Explore Campbell River by water, by land, or in the air, with our local tour operators 🐋🚣✈️🎣
If you have completed your passport and have stamps or signatures from every operator showing than you can return it to the visitor centre located at the maritime heritage centre or leave it with any operator. Winners will be announced June 3. 5 chances to win multiple tours valued at $2500. 🐳🤩
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Season Tourism Opening Day - June 1st - Full Schedule of the whole day below. Campbell River will be celebrating the return of the humpback whale, plus the first day of Ocean Week. Check the schedule for events happening all over our city.
More events keep coming up for the Tourism Season Opening. 🎼Joe Abbott will be playing Live at Ken Forde Park next to "DRIFT" the humpback. 🐳 Beachfires, plus, bring your fold up chairs and blankets, for some acoustics, BBQ, Jumping Castle, Ice-cream, 🍦Yard Games, Paddle boarding and Strathcona Motorcylce 🏍 will be there showing off some bikes - June 1st - Activities from 12pm - Dusk.
SATURDAY JUNE 1ST - At the Tourism Season Opening event, From 10am - 3pm Free & Discounted Tours down at the Discovery Harbour Marina & Coast Marina.
and at The Spit, 12pm - 3pm
• Ken Forde Park, 12pm - 6pm with & flight over Quadra Island will be reduced by 50%, Velocity Lounge will be doing a Free game of Virtual Golf, "closest to the Pin". Maritime Heritage Centre & Museum have free tours all day. 🤩🐳🚁🛶🛥🚲⛳️
SIGN UP IN PERSON AT TOUR OPERATORS LOCATIONS AT 9AM to book your time. SEE ALL OPERATORS IN THE COMMENTS
This is a special day to kick off the season and as a gift to the city. Over 15 operators will be giving away discounted or free tours as well as demonstrations. Enter the contest, grab a passport on the day for a chance to win. $2500 in tour prizes up for grabs. June 1st. Events happening all day across the city.
Look what the folks at Big Animal Encounters are up to. Huge selection of gifts and oh those T'shirts... love it.
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Even Drift, got to take in the Aurora Borealis on Friday night with plenty of people out in Ken Forde Park to watch the show. 😲
📸 Colleen Wilson
🎤FREE & DISCOUNTED TOURS & EVENTS - To Celebrate the beginning of the Tourism Season and Oceans Week, Campbell River's Tour Operators & Visitor Destinations want to show you all the fantastic Tours and Activities that make Campbell River a world class tourist attraction.
So become a tourist in your own town for a day and join in the fun. 🕶
🛥🚁 Tours will be at these locations - The Estuary, The Spit, Discovery Harbour Marina, Coast Marina & the Airport, local operators will be offering either Free or Discounted Tours (30-45 mins). Boats, Kayaking, Cycling, Paddle Boarding and Helicopter Rides.
From 10am - 4pm. First come first serve, you must sign up in person.
You can pick up a passport at any of the operators for a chance to enter our $2500 tour packages to give away. 🤩
To see the whole itinerary for the day go to: https://fb.me/e/1DnIE8lk4
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The Final Numbers are in! A whopping 38,031 kilograms of Steel, Styrofoam, Tires, Rope, Hard Plastics, Soft Plastics, Netting and Oyster Baskets. 350kms of our shorelines were cleaned of marine debris by the Campbell River Association of Tour Operators and crew. 👏💪 Win Win - Tour operators were able to keep working over the winter. Thank you BC Government and thank you to all those that contributed, including our First Nation Stewards, and the that will turn approximately 30,000kg into recycled products.🤝 👏♻
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Campbell River & District Chamber of Commerce Destination Campbell River
The heavy machinery is put to use, as we unload thousands of pounds of marine debris collected over the last 5 months during our project
Pictured Trevor Dalton, the new Tourism Business Development Officer for Destination Campbell River joined the CRATO crew to help unload the hefty sacs of sorted debris from the barge. With approximately 38 tonne of marine debris, Trevor was eager to lend a helping hand 💪🤝and join the team in getting it to the upcyclers. ♻️
Pictured, L>R Trevor, Bill Coltart, CRATO president and crew Laura and Bradley. Also, Joshua Grin from Discovery West Adventures who was happy to see some city representatives roll up their sleeves for the task.
