Tofino has this little piece of real estate in my heart. Even though I’ve been there very little, it will always be my happy place. Sammy proposed to me in Tofino back in 2007 and then back again this past month 9 years later in a long overdue family vacation. I’m not talkin’ me, Sammy and Sofia, I’m talking the whole crew, my parents, our family, my brother and his family and sister and her family. All 12 of us loaded up and headed to Tofino for a little R&R over the BC Family Day long weekend.
Family vacations, when they involve this many people are not always easy to plan, but I can’t tell you enough how important it is to put the efforts in and just do it. It’s so nice to have your family a cabin door away with nothing but one another on the agenda. We did all that Tofino had to offer, we beach walked, we storm chased, we surfed (the brave ones did) we cooked fresh from the sea, had a bonfire on the beach, and let the crashing waves put us to bed each night.
OUR VACATION STORY// While we went in February, this is considered Tofino’s storm season which we were all so excited to experience. Crashing waves, cozy storms, and a whole lotta’ games played indoors fireside. We stayed at Ocean Village Beach Resort, which was located on the beach and more than we ever imagines. Gorgeous little cabins with nothing but a sandy beach and crashing waves as a view (tough life right?). This beach, along with Chesterman Beach were the only two beaches at the time allowing bonfires. We took advantage of this and enjoyed s’mores on the beach one of the dry nights, seriously does it get any better? The second day there we braced ourselves for the rain and got ourselves geared up and bared the wind on Chesterman Beach. I doubt I’ve laughed so much in my life, and with only one casualty, my dad’s IKEA umbrella, so happy that we didn’t let the rain keep us indoors that day, and the proof is in this aftermath selfie. My sister and her family were the bravest of all taking surf lessons and hitting the killer waves on the beaches of Tofino. The four of them took theirs lessons with Pacific Surf School and included all a newbie surfer would need. The wet suit, the board, the lesson and the hands on help catching a wave; at $70 a person I thought that was a pretty sweet deal. Coming home from the beaches we stopped at little house on the side of the road right out of town of Tofino that advertised fresh crab from the streets. The Crab Lady is located at 900 Campbell Street and I’ve since learnt (thanks to this post here) that she and her sons are very well-known in Tofino. She gets her supply from her 3 sons who are commercial fisherman and sells them in her home which she has so perfectly converted into a store front. Sammy, my dad and brother went inside while Sofia, my nephew Max and mom stayed outside and played with her many of property cats. We took one of the evenings to dine out in celebration of a few things, my parents 40th Wedding Anniversary, my Dad’s 60th Birthday and of course the success in planning a family trip and getting us all together under one roof. We dined at Shelter Resturant, had great food and even better service. Our server got and appreciated all the humor that a group of 8 adults and 4 kids bring, including extra small orders of french fries, half juice half water orders, kids shuffling chairs for the best ipad views and never mixing up their meals and testing the littles on their french skills. Ended the night on a fabulous note when he brought mum and dad a celebratory dessert on the house that we all helped devour; not that they needed it. Packing up the last day was bittersweet, we did not want to leave, not even in the slightest, how I would dearly miss being put to sleep by the rolling waves, but we knew we were all on our last outfits, some of us even re-using some pieces to complete an outfit and home was a must (laundry awaited). We drove home just making our ferry reservation by a few minutes thanks to some fun-loving stress of a dead car battery, but we did it, and that’s all that matters. We have the friendly locals of Nanaimo to thank for jump starting our car with a little running push and even a little finger crossing while we left a car running waiting to catch the ferry.
Enjoy our trip vicariously through these images, and if that isn’t enough to entice you to book your next vacation there, then check out all the amazing-ness that Tofino has to offer on Tourism Tofino.
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