Campbell River Whale Watching & Wildlife Tours

We are excited to welcome you aboard our brand new boat – The “Tinman.”

The “Tinman” is a 30-foot aluminum landing craft that is made for adventure! With powerful twin Mercury 250s, room for 12 passengers, heated cabin with panoramic windows, large front viewing deck, onboard washroom, and no cruiser suits needed – you’re set for any West Coast experience.

Our Campbell River Whale Watching Tours are unlike no other! The beauty of mother nature is that you never know what she has in store for you! We’ve had tours where we’ve spent the entire trip watching humpbacks launch themselves out of the water, or had pods of Pacific White-Sided Dolphins play in our wake. Orca often make appearances as well 🙂

We focus not just on whales, but on all of the beautiful wildlife and scenery our coast has to offer. We often have guests join us, who have been whale watching and wildlife tours in other parts of the world, and have said hands down, this was the best!

Check out what kind of local wildlife you might encounter here 

At Discovery West Adventures, we believe in offering authentic wildlife experiences—not scripted ones.

We don’t offer a formal “whale guarantee,” mainly because those programs often come with quite a few conditions or require very specific circumstances to redeem. More importantly, they can shift the focus toward chasing a single sighting rather than enjoying the overall experience.

Whales are wild animals, and while we work closely with a strong local network to locate them, sightings can never be guaranteed, especially in the early and late season.

Instead, we prioritize a full wildlife experience which keeps the tour natural and enjoyable. We focus on delivering an exceptional experience every time you’re on the water. Our tours explore a rich marine environment where encounters may include whales, dolphins, sea lions, bears, waterfalls, and more.

By not offering a guarantee, we’re able to:

• Spend more time exploring and less time chasing a single sighting
• Adapt to real-time wildlife activity
• Provide a more relaxed, natural, and respectful experience

Our goal isn’t just to “check a box”—it’s to give you a meaningful and memorable connection with the coastal ecosystem.

For the safety of our guests and the marine life, we practice responsible and ethical whale watching. We care so much about the welfare of our wildlife, and pride ourselves on being stewards of the sea. We follow a strict set of whale watching guidelines that go above and beyond those put in place by Transport Canada. 

Read More . . . 

We are fortunate enough to have whales year round, but certain times of the year are better for certain species.

We see Orca year round, but they seem to be more regular in the spring/late summer. Orca are always on the move and can disappear for days, which makes them a bit more unpredictable.

We have a huge population of Humpbacks that come here to feed every summer. They start to arrive in May, but we see the highest population mid-June through to early September.

It depends what you really want to see, and how much time you’d like to spend on the water. We have wildlife and beautiful scenery on all of our tours, but our most popular tours are our 6 Hour Whale Watching Tour and our 4 Hour Coastal Adventure. 

During our 6 Hour Whale Watching Adventure, we have the opportunity to travel a bit further and spend more time with the whales. We also take a nice break for a homemade lunch, where guests will have a chance to get off the boat and stretch their legs, and use the bathroom if necessary.

If you’re looking for something a bit shorter, the 4 Hour Coastal Adventure, is essentially is just a shorter version of the above, lunch is not included in this one. We often see whales during our 4 hour tours, but we are a bit more limited with the time spent with them.

If you have young kids, we suggest doing the 4 Hour Coastal Adventure, or 3 Hour Sunset or even a private tour.

• A warm jacket or sweater to wear while the boat is underway
• Weather appropriate footwear & clothing
• Camera
• Hat & Sunglasses
• Sunscreen
• Please keep in mind we are on a boat and things might get wet!
• Your Sense Of Adventure!

No two tours are the same! At the beginning of the tour, we always ask what our guests would like to see! Depending on what has been spotted already, weather conditions and general vibe of the group, we will make a game plan of where to go.

Typically our longer trips will involve going into Desolation Sound, or further north (depending on weather). Our shorter trips will explore around Quadra Island and Discovery Passage.

Though sometimes we encounter rougher water heading out/coming in, most of our routes are fairly well protected and quite calm! 

If you know you are prone to seasickness, we recommend taking some anti-nausea medication as a precaution before we leave the dock.

For the enjoyment of everyone on the trip, the minimum age for our trips is 3 years old. Please keep in mind that kids need to be able to keep their life jackets on at all times while on the boat. If you are doing a private tour, we have no minimum age limit. 

We understand things happen and we try to be as flexible as possible. Most tours have a 48-hour cancellation policy,  Groups of 4 or more and private tours have a 7 day cancellation policy. Our Eagle Tours have a separate cancellation policy, which can be found here.

We require a minimum of 4 guests for each trip, and reserve the right to cancel tours if we are below our minimum. We also reserve the right to cancel the trip if the captain deems the weather or conditions are unsafe. A full refund or option to reschedule will be provided to all guests if a trip is cancelled.

Please review our full cancellation policy here

Yes! All of our 2025 tours will take place on our new 12 passenger covered boat with onboard bathroom! 

There are plenty of ways to have fun during our tours! But we have a zero-tolerance alcohol and substance policy. This means no smoking of any kind, alcohol or drugs while on board. We take the safety of our guests extremely seriously and anyone found violating this policy will be returned to the dock, and refunds will not be given. 

Our boat is wheelchair accessible! We do need to know in advance if we have any guests in a wheelchair as we need time to remove our front seat in order to accommodate them inside the cabin. This also reduces our seating capacity by 1, so please contact us in advance to ensure we can accommodate your request. 

Please note that wheelchair guests must remain in the cabin for the duration of the tour. They will be seated at the front, and with the panoramic windows and full glass door, they’ll have the best seat in the house! Unfortunately our washroom is not wheelchair accessible (due to limited space), so please keep this in mind when booking your tour.