tidal rapids, got battered by winds around 40 knots and explored endless island chains. Half of a food drop didn't show up, and a minke whale nearly surfaced right under my friend's kayak.
On this particular trip, we hadn't expected to make it to our unnamed uk coach tour operators beach at all. Two days before, a sustained blow of 35 to 40 knots had made kayaking impossible, and we spent the day hiding from blinding sand. The weather radio's calm, sonorous voice assured us the gale-force wind was expected to continue.
Reluctantly, we gave up on exploring the open coast and revised our route to break camp early the next morning and duck into the protected inlets behind Meares Island. But when we woke up, the sea was flat, so we made a spot decision to change our route -- again.
By afternoon, the channel we'd crossed was a mess of whitecaps and spray that we watched smugly as we lounged in our new camp. This positioned us perfectly for our journey on the exposed coast. The next day we rounded headlands and played in rock gardens on our way to our unnamed beach.
After lunch we pushed farther in the open ocean to Siwash Cove and Rafael Point. Every beach we passed looked perfect and deserted, and each headland had us dancing our way through narrow rock channels as the sea bounced us.
All that wildness, combined with the rain forest and some of the world's richest seas, make the British Columbia coast a biological paradise. Our return crossing from Flores Island got sidetracked when we realized we were paddling amid thousands uk coach tour operators of jellyfish, each the size of a (Canadian) quarter.
At low tide, you can pry sea urchins off the rocks for the world's freshest uni that would cost you $6 at a sushi bar. (Cut them open sideways, and eat the yellow part, throwing the brown stuff away.)
People who know how to fish (I don't) have come back to camp with salmon and lingcod. Bald eagles are everywhere, and soon you'll stop pointing them out. We startled an otter feeding in the kelp beds.
On our last day, we cross to the dock at Tofino, where a flat tire on Tom's Subaru welcomes us to civilization. Before I'm even on the ferry steaming toward the mainland, I'm glancing over my shoulder at the deep-blue sea and green mountains, planning the next trip back.
Landings demand that you can navigate surf. Safe journeys uk coach tour operators mean you must predict currents and sea conditions, maneuver your boat through tight spots and keep it upright, or be able to roll your kayak.
The Columbia: Our local fickle friend. Water like glass can turn into 6-foot swells a few hours later. Like British Columbia, it's a playground where you can choose your level of exposure, if you know the area and the weather. Conditions can range from easy jaunts around Bachelor Island on light air days to riding monstrous waves in the gorge or near the river's mouth. Choose with care.
The San Juan Islands: Famous, well-traveled, beautiful -- and not for beginners. The San Juans combine complex navigation, strong currents, wind, cold water and shipping traffic to create a paddling environment that's tougher than it looks. uk coach tour operators Go with someone who knows the area and practice your navigation.
The Oregon coast: The big kahuna. The Oregon coast is exposed to the full brunt of the Pacific. It often scares the area's best kayakers off the water, but the coast is also stunning uk coach tour operators beyond words: soaring cliffs, headlands hollowed into sea caves and arches, rock gardens and some of the best paddling in the world -- if your skills are up to it. It's something to shoot for as your skills develop.
The names of the inlets that pockmark the coastal uk coach tour operators mountains and rain forest trickle off the tongue: Barkley, Clayoquot, Nootka, Nuchatlitz, Kyuquot, Quatsino. Each has a different personality uk coach tour operators -- and the beauty of Vancouver Island is that you can choose routes to match your skills and Poseidon's mood on that day.
When the wind howls, or you're not confident in your open-water skills: The inner routes of Barkley Sound and the protected channels behind Meares and Vargas Islands in Clayoquot Sound offer miles of placid paddling, uk coach tour operators where rain forests start right at water's edge and inlets penetrate deep into Vancouver Island's mountainous interior.
Want a little more adventure? Poke your kayak around the ocean side of Gibraltar, Dempster and Effingham Islands in the Broken Group or Deer Group. There the winter storms pound the coast into rocky headlands, sea caves and arches, but the shape of the islands protects uk coach tour operators you from much of the ocean's fury during summer months.
And if you're looking to venture uk coach tour operators into the open sea -- and have both the kayaking skills and judgment uk coach tour operators to match -- cross to Blunden Island, or play on the west coast of Flores Island, with Japan off somewhere to the port side.