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PORT HARDY BRITISH COLUMBIA - Travel & Tourism Accommodations, Activities, Attractions, Restaurants & Information Port Hardy BC Links |
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| Accommodations | Activities | Transportation | Restaurants | Services | Why go to Port Hardy |
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Port Hardy is situated on the east coast of northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia and it is accessible by land, sea or air. It is the largest town on the north end of the island. By
Vehicle:
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Ferry:
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Waterfront Park Port Hardy British Columbia |
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Spectacular Waterfront View Port Hardy BC |
Take the Circle Tour from the Sunshine Coast to comox. It offers four ferry/highway routes linking the Comox Valley with the Mainland and lower Vancouver Island and provides discounted ferry fares. Tsawwassen
(Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (Victoria) Princess
Marguerite: Seattle to Victoria Fly
to Port Hardy: Port
Hardy is the closest Commercial Airport providing flights to Vancouver,
Victoria, Nanaimo and many coastal communities. Air Carriers:PACIFIC COASTAL AIRLINES
Pacific Coastal also offers a convenient service to and from Vancouver. Call 1-800-663-2872 for schedules and reservations. WestJet
Airlines operates non-stop flights between Comox and Calgary,
with connections to other WestJet serviced airports out of Calgary.
Call 1-888-937-8538 or 1-800-538-5696 for schedules and reservations. Travel by Bus (Coach) Island
Coach Lines By
Boat If you are staying locally and need transportation to the airport or Ferry Terminal to Prince Rupert, call North Island Transportation at 250-949-6300. They are located at 7210 Market Street, Port Hardy V0N 2P0. Their email is nit6300@telus.net Port Hardy is the northern most port for the Ferry to Prince Rupert ferry and the Discovery Coast Passage ferry to Bella Coola. During the summer season hotels and motels filled to capacity. Accommodation facilities currently provide 400 plus hotel and motel rooms, three campsites, numerous bed and breakfasts and a variety of eating establishments. Market Street is where you can browse through the many stores and shops. Keep an eye out for the original David Courtenay landscape mural on the north side of the Museum/Library complex on Market Street. Market street is dominated by flowers and trees. If you stroll the waterfront you will see a busy working harbour, where fish boats, cruise ships, tug boats and seaplanes come and go. The BC Ferry Terminal is just across Hardy Bay near the bulk oil plant. If you venture to Fisherman's Wharf you will observe the fish processing plants, busily taking up the summer catch. The seawall walk goes to the Rotary and Kinsmen Parks. Watch for ancient petroglyphs on the flat rocks on the beach and then continue up Park Drive to the Gwa'Sala'Nakwaxda'xw Tribal Council's big house project. Local attractions include the Port Hardy Museum, Seven Hills Golf Course, logging and forestry tours and salmon hatchery tours. Port Hardy is the centre of a thriving renaissance in the art and culture of the Kwakiutl Indians, world renowned for their magnificent masks and dances. Next to Port Hardy is Fort Rupert, an historic Kwakiutl Village where the opportunity exists to see native carvers working on totem poles or other artifacts. Fort Rupert is the site of a former Hudson's Bay Company fort. Petroglyphs, though difficult to find, do exist on the sandstone formations in the higher tidal zones below the old Hudson's Bay Fort site.
Port Hardy is the door way to Cape Scott Provincial Park at the very northern tip of the island. Cape Scott is known for its wilderness hiking trails. Visitors can explore Winter Harbour and San Josef Bay, a community built by Danish settlers at the turn of the century, or Coal Harbour, the site of an old whaling station. The North Island is also fast becoming the centre for whale watching on Johnstone Strait where the legendary killer whales (Orcas) come to rub themselves on the stony shores of Robson Bight. The
waters around Port Hardy have some of the most spectacular underwater
scenery on the Pacific coast and abundance of marine life, some
of the best visibility on Vancouver Island and some great locations
like Browning Passage, Stubbs Island, Christie Pass and Quatsino
Narrows which attract divers from all over the world. You will
see basket stars, strawberry corals, sea pens, many varieties
of nudibranches, sea cucumbers, seals, sea lions, wolf eels plumose
anemones and much more in North Island waters. The North Island
also has shipwrecks and sunken cargo ships. North Island charter
firms in and around Port Hardy, provide a range of services including
compressed air, gear rental, boats, divemasters and tour guides.
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