Location: Port Renfrew
Top Things to do in Port Renfrew
Top Restaurants in Port Renfrew
Countries
10 Things to Do in Port Renfrew That You Shouldn't Miss
Port Renfrew is a community on the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada, located about a 2-hour drive west of Victoria, British Columbia. Port Renfrew is the western terminus of the Juan de Fuca Trail.
Restaurants in Port Renfrew
1. Botanical Beach Provincial Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 198 reviews
Reviewed By MandMUrban - Toronto, Canada
Two and a half km loop walk takes you through the rainforest and down to the beach. You can look across the ocean to the edge of the world. Massive driftwood has been assembled by industrious folk into shelters or sculptures. Lots of shells, seaweed and interesting tide pools.
2. Avatar Grove
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 75 reviews
Reviewed By John C
If you make it to Port Renfrew, visit Avatar Grove.
Stunning forest with some huge old trees that will take your breath away.
The road is rough but if you take it slow cars can make the trip with ease.
Be prepared for all types of weather.
If you are a serious photographer, take your tri-pod, it will be worth it.
3. Sombrio Beach
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 33 reviews
Reviewed By islandstyle49 - Cumberland, Canada
Such a great escape from civilization with surfers and great falls. I miss the old surf shacks back in the early days before it came a official park. Terrible drive and hike when wet but so worth the views. Nice private oasis for romance too.
4. Jolly Rogers Adventures
Overall Ratings
5 based on 1 reviews
Reviewed By fayo400 - Surrey, Canada
I've fished with John Rogers for 10+ years. He's safe, accommodating, good humoured and a great teacher. If you to catch fish have a few laughs and see some whales he's the guy you want guiding your next salmon, halibut, ling cod, snapper fising trip.
5. Big Tree Tours
Overall Ratings
5 based on 8 reviews
Enjoy a guided day trip to see Port Renfrew's biggest trees, coastal Beaches, and incredible wildlife with renowned nature photographer TJ Watt. Visit the Avatar Grove, San Juan Spruce, Red Creek Fir, Sombrio Beach, and more! Transportation included. Seasonal operation.
Reviewed By KevinF707 - Healdsburg, California
Exploring the wiles of Vancouver Island with Big Tree Tours is a fabulous was to spend a day. We visited Vancouver Island recently (Aug, 2016) looking to get off the beaten path - Big Tree Tours, in the person of TJ Watt was our guide and what an incredible day. Exploring amazing Beaches & tide pools with someone as delightful and informed as TJ was a blast but the highlight was visiting the groves of old growth trees that TJ and his colleagues from Ancient Forest Alliance was a major highlight. The giant gnarly cedars were unbelievable, TJ's knowledge of the trees and skills as a professional photographer make this a "must do" activity in my opinion.
6. No Bananas Fishing Charters
Overall Ratings
5 based on 8 reviews
Reviewed By deewar25 - Victoria, Canada
Went out for one of several annual boys trips booked with No Bananas. The guy lives eats, sleeps, and breathes fishing and puts on an incredible show out there. Port Renfrew has big fishing grounds and it takes incredible knowledge to know where to be at the right time - he always seems to be at that place even in times when other fisherman come back empty. His boat is perfect for the big waters, plenty of height, plenty of space, well equipped with full walk around ability, and you can be out there in 10 foot seas and still feel totally safe.
Our trip this time around started out at the beach and it was almost immediate action one after another with barely 5-10min between hits. This continues out on the banks running plugs with even larger non-stop salmon to mid 20's and while the halibut wasn't as easy this time around, rarely is that a battle.
The other thing I appreciate is that Trevor doesn't keep everything secret, he will gladly educate and show you what he is doing, leader lengths, bait rigging, rolls, he is patient and a great instructor. What blows you away is the ease with what he does out there. The wind can be howling, the rain pouring, it could be cold and miserable and his fingers are like prunes, but he is still out there baiting lures like a pro and putting in 100% dealing with whatever bit of chaos gets thrown his way while still getting you into fish.
