Maple Leaf Adventures offers a wild yacht-based heli-skiing trip to scratch the bucket-list itch, but if you’re seeking something more grounded and yet equally epic, you can’t beat its Haida Gwaii itineraries. On the eight-day trips, small catamarans with just a dozen cabins sail among the archipelago, formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands, passing remote beaches and old growth rain forests. You’ll get to immerse yourself in Haida culture past and present, hear stories of the Guardian Watchmen who protect the village sites, and explore memorial poles and the remains of big houses.
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Times Colonist
Gulf Islands expedition cruise a nature lover's dream
Fellow passengers and I gather for breakfast at the start of each day in the beautiful, varnished wood salon of the 111-year-old, retrofitted tugboat the Swell. It’s here our Gulf Islands National Park and Salish Sea expedition leader Michael Jackson tells us what to expect that day, sprinkling his talk with a fair bit of “ish.” As in, what time we’ll drop anchor and climb into the two zodiacs, bobbing behind the boat, for a shore outing. With so many variables at sea, our itinerary on Maple Leaf Adventures’ four day journey is fluid and guests quickly realize going with the flow has its benefits. So far, we’ve discovered something wonderful happens with every twist and turn. Like the time a nature hike to Salt Spring Island was dropped after two orcas appeared, and we happily spent the next hour whale watching instead.
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Calgary Herald
Maple Leaf Adventures expedition goes where “the magic takes us”
“No two trips are ever the same,” says Smith, with another grin. On this expedition, Vancouver Island’s Wild Side with Canadian Geographic, we go up and around the tip of Vancouver Island, spotting scores of eagles and whales — orcas, humpbacks and at least one minky — falling in love with sea otters frolicking with their young, and scanning shorelines for wolves and black bears. We go where few do: the top of the island, the windy west side and remote beaches where coastal wolves roam. We also feast on gourmet meals onboard the catamaran Cascadia, relax in the comfortable lounge (complete with a library) and enjoy each other’s company.
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The West Australian
Adventures on Vancouver Island
Our seven-day cruise is called Vancouver Island’s wild side, and by our first evening it’s already lived up to its name.
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The first thing you can do is go and experience the forest, one of the greatest tracts of rain forest left in North America. Our choice? Sail up the coast in a 92-foot schooner crewed by outfitter Maple Leaf Adventures. Travel up fjords in mind-bending solitude; stop to see grizzly bears, wolves, and whales; hike through ancient spruce and cedar; and explore remote First Nations villages. Maple Leaf Adventures employs First Nations guides, are members of 1% for the Planet, and, last year, donated 4 percent of their net revenues to conservation organizations.
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The Narwhal
Tons and tons of fishing equipment’: B.C. tour operators clean up ocean debris during coronavirus pandemic
Kevin Smith stands at the helm of his 42-metre luxury catamaran Cascadia, sailing north from Vancouver Island to the central coast of B.C. and the Great Bear Rainforest. On a typical trip, he would be guiding 24 guests on a week-long ecotourism expedition, sharing his love and intimate knowledge of the rugged B.C. coast — its wildlife, history and culture.
Today, Smith, co-owner of Maple Leaf Adventures, has no guests. Instead, he’s joined by eight other boats with a total of more than 100 crew members as he embarks on the second three-week expedition to clean up remote areas of the coastline supported by the B.C. government’s Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund.
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Condé Nast Traveler
In Northern Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, Salmon Is Everything
I had dreamed for decades of seeing a spirit bear—also known as a Kermode bear, a subspecies of black bear whose white fur is the result of a double-recessive gene—in the wild. I thought of what Marven Robinson, a Raven Clan member of the Gitga'at First Nation and owner of Gitga'at Spirit Tours, had told us. “Remember how you felt when you first saw a black bear, and remember how you feel when you see a white bear. Black bears intimidate, but white bears provide company.”
I was traveling with 11 fellow guests on Maple Leaf Adventures' eight-day Great Bear Rainforest expedition, which explores the straits, bays, and coves of British Columbia's Inside Passage.
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Los Angeles Times
For a ‘Swell’ time, try a tugboat cruise on British Columbia’s waterways
Here’s a little tugboat that could: The aptly named Swell, a classic restored tug built in 1912, is making two inaugural voyages this spring as the newest member of Maple Leaf Adventures’ fleet.
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Vogue
How to Explore Canada’s Haida Gwaii, the Galapagos of the North
There are only a handful of vessels licensed to bring guests into the park, but the most comfortable and comprehensive service is Maple Leaf Adventures. The company’s new ferry-grade Cascadia catamaran provides a surprisingly stable ride through the notoriously choppy Hecate Strait, and is currently the only ship of its class bringing guests into Gwaii Haanas. They also offer a similar Haida Gwaii itinerary aboard the Maple Leaf, a classic 92-foot sailing schooner—should you really want to get your Arya Stark on.
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The Telegraph
The secluded coast that was too wild for the Royal Navy – and why I can't wait to go back
Even if you’ve been to British Columbia in western Canada before, you have to set sail in Desolation Sound, as well as experiencing all the other memorable moments the island-speckled coast offers. And a new go-anywhere, script-free trip from Vancouver Island – with expedition cruise pioneers Maple Leaf Adventures, from Port Hardy – means it’s easier than ever to disconnect from Wi-Fi and get lost in the personal wilderness of the splintered Pacific coast.
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Stories
AFAR
Epic Trips That Give Back
Times Colonist
Gulf Islands expedition cruise a nature lover's dream
Calgary Herald
Maple Leaf Adventures expedition goes where “the magic takes us”
The West Australian
Adventures on Vancouver Island
National Geographic
10 Great Adventure Trips That Give Back
The Narwhal
Tons and tons of fishing equipment’: B.C. tour operators clean up ocean debris during coronavirus pandemic
Condé Nast Traveler
In Northern Canada's Great Bear Rainforest, Salmon Is Everything
Los Angeles Times
For a ‘Swell’ time, try a tugboat cruise on British Columbia’s waterways
Vogue
How to Explore Canada’s Haida Gwaii, the Galapagos of the North
The Telegraph
The secluded coast that was too wild for the Royal Navy – and why I can't wait to go back