Getting to Salmon Eye Charters in Ucluelet BC
Getting to Ucluelet is not as hard as you might think. Methods are discussed below based on which country you are coming from. Besides having what we think is the best salmon fishing in the world, we are easy to get to and have less boat traffic than many "remote fly-in" resorts. Many "remote resorts have 5 other lodges within a few minutes, so you can have 100 boats fishing the same area. Not so in Ucluelet.
Coming from Canada:
Getting to Ucluelet by Air:
West Jet flies directly from Calgary or Edmonton to Comox on Vancouver Island. From there you would rent a car and drive to Ucluelet (about 3 hours). Air Canada will fly into Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. If you are coming from eastern Canada you might want to fly into Vancouver depending on flight prices. If you wanted to fly as close to Ucluelet as possible, you could fly to Vancouver and then get a commuter flight to Tofino (about 1/2 an hour from Ucluelet)through Orca Air.
Coming from the USA:
Getting to Ucluelet by Air
There are a few options. The larget airports on Vancouver Island are Victoria, Comox and Nanaimo. You will want to check the cost of flying to these airports as well as Vancouver. (Sometime flying onto Vancouver Island is not much more expensive and this will save time.) You can fly direct from San Francisco to Victoria through United Airlines.
Most people from the US fly into Vancouver and then rent a car. From the Vancouver airport you would drive to the Tsawwason Ferries (about 45 mins), then take a large ferry to Nanaimo(Duke Point) on Vancouver Island (about 2 hours) and then drive to Ucluelet (about 2.5 hours). Make sure you do check to see if you can connect to Comox or Nanaimo for not much more. This obviosly would save time for the ferry. If it is your first time, the ferry is very nice! If you wanted to fly as close to Ucluelet as possible, you could fly to Vancouver and then get a commuter flight to Tofino (about 1/2 an hour from Ucluelet) through Orca Air.
Driving to Ucluelet
If you are driving along the #1 Hwy in Vancouver you would want to take the Horshoe Bay ferry. The entrance into Horshoe Bay is amazing to look at. The ferry to Nanaimo is 1.5 hours.
If you are coming from Seattle or south of the border, you could come either through Port Angeles and take the ferry to Victoria, or you could drive to Tsawwasson (South of Vancouver) and take the ferry (2 hours) to Duke Point (Just south of Nanaimo).
Here are some approx driving times to Ucluelet including the ferry ride, border wait and waiting for the ferries. During July and August the border wait can be around 30-45 minutes. If you drive through Port Angeles the border waits are much less.
- from Vancouver 5.5 hours
- from Seattle 7 hours
- from Portland 9 hours
Directions to Boat Basin (Ucluelet, B.C.)
Head north from Nanaimo Ferries, Naniamo Airport, Victoria Airport or south from Comox Airport. Once you get to Qualicum, exit and take Hwy 4 to Port Alberni. Go through Port Alberni and take a right at the T intersection.
After about an hour you will come to another T intersection. You can go right to Tofino or left to Ucluelet. Take left to Ucluelet. Follow Pacific Rim Hwy into town and take left after Canadian Princess(Big White Ship on left) onto Lychee Rd and left again onto Hemlock and another immediate left into Small Craft Harbour (Boat Basin).
If you are coming form Tofino, just head South on Pacific Rim Hwy and turn left after Canadian Princess on Lychee and left again onto Hemlock and another immediate left into Small Craft Harbour (Boat Basin). Here is the Google Map: Google Map
