Pacific Marine Circle – Rainforests, Beaches and more | Private VIP Tours | DMCi

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Tour Code: DM-PT YYJPACMARC

Duration: 9 Hours

Availability: All year

Places Visited: Victoria

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Highlights

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9-hours.
Luxury Sedan or SUV with driver cum guide. Larger vehicles also offered on demand.
Option of adding a Step-on-Guide (tour offered in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese).
Tour customized as per client's preferences and expectations.

The Pacific Marine Circle route is one of the world's greatest backroads. On this tour, you will comb endless beaches and immerse yourself in the inspiring ancient rainforests of 'Avatar Grove', surrounded by thousand-year-old, giant red cedars. Your drive today is full of wonders for all tastes from Victoria to Cowichan Lake via Port Renfrew. Discover the fantasy-world of lakes inhabited by faeries & lizards. Visit forges, glassworks, & pottery studios. Savour the craft flavours of the Pacific Marine Artisan Trail from Saltwest & Sheringham Distillery to your choice of three Sooke breweries and the memorable meads of Tugwell Creek.

Note: This tour is fully customizable. The points of interest that can be visited on a Walking Tour will depend on the clients desire and ability to walk in terms of distances and hours.

Please contact our Canada Destination Specialist for information and assistance.

Itinerary

Download Itinerary PDF

Victoria to Sooke

Driving Distance – 40 KM | 45 minutes

From Victoria, drive through the winding roads into Sooke. Here, take a break from the road to explore “where the rainforest meets the sea”; stretch your legs with a trek out to the geological wonder that is the Sooke Potholes, or set out on a scenic shoreline walk along Whiffin Spit – extending between the Sooke Harbour and Juan de Fuca Strait. Exploring all that Sooke has to offer.

At Sooke Potholes Provincial Park, explore the geological marvels carved deep in the bedrock from the last ice age. Here, there is an abundance of hikes and walks that offer views of the jagged coastline and inspiring vistas of Juan de Fuca Strait and the Olympic Mountains. Fishing enthusiasts can enjoy catch-and-release fishing along the Sooke River, an important spawning river for coho and chinook salmon. The park is an ideal place to watch the annual salmon-spawning run in the fall.

At the end of your exploring, relax over a pint at one of Sooke’s three craft breweries, or treat your taste buds to a new experience at Western Canada’s first meadery. A visit to the Sooke Region Museum is always recommended. You may also experience fine dining at Sooke Harbour House—an award-winning west coast restaurant that only uses local ingredients.

Sooke to Port Renfrew

Driving Distance – 71 KM | 1:30 hours

From Sooke, we continue to Port Renfrew, home of both the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail and the historic West Coast Trail. This is one of the most scenic and “wildest” legs of the route, be sure to leave time for stops along the way. Recommended stops along the way include Jordan River, China Beach, Mystic Beach, Sombrio Beach, Botanical Beach and Juan De Fuca Provincial Park. We recommend a stop in Jordan River to watch the surfers catch two- to ten-foot waves.

On this part of your tour, between Jordan River and Port Renfrew, signs will guide you to campgrounds and the entry points for hikes along the 47-km/29-mi Juan de Fuca Marine Trail - good for day hikers and overnight trekkers alike.

Port Renfrew to Lake Cowichan

Driving Distance – 62 KM | 1:30 hours

The Port Renfrew to Cowichan route is where you really get to test your wilderness mettle. The road in this section is a former logging route, recently paved over to encourage Vancouver Island visitors to venture through the threading road surrounded by tall trees and rushing waterfalls. A note of caution: there’s no cell service along this portion of the route.

We will make a quick detour to visit Avatar Grove. This magical clutch of old-growth is where you’ll discover some of the Island’s oldest old-growth forest – Western Red Cedar and Douglas Fir giants – including Canada’s Gnarliest Tree and a bit further down the road, Big Lonely Doug.

The winding forest road will eventually deliver you into Lake Cowichan – a charming town on the lake and popular tourist destination for swimming, fishing and (most famously) floating down the Cowichan River on a tube on a hot summer’s day.

Lake Cowichan to Duncan

Driving Distance – 29 KM | 30 minutes

Just a short drive from Lake Cowichan, is Duncan, a.k.a “The City of Totems,” is a great stop for a walkabout and a cultural experience. you may want to take a short detour off the highway towards downtown and wander through over 40 magnificent carved totems that each depict a unique story told by the Indigenous people. The newest edition is the Sesquicentennial Totem in Station Street Park (carved by Tommy Hunt Jr. from the Kwakwaka’wakw First Nation) erected to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday. In between totems, explore the town’s boutique clothing shops, book shop and, if you’re in town on a Saturday, the Duncan Farmers’ Market.

Duncan to Cowichan Bay

Driving Distance – 9 ½ KM | 15 minutes

Leaving Duncan behind, we head over to Cowichan Bay on the East Coast of Vancouver Island. This small maritime town is the first “Cittaslow” village in North American; a network of towns and villages in over 28 countries, and an offshoot of the Slow Food Movement founded in Italy. Cowichan Bay offers the opportunity to truly “slow down and savour life”: pay a visit to an Old World-style bakery, True Grain Bread, explore Indigenous art at the Arthur Vickers Gallery or call it a day in the car and hop onto a zodiac for whale watching tour with Ocean Ecoventures.

Cowichan Bay to Sidney

Driving Distance – 74 KM | 1 hour

From Cowichan Bay, head to Sidney, the last leg of your tour today. A quick detour is recommended enroute to Sidney, via the Kinsol Trestle. Here you will find an iconic landmark of Vancouver Island, one of the tallest free-standing timber trestles in the world. Standing 44-metres tall and spanning 187-metres, it is part of The Great Trail spanning across the country. Get the whole story about this historical landmark at the Shawnigan Lake Museum before heading back to the Malahat Highway, with a stop at the Malahat Summit to take in stunning views of the Saanich Inlet and the Cowichan Valley.

You will also get to experience here gorgeous views of the Malahat Mountain.

The quaint Sidney-by-the-Sea is a seaside village with plenty to do. It is the perfect destination to wrap up your road trip by spending some time on the water – whether that’s kayaking, fishing, diving or whale watching with Sidney Whale Watching. If ypu are more inclined to terra firma, venture out to Sidney’s twelve bookstores or quench your thirst at the local wineries, breweries or distillery.

Sidney to Victoria

Driving Distance – 27 KM | 30-minutes

From Sidney, drive back to your hotel in downtown Victoria.

Tour ends on arriving at your hotel in downtown Victoria.

Contact our Canada Destination Specialist

Inclusions

9-hour customized private tour – door to door.
Driver cum Guide.'
Option of adding a Step-on-Guide (tour offered in English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Dutch, Greek, Mandarin, Cantonese).
Complimentary hotel pick-up and drop-off in Downtown Toronto.
Gratuities for Driver cum Guide.
Taxes & GST.

Exclusions

Airfare. Offered as a supplement on request.
Accommodations.
Travel Insurance – highly recommended. We require clients to provide us a signed Waiver in the event your client opts to decline your offer to sell Travel Insurance. DMCI Inc. sells Manulife Travel Insurance. Please check with us for rates.
Additional Hours driven over 9 hours will be billed to client directly.
Gratuities for Tour Guides/Driver cum Guides (Expected)
If applicable, cost of any RTPCR/Antigen Test or costs related to quarantine.