The Barge should be completely unloaded by early next week and exact weigh-ins taken leaving the rest of the work to Ocean Legacy to . This has been a fantastic effort. An absolute colossal effort by all the members.
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MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS: Strathcona Motorcycle Adventures is our premium land tour member. Jay Pudota owns and operates a fully equipped Motorcycle adventure outfit. You can travel on a guided tour, rent the bikes, or travel in a group over several nights while you explore Vancouver Island by motorbike. Available half days, full days or do an off road and get ready to explore.
Jay takes all the worry and costs out of touring by motorbike and promises an exhilarating memorable experience. 🏍🗻🏕
Homecoming voyage ⚓️🛥️ Our barge was towed back to town yesterday by Sea Roamer Marine Services, where our crew will prepare to get all of the unloaded and off to The Ocean Legacy Foundation to be . After 5 months, and 350km of beaches cleaned, our 2023/2024 project is almost wrapped up!
MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS: Our MEDIA team! Chelsea Cameron co-owner of Discovery West Adventures and Cathy Kaardal owner of What's On Digest & What's On Media. Chelsea is also our website developer and Cathy volunteers as secretary for the Association and is instrumental in events, projects and public relations. Both gals do a great job at bringing their passion for the wildlife, the environment and conservation, when delivering posts and videos that share insight to the days and lives of our tour operators and their projects. 💪👏🤝🔗
Our website gives access and information on all of the associations tour operators for marine, air and land tours plus, accommodation members. You can also learn more about our local marine life, current regulations and even pick up a fishing license.
Learn more about Campbell River Association of Tour Operators or enquire about becoming a member by clicking the profile link above or by visiting our website at www.campbellrivertours.com 👀
During the project, hundreds of are collected. Tires do a huge amount of damage as they breakdown in the ocean. ☠️ They also take up a huge amount of space. Some tires can weigh up to 400 to 600 pounds each 💪🏗 and even more once concrete, sand, and algae become embedded in them. Without the use of cranes and landing crafts, these would be impossible to remove from the shore. Brown's Bay Resort has been our lifting and storing location for on land. James from Island Life Expeditions transports them from the sorting barge to Browns Bay.
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As a special thank you,👏 the crew were treated with a special woodfire pizza lunch made by Cynthia and Mark McDonald, owners of The Cottages at Shoal Bay . A self sufficient spectacular site nestled on the edge of Thurlow island that opens its doors to visitors for a rustic west coast experience. Mark & Cynthia poured out the pizza love with some delicious gourmet flavours cooked to perfection and an extra special one for our Vegan crew member. Sitting on the shore in crisp 5C temperatures the piping hot pizzas were lapped up along with some yummy home baked cookies. Afterwards the pizza was worked off while we did a quick scourer around the beachfront looking for and . Thanks Mark and Cynthia.
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We are in the final stages of our project, and the crew is busy playing “tetris” on the barge to make some space for the last few loads of debris. We’ve covered a large area in such a short time, but it’s still hard to believe the amount of debris we’ve removed from our shores.
MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS: Meet 50 North Adventures, owned and operated by Dean Parsonage. Dean is our cleanup crew leader, he keeps the team motivated and organised to meet deadlines for distance and quantity for the entire project. Safety is at the forefront of Deans operation. Staff, are checked and alerted to things that can go wrong daily on Dean's close watch, thanks Dean.
is Campbell River's very unique Fishing and Whale Watching combination adventure tour company As an Australian Expat you can't miss the green and gold shed down at Discovery Marina. Since arriving in Canada with wife and two daughters Dean has been very active in pushing Campbell River to the forefront of BC tourism. Dean took the initiative to collaborate with other tour operators and tourism stakeholders to form a stronger framework that would open the doors for tourists to come to Campbell River.
50 North Adventures is a small group Whale Watching and operator inside a very well kept 26' Grady White. For families this is the perfect intimate tour that will expose you to the beauty of , Your first catch or meeting the giants of the sea.
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MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS: Discovery West Adventures, owned and operated by Chelsea Cameron & Joshua Grin. They both joined CRATO in 2022 and are very active members since joining. Chelsea sits on the CRATO board of directors and brings her web development skills along with marketing experience. Josh has been one of the backbones and muscle in getting the our project close to completion. During the project, Discovery West gets called to run crew as well as cart debris to various storage venues for recycling.
