Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc. provides tours specifically designed with seniors and families in mind. You’ll find the Eco tours fully narrated and chock-full of fantastic information.
This tour company caters to your specific needs and offers you something extraordinary. No matter which tour you decide on, lasting memories will be provided.
The Company
Gary and Ronda Murdock started the company in 1999 to share their passion of nature. Naturalists and environmentalists at heart, they have a keen interest in protecting and preserving the beauty around us.
The possibility of opening an Eco Tour company on Vancouver Island came to fruition during a trip to Sedona, Arizona, where several like it exist. Thankfully for us, the dream became a reality.
Over the years, tours have changed and expanded to accommodate guests wishes. The addition of photography and science experts who now also guide, only enhance the adventures.
The Eco Tours
Whether you are seeking a forest bathing experience, learning about our natural history, or birding and photography, expect an easy walking highly interpretive tour.
Tours are offered year-round and all depart from Parksville.
All tours use safe physical distancing to accommodate current COVID-19 restrictions. This means you will use your own vehicle to travel to the tour destinations. Likewise, you are required to bring your own binoculars and water.
Nature Tours
- Forest Bathing – Take a gentle walk in an ancient forest with old-growth trees and native plants and absorb the healing ambience.
- Amazing Places – This informative tour includes some well known Parksville and Qualicum Beach locations and some less known natural wonders
- Salish Sea Tidepools – Heighten your understanding with an experienced guide to one of the most scenic and secluded shores on Vancouver Island.
- Wildwood Eco-Forest – Learn about the history of Wildwood along with First Nation and European settlement history of the area.
- Ancient Forest Nature Tour – Visit Parksville beach, Coombs, Cameron Lake and Cathedral Grove in this four-hour tour.
- Salmon Forest – Trek into a rare Sitka Spruce grove including viewing the third tallest recorded in BC.
- Salmon Spawning – See the returning migration of salmon struggling upstream for the survival of the species. There’s also a great chance you’ll see lots of other wildlife too (raptors, heron, and maybe even black bear). Please note, this tour is only offered in September, October and November.
- Birding Tour – Visit local birding hot spots with expert bird guide, Christopher Stephens.
The Bird Tour
Having to spend a lot more time at home during the past few months made my backyard bird fascination skyrocket. Therefore, I knew this tour would be perfect for me…and it was.
With a masters in science, Christopher’s passion for nature, birds and animals in general shines through. He is a wealth of knowledge and has a delightful quirky sense of humour to boot.
Not only did Christopher share information about the birds we were seeing that day, but upon mentioning a vague description of birds in my own backyard, he was able to help me identify them too.
We visited five birding hot spots in Parksville and saw a vast variety of birds. Three out of the five locations were places I shamefully didn’t even know existed! One of which is the Parksville Wetlands, a remarkable area that provides some of the best birding opportunities on Vancouver Island.
If you are at all interested in learning about our local and migratory birds, I highly recommend booking a bird tour with Christopher.
Although I haven’t tried any of the other tours provided by Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tour Inc., I have a feeling they will all be as delightful as my recent bird tour. And if my review alone hasn’t convinced you, I am sure the countless other positive testimonials on their website will.
And the best part is, the Eco tours provided are a safe and fun way for locals and tourists alike to learn about and enjoy nature on Vancouver Island!
More Vancouver Island Tours
I have had the privileged of working with several Vancouver Island tour companies over the years, and have many that I recommend. You can find them all in the menu tab above under Guided Tours.
*The Bird Tour was generously donated by Gary and Ronda of Pacific Rainforest Adventure Tours Inc. Opinions are my own.
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