A new award that recognizes visitors’ great experiences in the Island region went to Victoria-based Maple Leaf Adventures this week. It’s an award whose time has come, says its sponsor. Tourism Vancouver Island’s Remarkable Experience Award recognized Maple Leaf Adventures, a boutique expedition cruise company, for its Salish Sea expedition that enriched and transformed the […]
Our ship, the Maple Leaf, cruises into Bishop Bay. The late afternoon sun casts light across the steep glacier-carved cliffs which guide us in. Reflections on glassy water mirror blue skies, mountains and vibrant green forests. The atmosphere invites personal awareness and inner peacefulness. Tranquility is interrupted by a resounding spout of water shot skyward […]
Here are the reports from our boutique expedition cruises on the British Columbia, Canada, and Alaska coast. Most recent trips are at the top. Great Bear Rainforest Oct 5-13, 2016, aboard SV Maple Leaf Thanksgiving Update from the Ship There’s a chilly, fall bite to the air in the Great Bear Rainforest. The morning mists […]
People may book a trip on the Maple Leaf or Swell because of the places they go. But there’s much more than place that creates an amazing trip. Fun – that state of bliss – is a key ingredient. Here’s a short show, with a few photos from trips in the spring of 2016, of […]
Great Bear Rainforest, MV Swell, Oct 2-9, 2015 Oct 7, 2015 After 5 days of glorious sunshine the moody skies of fall have descended upon us bringing some more much needed moisture to the rainforest. We have been blessed with some amazing bear viewing, grizzly bears, American black bears and a spirit bear. Salmon runs […]
Slide show from the Great Bear Rainforest tour in May 2015 aboard the SV Maple Leaf. Thank you to Capt. Greg Shea and First Mate Nick Sinclair for the use of their beautiful images. Can’t see the show? View it here. Learn more about taking a Great Bear Rainforest trip yourself.
Some selected photos from an amazing trip. THANK YOU to the photographers Greg Shea, Jeff Reynolds, Kevin Smith and Maureen Gordon of Maple Leaf Adventures. Can’t see it? View it here, instead. Learn more about a Haida Gwaii trip like this.
by Maureen Gordon, crew member On a small island, on the edge of a continental shelf, in the setting sun, Reg Wesley opens a box. Out comes a 4-inch, argillite raven in Reg’s hand. It’s like I’m struck. We stand where I have been fortunate to stand before, under the giant spruce and cedar trees […]
The venerable Financial Times magazine assigned writer Caroline Eden to cover this new way of exploring British Columbia, Canada — on a classic, converted, real tugboat. Caroline flew out to cover the ship’s maiden voyage – 5 days in the Gulf Islands region during the April wildflower / wildlife bloom. “Brilliant spring sunlight bounced off […]
A new, boutique ship begins offering expedition cruises along the Inside Passage in 2015. The classic, restored tugboat Swell – owned by the award-winning Canadian company Maple Leaf Adventures – begins service with two inaugural voyages in April and May. She joins Maple Leaf’s other classic ships in the fleet. The first, Swell’s Maiden Voyage, […]