Discovery West is a 5 Star , , and company that is addicted to the outdoors and lives for adventure. Josh is a highly skilled captain that loves to share his passion and knowledge with guests.
Tours include: Whale Watching, Eagle Tours, Wildlife Tours, Sunset Tours and Private Charters. They focus on smaller groups, and offer one of a kind experiences, that will create long lasting memories and stories to tell for a lifetime 💙🐋
CRATO are leading the charge on sustainability in our region. 💪 When taken seriously tour operators, the hospitality industry and destination councils are focused on finding solutions that preserve the fundamental reasons people visit Campbell River and the wild beauty of the .
Protecting the future of our wildlife and our environment with conscious choices, create change and solutions that give life to the type of tourism that will keep Campbell River in the camera lens of visitors for many years to come.
Campbellton Neighbourhood Association Campbell River & District Chamber of Commerce Elk Falls Provincial Park City of Campbell River Economic Development Campbell River Museum Destination Think Destination Campbell River
. ♻️ During the clean shores project we work closely with The Ocean Legacy Foundation who repurpose marine debris collected. For example, marine rope and netting contain 4 resins that make up 70% of the plastics collected.
At Ocean Legacy, much of the process happens in house with the balance being shipped to a third-party recycling partner.
PICTURED are products produced by Full Circle Plastics in , , with recycled product supplied by Ocean Legacy. They specialize in making plastic lumber for outdoor furniture. The resistance to mold and rotting results in a long life compared to traditional wood. 🌳
The gardening tools are produced by Rutabaga Education, in WA made from recycled marine rope.
Ocean Legacy sources recycling companies from around the world to find the most efficient and best use to continually narrow the margin between recyclable and landfill.
Destination Campbell River Destination British Columbia Destination Think Campbellton Neighbourhood Association.
MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS -Esther and Brent Hollink owners and hands on operators of Brown's Bay Resort . During the project the resort is assisting the crew with hauling and storing of 100's of tires that are being collected. Here the tires are cleaned and made ready for Ocean Legacy to .
Brown's Bay Resort & Marina is an ideal escape on the edge of wilderness that attracts hundreds of vacationers and visitors each year. The operates year round as a luxury cabin resort that attracts visitors from around the globe. The site accommodates 60 full-service concrete pad sites, an octagon clubhouse to host functions and events, tents, a hot tub, fitness centre, playground and laundry. The can take up to 100' boats with a boat launch for smaller boats. The Narrows Floating Restaurant boasts a hearty menu. The resort partners with many tour operators for fishing and adventure tours during the May to October peak season. Located 20 minutes north of downtown Campbell River.
MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS - Leigh Nelson owner of Quest Tours Canada (Inc) and Quest Water Taxi has been the CRATO Vice President since it started in 2018. 👏💪 Leigh is also our grant writer 🥸 for projects such as and is the quiet captain 🛥⚓️ that spends hours and hours of his time on the water shipping the crew back and forth from far reaching locations through out the week. is instrumental in bringing a landing craft, cranes and navigation equipment to the project that assists getting to hard to reach locations at all hours of the day and in treacherous weather.
QUEST WATER TAXI operates 24 hours a day, 🌗 with their landing craft from Campbell River. No location is too remote, they are experts in servicing the 🌳 🐟 🏗 industries as well as, the construction industry and personal water taxi services. 🛥
Leigh has been working on the BC Coast his whole adult life, and has had extensive training on the coastal environment as a float plane pilot and a small vessel captain.
ADVENTURE QUEST TOURS operates from in Campbell River May to October each year. They are a highly respected whale watching and grizzly tour company. 🐋🐻 Leigh's knowledge and dedication to conservation and stewardship of the area brings a tour that is informative, safe, along with guaranteed sightings of wildlife and a whole lot of stories to tell.
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Another jumps on board with the initiative. jumps with two feet in, to embrace the weather and pour some of his passion for the Pacific Northwest coastline into the ... 🌨❄️💨Snow and -10 temperatures don't stop the smiles and determination of this team to get the work done. 👏💪
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MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS: 49 North Helicopter has been a member since 2019. Having the use of helicopters on the Clean Coast Clean Waters project, enables us to reach and lift heavy and awkward debris that has washed up on the shores. Having the use of the helicopters was particularly useful in scoping the area for the clean up project, allowing our boat crew to plot a path of approach to the rugged and remote region.
