If We Do Something, We Do It Right

A Coastline for Experts

 
Great tidal exchanges, narrow passages, strong currents, uncharted reefs and islands, few aids to navigation, huge distances, and fjords that rapidly ascend to mudflats: navigating the BC and southeast Alaska coast is for expert mariners.
Add to that the millions of hectares of watersheds in their natural state, populations in some areas of large carnivores (who are not out to harm humans but who, if threatened by humans who don’t understand them, may protect themselves), cold water and big weather, and you also need expert guides ashore.

Ship Safety & Maintenance

Our ships are professionally operated, Canadian-registered, expedition ships. They are certified by Transport Canada as passenger carrying vessels. Even our small shore boats are Transport Canada certified.

This is the highest level of certification for a commercial vessel in Canada. Canada’s requirements are more stringent than those of most countries in the world.

The ships undergo scheduled, annual inspections by a series of Transport Canada inspectors. Our captains and first mates also perform daily inspections and planned maintenance during the operating season.

We have very high standards for equipment and maintenance. We buy the best equipment, and we maintain it in perfect condition.

Each ship has many redundant systems, emergency systems, first aid and lifesaving equipment, and communication methods.

Expert, Local Mariners

Our captains are very experienced on this coast.

In addition to being Transport Canada certified masters, they have many years’ experience navigating ships on this coast.

They also have many years’ experience working at Maple Leaf Adventures before they are considered candidates for captains or expedition leaders.

Our mates, engineers and other crew members also carry certification from Transport Canada.

 

Very Experienced Wilderness Guides & Crew

Our expedition leaders are exactly the kind of people you’d want to find yourself on a deserted island with.

Since you will find yourself on a deserted island with them (albeit with a ship anchored nearby), we hope you take great comfort from this.

They are capable outdoors-people, with decades of experience in coastal weather, geography, wildlife, wilderness living, and survival skills.

They are also genial leaders, able to give both wonder and confidence to their guests. Their certifications include advanced wilderness first aid for leaders, advanced bear guide training, CPR and other lifesaving skills, and years of training on how to work with guests on a Maple Leaf Adventures trip.

Our other crew/guides also have training in the coastal wilderness, first aid, bear guiding and working with guests.

 

Social Licence to Operate

Maple Leaf Adventures is a coast-owned and operated company. 

We have qualified for and purchased all of the permits and special use permits required to operate in park systems, including the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, the Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve, National Marine Conservation Area Reserve, and Heritage Site, the BC Parks system, and the Tongass National Forest.

We were also a proud pioneer and advocate in creating protocol agreements with First Nations communities in whose traditional territories we operate.

For decades we have held these economic and stewardship agreements. The agreements recognize another level of government, and their traditional territory. The agreements include fees paid to the local communities, enshrine our desire to work with cultural interpreters and other guides, and clarify our stewardship principles, which fit the First Nations’ governments’ stewardship principles for their territories.

We donate time and money to coastal conservation and to sustainable economic development initiatives.

And we maintain two pieces of Canadian maritime history – the Maple Leaf and the Swell – with no government grants or subsidies of any kind.

All of this means that our ships and their guests are welcomed all along the coast, in cities and villages, cultural sites and research outposts alike.

 

Environmental Safety and Protection

As an eco-tourism company, protecting our environment is one of our top priorities.

We build no structures and leave no trace in the places we visit.

We have many environmental protection systems aboard above and beyond those required by law.

 

Covid-19 Policies

Our top priority is ensuring the safety and health of the Maple Leaf Adventures guests and crew, as well as respecting the coastal communities we operate in.

As a professional ecotourism company that has been operating in our coastal home for over thirty years, we make decisions with long-term thinking. To ensure everyone’s safety throughout the trip, we have adjusted our policies and practices. As new information evolves, we will continue to adapt our policies.

Click here to read about our Covid-19 policies and practices.