Our Family Trip to Tofino 2023

After visiting Tofino last year with Chase, we fell in love with it and shared the passion with my family. So, my side of the family decided to head there this year! However 2 weeks before our trip there was a forest fire that closed the main highway for us to get to Tofino, so we had to find another way in - which was flying.

However, because of the limited number of flights and we were a group of 12 people, we were in trouble - there were no flights! Thankfully, our good friend Jesse was a pilot and turns out he could rent a 4 seater plane and he helped shuttle us there. It was truly such a cool experience! It had all the Top Gun vibes to it… I mean the plane was from the 60’s! Because it was such a tiny plane, the weather had to be perfect for us to fly, which meant we didn’t really know about the flight timing. But thankfully we made it! And with a plane that small, the elevation wasn’t as high but it also meant we got to see a stunning view of the mountains and the coast. We got to wear these cool headsets with microphones (although it was quite funny to hear jasiel crying onto it), and both kids fell asleep on me which was a treasure.

We knew this trip would be different because we wouldn’t have a car to get around, which is kind of a must in Tofino. But thankfully there were some options. We used the Whistle App, which is their ride-share program, to get to our resort, Pacific Sands. It was a bit pricey but cheaper than the shuttle for 4 people. We also used the Tiki Bus, when we wanted to go to places for the entire group. We just didn’t end up renting a car because it was around $900 for the 5 days we were there, that could only fit 5 people and we didn’t have room to bring car seats and whatnot.

So, we spent a lot of time just hanging around the Pacific Sands resort, which is right on Cox Bay Beach, a pretty awesome surf spot. We did a few beach walks everyday, flew kites and did some small trails. Our unit had a hot tub, and turns out, Chase is such a hot tub junkie! His record was 5 times in one day, LOL! We cooked most meals in the kitchen as it was a bit of work to get to restaurants, which worked out for us. Thankfully at the Pacific Sands they also had a coffee spot and Surfside Grill, plus also their own little grocery, so we had tons of food. My sister, Krisha and her husband Kyle also did the trek for us to Downtown Tofino to buy groceries for our entire stay so we could cook the meals.

Because we had such limited space, we didn’t bring a stroller (and honestly Jasiel isn’t a big fan anyway) we just used our fave Happy Baby Carrier. She loves hanging out in it anyway and takes nap on it as well. It’s mid-June, but like most times in Tofino it’s pretty chilly, that’s why we’re all bundled up in the photos. We love going on beach walks though and checking out all sorts of different sea creatures that show up on the beach.

Because we were such a big group (12 people) it just didn’t make sense for all of us to eat out in restaurants, so we mostly cooked in the kitchen and made short trips to check out different places. One of the places in the world that we can just keep exploring all day long!

In hindsight, it was truly pretty crazy that we headed to Tofino still in spite of all the difficulties of getting there! But, we made some incredible memories that we’re so grateful we were able to do. Tofino is just so beautiful, in the midst of writing this post, we already miss it so much and can’t wait to go back. Perhaps next, time we’ll try to go in August for warmer weather.

The only place we really made it out to was Tacofino, cause why not! It was so yummy and it’s a bit of a tradition for us. Pacific Sands is such a beautiful place to stay. Chase loved the hot tub and probably went in it 5 times a day. It also has a few trails, so we definitely checked those out and enjoyed some stunning views of the ocean. On the way home, we encountered some flight difficulties due to weather so we had to fly home with Pacific Coastal Airlines and Harbour Air, but grateful we were able to do that and get home safely.

xoxo,
Karla