@49 North Helicopters are experts in their field and are one of the leading training schools in Canada that also offer, sightseeing, heliskiing, helifishing, mountain top photography for all sorts of reasons and adventure tours from the mountain to the islands.
MEET THE CRATO MEMBERS: Blind Channel Resort is where our crew stays during the Clean Coast Clean Waters project. Staff housing is provided, which is a welcomed relief after a cold and wet day hauling marine debris and allows the crew to eliminate long-distance taxing across the water to and from collection sites and the sorting barge.
New members in 2023, Blind Channel Resort is a full-service marina resort on West Thurlow Island along Canada’s Pacific Coast. Located just north of Desolation Sound. Blind Channel is the perfect layover for boaters heading to and from Alaska and the Broughton Archipelago, as well as individuals, couples, groups, and families looking for a West Coast wilderness experience. During the summer months a full restaurant with entertainment, plus a general store and gift store are open for all and anyone to enjoy.
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CRATO MEMBER MOMENT: Meet James & Kim owners of Island Life Expeditions James and Kim love living life in Campbell River 🌞 and having nature and wildlife on their doorstep. There is only one thing they love more, and that is to share it with others. Whether it's fishing for Salmon or jumping on a paddle board to swimming in the warm waters of the discovery islands, James will get you there, with lots of stories to tell. They have all the equipment to fish, paddle board, plus e-bikes 🚲🛥 so you can go island hopping 🏝or just soak up the adventure 🕶 watching whales, sealions, 🐳🦦 bears and the eagles. Every day is an expedition! Private charters, 4hr, and 8hr trips available.
Being on a team with shared interests and goals that puts nature first and supports tour operators was a big plus for James when he joined CRATO in 2021. "Becoming part of the project work created by BC Provincial Government that keeps our beaches clean and protects the wildlife as well as our livlihoods is win win".
Steel collected consists of a wide range of types and uses, everything from traps, cable, to old nails and machine parts. To date the steel makes up nearly half the weight collected from our beaches, that said, the styrofoam collected has a much larger mass. The sorting barge is an evolving puzzle as the crew continue to pile into recyclable categories and landfill.
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TSO Tourism Season Opening. June 1st. Sign up for free tours, the photo hunt and the adventure all in one day. #adventuredays #CampbellRiver #destinationcampbellriver #campbellriverbusiness #touroperators #lovetheocean #FreeStuff
Tourism Season Opening Day this June 1st - Free Tours, Photo Hunt, Prizes, Events and Giveaways.
The heavy machinery is put to use, as we unload thousands of pounds of marine debris collected over the last 5 months during our #cleancoastcleanwaters project #environmental #microplastics #oceancleanup #keepcampbellriverwild #vancouverislandbc #beachcleanup #betterbc #bcshorelinecleanup #marinelife
The heavy machinery is put to use, as we unload thousands of pounds of marine debris collected over the last 5 months during our #cleancoastcleanwaters project #environmental #microplastics #oceancleanup #keepcampbellriverwild #vancouverislandbc #beachcleanup #betterbc #bcshorelinecleanup #marinelife
Homecoming voyage ⚓️🛥️ Our barge was towed back to town yesterday by Sea Roamer Marine Services, where our crew will prepare to get all of the #oceandebris unloaded and off to The Ocean Legacy Foundation to be #recycled. After 5 months, and 350km of beaches cleaned, our 2023/2024 #cleancoastcleanwaters project is almost wrapped up! #makeadifference #sustainabletourism #vancouverisland #oceancleanup #shorelinecleanup #keepcampbellriverwild
We are in the final stages of our #cleancoastcleanwaters project, and the crew is busy playing “tetris” on the barge to make some space for the last few loads of debris. We’ve covered a large area in such a short time, but it’s still hard to believe the amount of debris we’ve removed from our shores. #beachcleanup #keepcampbellriverwild #makeadifference #wild #bcshorelinecleanup #therealcampbellriver
From littered to pristine, watch as the beach transforms into a paradise with the collective efforts of our team. 🌊💙 #BeachCleanup #RestoreTheBeauty #TogetherWeCan #cleancoastcleanwaters #keepcampbellriverwild #vancouverisland #makeadifference #bcshorelinecleanup 📸 @bradley_coltart
Organizing this cleanup project took months of planning and preparation. Not only did we have to put together a team to be out there on the ground, but we also needed to have the right infrastructure and equipment in place to manage all of the debris that is being collected. We have crew boats, landing crafts, a barge, shipping containers, a crane truck, and even helicopters! It’s a collaborative effort from all of our members to be able to pull off a project of this size. #cleancoastcleanwaters #beachcleanup #keepcampbellriverwild
Wishing all of our followers and support crews a restful and safe holiday season. From all our tour members, staff and friends.
