Cascadia: More accessibility for adventure travel

New Expedition Yacht Cascadia’s First Season Gives Adventure Travellers Unparalleled Access to Remote Wonders of Canada’s Wild West Coast

Benefits go both ways when experienced travellers fall in love with British Columbia’s coastline and wildlife, and are introduced to Indigenous people’s venerable homeland and culture.

Photo: Jeff Reynolds / Maple Leaf Adventures

Victoria, BC, August 7, 2019 — Maple Leaf Adventures’ new boutique expedition yacht, now half-way through its inaugural season, is delivering on its promise to provide a unique, high-end adventure travel experience in hard-to-reach parts of Canada’s wild west coast.

The company acquired Cascadia, a 138-foot catamaran for up to 24 guests, in 2017 to meet the growing demand among affluent travellers to explore Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest and Haida Gwaii, among other west-coast destinations. Offering safaris by water (known as expedition cruises), Cascadia compliments other ecotourism boats in the region, because she caters to a higher-end client and traveller who prefers the space and amenities of larger yacht.

Photo: Philip Stone / Maple Leaf Adventures

Cascadia’s expedition design also allows her to access remote, rarely visited areas where no other tour operators are offering trips, such as Vancouver Island’s storied northwest coast and Brooks Peninsula. A priority with all of Maple Leaf Adventures’ experiences is an authentic connection with the Indigenous people of Canada, as guests travel through their territories. Each trip is fully guided, and Indigenous guides are welcome onboard along the routes to share the story of their culture and land.

Maple Leaf Adventures’ analysis also shows the following trends from Cascadia‘s first season to date:

Accessibility: Her spacious decks and interior, plus her well-designed tenders and disembarking points, enable older guests to travel to areas of the coast they once thought were unattainable. Typically trips in these regions require being able to clamber in and out of zodiacs and up the sides of ships to go ashore and return. While Cascadia’s trips are not for people of failing health or mental abilities, she does allow older adventurous spirits to reach, for example, the UNESCO World Heritage Site at SGang Gwaay.
Embraced by High Net Worth Travellers: As affluent travellers are discovering the enriching experience of adventure travel in general, and the intimacy of expedition cruises in particular, demand is increasing for an upscale option to visit the natural and cultural wonders of Canada’s west coast. Cascadia is the first ship that offers both luxury and the special access and knowledge that comes with true expeditions. Her inaugural trips, which included many high-net-worth veterans of luxury safaris, were very highly rated by these travellers.
Superb Performance in New, Wild and ‘Unvisited’ Coastlines: As a boutique-sized vessel, Cascadia can nimbly access the BC coastline’s tiny coves and reef-strewn waterways to take her guests to the many wonders the coast offers. As a rugged catamaran, she is seaworthy enough to explore remote locations such as Brooks Peninsula and northwestern Vancouver Island. This allows Maple Leaf Adventures to develop new, off-the-beaten-track itineraries with plenty of surprises for its well-travelled guests.

Photo: Philip Stone / Maple Leaf Adventures

Maple Leaf Adventures is a veteran of ecotourism on the coast, and Cascadia is its third ship, following the launch of the Maple Leaf (115-year-old, fully restored tall ship) in 1986, and Swell (a 107-year-old, renovated tug) in 2015. And while Cascadia is a luxury experience, it is also an authentic ecotourism experience. As a locally owned company, Maple Leaf Adventures employs a 100% Canadian crew, and all of its trips benefit the region’s nature, wildlife and communities. Furthermore, guests are often changed and deeply moved by their experiences, and continue to support conservation and cultural initiatives into the future, as a result of their trips.

Photo: Greg Shea / Maple Leaf Adventures

Cascadia’s trips run from April through October each year in Haida Gwaii, Great Bear Rainforest and Vancouver Island regions. Fall 2019 trips include the fjords and wildlife of Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest in September and October. Cascadia’s experiences start at an all-inclusive Cdn $6020 plus tax for 7 days. Early booking special offers for 2020 are available on our website. More information may be found at www.MapleLeafAdventures.com + 1-250-386-7245.

Photo: Scott Forsyth / Maple Leaf Adventures

About Maple Leaf Adventures

Selected for Canada’s “Signature Experiences Collection” by the Canadian Tourism Commission, Maple Leaf Adventures has provided conservation-focused, big adventures aboard small ships since 1986. With a reputation as one of Canada’s top sustainable tour operators, its multi-day excursions give guests one-of-a-kind experiences in some of the most beautiful and rare places in the world, often in areas that were once under threat of destruction or in dire need of protection. In 2012, Maple Leaf was awarded the Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award, for promoting the appreciation of Canada’s natural, cultural and aesthetic heritage, while also protecting them. As a long-time practitioner of ecotourism, Maple Leaf Adventures pioneered travel in BC’s Great Bear Rainforest and northwestern Vancouver Island and has made significant contributions to conservation. National Geographic Adventure has rated Maple Leaf Adventures one of the “Best Adventure Travel Companies on Earth”. For more information, visit www.MapleLeafAdventures.com.

View a video of a summer trip aboard Cascadia: