Maple Leaf Adventures

British Columbia

Excellent

MV Swell

Maple Leaf

Cascadia

We just returned from an exhilarating adventure along the British Columbia coastline with Maple Leaf Adventures. Exploring “Whales & Wild Isles” on their newest ship, the Cascadia, was comfortable and luxurious with 5-star cuisine courtesy of Chef Jo! We had been considering travel with Maple Leaf for several years but were hesitant as senior travellers to join adventures on the smaller Maple Leaf schooner or their tugboat, the Swell. When they added the 138ft Cascadia to their ship roster this Spring, we jumped at the chance to try one of their several adventures exploring the BC coast and were delighted by the roominess of the ship. Each of the 12 cabins on Cascadia has their own 3-piece bath with plenty of storage (ours also had a king size bed!). The main salon is a beautiful space for lounging and eating meals and we loved visiting with Captain Corey on the bridge as he patiently explained about navigating in BC waters. Comfortable expedition tenders are used for daily exploring away from the ship and allow you to get closer to marine wildlife or explore isolated beaches. We were thrilled to be able to experience humpback and fin whales, sea otters, sea lions, marine birds, and even three elusive sea wolves along the shore. What an honour to view these animals in their own natural environment and leave no footprint behind.

Travelling by ship with Maple Leaf Adventures afforded us with an unparalleled opportunity to see parts of the BC coastline that are only accessible by water. Our crew was incredibly professional and made us few welcome and well cared for during the entire journey. Shout-outs to Deckhand Bryan who was willing to show a couple of beginners how to fish for salmon and to Engineer Lance who cheerfully answered all our many questions about how boats work. Indeed, travelling with such a great crew on the Cascadia felt like travelling with family as we had the opportunity to share conversation at meals and other times throughout the day. 

We give special kudos to Phil, our Exhibition leader and naturalist, who carefully planned our daily excursions in the tenders to explore wildlife and scenery. He listened keenly to our interests and fine-tuned our adventures to allow us opportunity to view our favourites such as intertidal life, whales, and birds. He even helped us find humpback whales bubble-feeding which fulfilled a significant dream on our wish list. His knowledge of BC history and culture, the environment, and wildlife was extensive, and we learned a great deal from his thoughtful explanations. 

We highly recommend anyone interested in exploring the scenery, culture, and wildlife of the BC coast to consider a cruise on Cascadia. We would rate it highly for anyone desiring an opportunity to get out on the water and especially for seniors who are looking for comfortable boat travel. The sights, smells, and sounds of the ocean are breath-taking and will definitely make you want to come back again for more!

Whales & Wild Isles on Cascadia with Maple Leaf Adventures

A retired friend told us that even if we had to mortgage the house, take the Great Bear Rainforest Tour with Maple Leaf Adventures. He was right. This is a trip of a lifetime that took us up the coast of BC and around Princess Royal Island to see humpback whales, black and grizzly bears and many other impressive wildlife examples up close and personal. With 9 guests and 5 crew members, this is an intimate trip on a 92-foot schooner that is over a century old and still in its prime. 

Given that one of the crew is a full-time chef who uses what we catch along the way in many creative ways you can understand that one of my souvenirs was several extra pounds. While we went to see the white spirit bears but missed them by a day or two, we were not disappointed as we had an up close and personal experience with two very friendly and curious humpback whales who kept us entertained for almost an hour. Then, a day later we visited a remote whale research station and had the pleasure of sharing our photos and getting to name the two whales Maple Leaf, after our ship, and Canadian, to reflect the 100% makeup of our crew and passenger compliment, which is unusual. We had looked forward to meeting world travelers but thoroughly enjoyed our fellow Canadians on this spectacular trip.

This is not a cheap trip but we will save up and do it again. Maple Leaf is a true Eco Adventure group that treats you as someone special and who go out of their way to see that this is an unforgettable experience. They enjoy what they do and are good at it. Part of our enjoyment was seeing how truly thrilled that they were to see what we were all seeing and making new discoveries themselves.

Quarters are tight and physical effort is required but we felt safe and secure with like-minded travelers who enjoyed sharing an intimate experience aboard a magnificent ship with a wonderful crew.

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