If you are fishing the big waters of Renfrew, you have to go out on a boat that is sea worthy, with a charter that knows exactly what he is doing. There are some great charters out there, but Banana's would be my #1 choice. Just remember....no bananas!
7. McKenna Sportfishing
Overall Ratings
5 based on 4 reviews
Kevin has been fishing his whole life and is located in Port Renfrew BC and fishing off the west coast of Vancouver Island. With over 20 years of professional fish guiding experience Kevin would love to share his knowledge of the waters with YOU!
Reviewed By Rob M
Our trip with Kevin was Fantastic ! , He does his homework know where the fish are and its not just lip service . We came in with our limited of Halibut while the rest of the fleet was coming in with hunched shoulders ....and...MoreThank you so much for the review! Hope to see you and your family again for fishing, and I will do my absolute best for you.
8. Carmanah Walbran Provincial Park
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 5 reviews
Reviewed By Jenelle K - Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
This park is truely one of the Island's gems. The board walks are flat and easy to navigate to the beautiful trees that are hundreds of years old. The mist through the trees gives the place an ethereal quality. The places makes you stop and appreciate the beauty of our world. There is camping along the river looks beautiful with incredibly clear water. It takes 2 hours to get to by gravel road from Gordon Bay in Cowichan. We only used 2 wheel drive on our 4x4 truck but it was definitely rough. No service anywhere either so be prepared and fill up your gas in Cowichan or bring a jerry can. Worth the trip!
9. Vicious Fish Charters
Overall Ratings
5 based on 3 reviews
Join Captain Des Hatchard for a great day's fishing for up to 8 guests. Our two welded aluminum boats are set up with your comfort, safety, and fishing success in mind -- built to the latest Coast Guard standards, equipped with a head (toilet), and decked out with all the latest electronics, i.e., radar, colour fish finder, and GPS plotter.We depart from Port Renfrew daily.
Reviewed By VicBCRes - Victoria, BC
We had family from out of town visiting who wanted to try their luck with salmon fishing. It was a rainy morning and Des got us all suited in rain gear before we headed out. We were travelling with two little girls who were able to sit inside keep warm, dry and play at the table. Very quickly I could see Des has this fishing thing down. Rods were into the water with ease and salmon on the line very quickly. It was a great treat for my niece to see what a fish of some weight feels like on the line. We had a great time and the out of towners were very happy with their "catch". And nice for us girls to have a bathroom on board.
10. Marcus Kennett Fishing Charters
Overall Ratings
5 based on 2 reviews
Reviewed By seattlefamily82 - Seattle, WA
I'd never been to Port Renfrew, but I fish a lot in the Puget Sound and on the west coast of Vancouver Island, so I planned a trip with my father-in-law and two sons to Port Renfew. We booked a one day halibut/salmon trip with Marcus and were very pleased. I've worked with plenty of guides and Marcus was friendly, easy to work with, and worked very hard for us. One reason I chose him was we wanted to go out to the Swiftsure Banks which are about an hour out towards the Pacific and Marcus runs a very nice 26' Glacier Bay Catamaran (called "Bad Dog"). I'd never fished on one, but heard they they were very stable. Not only was Bad Dog stable, it was also very fast. We got out to the bank much faster than many boats would. We spent the day on the bank fishing first for halibut and then for salmon. Two of us got halibut, not huge, but great to have. The bonus was we caught several pretty big true cod, which Marcus said he hadn't seen on the bank for about eight years. When we switched to salmon, he was able to run four lines (stacked on his two downriggers) which meant we had a lot of chances for salmon. We worked at it and they weren't huge, but we limited for four people (2 chinook each) which isn't easy. Marcus seemed to know the other guides and have good rapport with them (which can help when looking for the fish). And when we came back to the dock, quite a few people were impressed by our wheelbarrow full of fish which meant we had done better than most. Marcus referred us over to a processor who would fillet, portion, vac-pack, and freeze our catch. A good time was had by all. I can definitely recommend Marcus.
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