Coastal Rainforest Safaris

Name: Coastal Rainforest Safaris
Address: 7185 Market Street, Port Hardy, BC, V0N2P0, CA
Telephone: +17787871874
Rating: 5

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Coastal Rainforest Safaris

Sea otter viewing, whale watching, and wildlife boat tours from Port Hardy, Vancouver Island, Britis

08/17/2025

A few of the Northern Resident Killer Whales we encountered on our August 16th Sea Otter & Whale Watching tour.

We first came across the A34 matriline early in the morning as they foraged and slowly moved west. Not long after, we spotted the A24s a few miles away heading east. Later still, we encountered a large group of orcas milling about — including R4, a remarkable 60-year-old grandmother.

Encounters like this, spanning multiple families and generations, are a rare privilege to witness.

Learn more about our tours at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/sea-otter-viewing-and-whale-watching-tour/

08/16/2025

August 14th brought some much-needed rain — and an unforgettable day on our Sea Otter & Whale Watching trip.

In addition to sea otters and humpback whales, we encountered around 40 Northern Resident Killer Whales from all three clans — the A, G, and R clans. We were able to identify a number of the As and Gs, but the Rs are so rarely seen in our area that we reached out to our friends at Bay Cetology to help with IDs.

A truly special encounter for both our guests and crew.

Learn more about our tours at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/

08/13/2025

A mother sea otter and her older pup gave us a curious look on yesterday’s Sea Otter & Whale Watching tour.

Pups stay with their mothers for 7–8 months before they’re weaned, learning how to dive, groom their dense fur, and find food — often while hitching a ride on mom’s belly.

Lean more about our tours at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/

08/10/2025

Why do some sea otters have cut or bloodied noses?

It’s not from clumsiness or fights over food — it’s part of their courtship.
During mating, male sea otters will often grasp the female’s nose and face with their teeth to hold on in the water. This can leave temporary cuts, scrapes, and sometimes a little bleeding.

Sea otters can mate year-round in our area, so we see “love bites” on most of our tours. The wounds usually heal quickly, though females that have had many encounters may have small scars.

https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/sea-otter-viewing-and-whale-watching-tour/

08/09/2025

Throughout June and July, our tours often encounter dozens — sometimes hundreds — of Northern Sea Lions.

By August, even more return from their remote breeding rookeries to local haul-outs, and by late summer into fall, it’s not unusual to see hundreds… or even over a thousand on a single trip!

Learn more about our tours at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/

08/08/2025

This May, with the support of Indigenous Tourism BC and BC Nature, we hosted a two-day seabird training workshop for our guides and staff.

The training deepened our knowledge of the incredible birdlife that calls our region home and equipped our guides with even more tools to share these stories with our guests.

While sea otters and whales are a big draw for many visitors, we take pride in offering a richer, more immersive wildlife-viewing experience — one that goes far beyond a standard whale-watching trip to showcase the full diversity of the coast.

Learn about all our tours - including specialty birding tours - at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/

08/06/2025

New Pelagic Birding Tour Dates Just Announced!

This September, we’re heading offshore into the deep underwater canyons off Quatsino Sound in search of true pelagic species. These tours are a must for serious seabirders looking to spot albatross, storm-petrels, shearwaters, and other open-ocean specialists in their element.

📅 Upcoming Dates:
🔹 September 13 & 27, 2025
📩 Additional departures may be added by request — just reach out!

📊 Wondering what we might see?
Check out the full species list from our 2024 inaugural pelagic tour on the trip page at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/pelagic-birding/

08/05/2025

During our tours, we often see sea otter mothers with pups - one of the most heartwarming sights on the coast!

Unlike seals and sea lions, which tend to give birth in a short, defined season, sea otters can mate and give birth at any time of year (though we do see a spike in springtime births). That means there's always a chance of spotting pups - from tiny, newborn fluffballs with pale, buoyant fur that keeps them from diving, to nearly full-grown youngsters about to be weaned and already as large as their mothers.

Learn more about our Sea Otter and Whale Watchingg tours at https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/sea-otter-viewing-and-whale-watching-tour/

08/02/2025

S***M WHALE!!! 🐋
A first for us at Coastal Rainforest Safaris!

During a special 5-day Coastal Safari for Lutra Wildlife and Wilderness, we ventured offshore to Pisces Canyon—and what a day it was. Among the highlights:

• A massive s***m whale — the first ever recorded on one of our tours!
• Dozens of humpbacks feeding and surfacing all around us
• Two, possibly three Fin Whales
• Spectacular seabirds, including Black-footed Albatross and shearwaters
• A giant Mola (ocean sunfish)
• Two species of sharks

This day was everything we hope for on an offshore safari—rare sightings, wide-open ocean, and the thrill of the unexpected.

📷 Stay tuned for photos and video from this incredible encounter.

07/18/2025

🚨 New Whale Sighting! 🐋⁠
According to Marine Education & Research Society, this humpback whale we encountered offshore during our most recent Puffin & Seabird Tour had never before been documented in BC waters!⁠
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Even more fascinating — this individual has been previously spotted in Hawaii!
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Incredible to think about the vast ocean journeys these whales make. Encounters like this remind us just how special each tour can be.

07/09/2025

We had an incredible surprise during our recent Puffin & Seabird tour — an encounter with a group of Bigg’s (marine mammal-eating) orcas near the edge of the continental shelf.⁠
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Spotted were T261, T261A, T261B, T261C… and most exciting of all, T166A — a whale that hadn’t been seen in 15 years!⁠
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Moments like these are what make every trip out here unforgettable.

Thanks to and Finwave.io for helping ID these whales. Photos by skippers Andrew Jones and Scotty Turton

07/08/2025

Our Puffin & Seabird Tour this past Sunday was truly one for the books!

Bird highlights included an extremely rare-for-BC King Eider, a Horned Puffin, Manx Shearwater, Pink-footed Shearwaters, and hundreds of Sooty Shearwaters. We also had great views of Tufted Puffins, Common Murres, Rhinoceros Auklets — and much more.

Thanks to calm seas, we were able to venture farther offshore than usual and were rewarded with impressive numbers of Black-footed Albatross and Northern Fulmars.

And it wasn’t just the birds — we also encountered orcas, several humpback whales, loads of sea otters, and even a lone minke whale. We’ll be sharing some of the marine mammal photos in a follow-up post, so stay tuned!

🎉 Due to demand, we’ve just added two new tour dates: July 20 and August 3.
Learn more and book your spot at:
👉 https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/puffins-and-seabirds/

We’re proud to work in close partnership with the T̓łat̕ła̱sikwa̱la First Nation and honoured to have a Nation member join us on these journeys into their traditional territory.

Address

7185 Market Street
Port Hardy, BC
V0N2P0

Telephone

+17787871874

Website

https://coastalrainforestsafaris.com/

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About us

Coastal Rainforest Safaris is owned and operated by Mike Willie and Andrew Jones. Both have separately run successful wilderness tourism companies on northern Vancouver Island for over five and twenty years, respectively. Their individual companies both have tours recognized as “Canadian Signature Experiences” by Destination Canada. The partnership between Mike and Andrew at Coastal Rainforest Safaris combines their strengths in customer service, wildlife viewing and cultural interpretation, along with their love of welcoming visitors from around the world to show them all that this incredible region has to offer.