Marine Land

Photo: Mark Penney

Straddling a peninsula on the rugged west coast of Vancouver Island, Ucluelet – or Ukee, as the village is affectionately called – seems to have taken a cue from the rough-hewn surroundings (think unruly rainforest, rocky shores and crashing surf) for its motto. If by “Life on the edge” the townsfolk mean pairing the best Pacific halibut and oysters we’ve tasted in a very long time with a pinot gris produced right here on the island, we have absolutely no problem pushing our own limits.   

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One day in Ukee and we’re starting to think artistic talent blows in from the sea. Just walk down to Whiskey Landing – the building itself is a work of art – where the Cedar House Gallery shows off Vancouver Island First Nations art and crafts, including whalebone sculptures by Patrick Amos. At the neighbouring Mark Penney Gallery, we marvel at Metis artist Terry Jackson’s delicate slip-cast porcelain vessels depicting whales, coyotes and eagles.

A 25-minute drive takes us to Long Beach, the 16-kilometre log-strewn sand strip in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve that separates Ucluelet and Tofino. Ravenous from a shoreline stroll and a visit to the park’s Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre, we take a window seat at the Wickaninnish Restaurant. “Without the salmon, there would be no bears or eagles here,” says general manager Brian Clarkson. To honour the fish, we try it hot-smoked, pickled and candied before digging into pan-seared halibut with wild-berry salsa. Just as our Wickaccinos arrive, a grey whale in the bay outside breaks the surface, takes a breath and disappears with the setting sun.

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The Ucluelet Aquarium may be the smallest public aquarium in the world, but we bet it’s also the most entertaining. We plunge our hands into “touch tanks,” and get a feel – literally – for sticky anemones and muscular sea stars. The local species that live here for a few months each year return to the ocean after teaching us land crabs a lesson or two. “The animals are not stuck here for life,” says curator and former commercial fisherman David Hurwitz. 

Photo: Black Rock Oceanfront Resort

Perched on a craggy rock promontory, the Black Rock Oceanfront Resort lets you appreciate wilderness in comfort. In our room, the fireplace lights with the flick of a switch, the balcony (and soaker tub, flanked by sliding frosted-glass windows) overlooks the sea and the floor-to-ceiling windows open to the sound of the breaking waves. After admiring the outdoors, we head to Fetch, the on-site restaurant, to inhale Andrew Springett’s miso-glazed ling cod before capping the day with a hot-stone massage at the hotel’s Drift Spa.

Leaving the dock aboard the M/V Black Fish, we’re surrounded by bald eagles and harbour seals. As our skipper, Cam MacPherson of Beachcomber Ocean Tours takes us into the Broken Group Islands, a gang of Steller’s sea lions basking on a rock wave at us with their flippers. (No, really.) So when MacPherson serves up homemade bread and home-smoked salmon and tuna we don’t mind that the bears and whales won’t come out to play.

Photo: Cameron MacPherson

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Photos : Terry Jackson (Mark Penney Gallery); Black rock oceanfront resort (Black Rock Oceanfront Resort); Cameron Macpherson (Beachcomber Ocean Tours)