Polystyrene disintegrates but never degrades, it just keeps breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, which makes it almost impossible to collect. It creates thousands of microplastic particles which are toxic to birds and marine life. #environmental #marinelife #ecosystem #savethewhales #vancouverislandbc #keepcampbellriverwild #betterbc #microplastics #beachcleanup #oceancleanup #cleancoastcleanwaters #bcshorelinecleanup
Teamwork makes the dream work 💪 By working together and pooling individual strengths and skills, we can achieve great things! 📸 @kiannazivny #dogoodfeelgood #teamworkmakesthedreamwork #beachcleanups #keepcampbellriverwild #bcshorelinecleanup #cleancoastcleanwaters #tiredoftires #ocean #betterbc #oceancleanup
We are 209 km into our cleanup and have collected a staggering 20 tons of marine debris! Almost 17 tons will be heading to The Ocean Legacy Foundation to be recycled, that's equivalent to the weight of 9 cars 🚗 🤯. Our team is taking a well deserved break for Christmas, and will be back at it in the new year. 140km and 2 more months to go! 💪💪 #marinedebris #bcshorelinecleanup #betterbc #beachcleanup #keepcampbellriverwild #cleancoastcleanwaters #oceancleanup #savetheocean #forthefuture #cleanshores #vancouverislandnorth #britishcolumbia #hellobc #tourismvancouverisland #oceanplastic #campbellriverbc
Life lessons to live by: Leave things better than you found them. You may not feel like it’s your responsibility to pick up after others, but there is something so empowering and rewarding, knowing that you are making a difference 🌎🍃🌲🌊🗑️ #environmental #microplastics #oceancleanup #cleancoastcleanwaters #keepcampbellriverwild #vancouverislandbc #beachcleanup #betterbc #bcshorelinecleanup #marinelife
This is how we do it 💪 #beachcleanup #keepcampbellriverwild #bcshorelinecleanup #cleanoceans #vancouverisland #cleancoastcleanwaters #styrofoam #oceanplastic #cleanbeaches
Collecting the debris is only half the job, a lot of time and effort goes into sorting everything and preparing it to be recycled. #beachcleanup #cleancoastcleanwaters #keepcampbellriverwild #britishcolumbia #crweare #vancouverislandnorth #hellobc #betterbc #bcshorelinecleanup #savetheocean #oceancleanup #marinedebris #oceanplastic
We’ve hit the halfway mark of our #bcshorelinecleanup and have gathered 17,789kg of marine debris so far👏 Our team has put in thousands of hours of hard work! Share and follow along to show your appreciation and support! #beachcleanup #keepcampbellriverwild #betterbc #oceanlegacy #cleancoastcleanwaters #plasitcpollution #oceancleanup #ocean #vancouverisland #cleanseas 📸Kianna Zivny
We are so proud to be a part of this incredible project for the second time. Thanks to the #bcprovincial government who has made the #cleancoastcleanwaters initiative possible. We invite you to follow along with us on our journey over the next few months, as we work together to #keepcampbellriverwild and to keep our shoreline clean. #bcshorelinecleanup #vancouverislandbc #crweare #betterbc #hellobc #tourismvancouverisland #britishcolumbia #cleanoceans #marinedebris #beachcleanup Destination Campbell River Destination British Columbia
Merry Christmas to all those that have supported and cheered us on in 2021. See you all in 2022, when we do it all again. The CRATO crew.
When he’s not hauling logs and cleaning our coastline. Our illustrious team leader Dean Parsonage is working at the Rotary Auction raising money for Tourism. What a guy.
A Great way to finish a hard day of cleaning shores. Love where we live #marinelifematters #CRAT #YouthForClimate #savetheocean #oceancleanup #CCCW #beachcleanup #pacificocean #discovercampbellriver #Youth4Climate #whalewatch #orcasarecool
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