Ultimate Guide to Exploring Toba Inlet, BC (by Kayak!)
April 19, 2024
Looking to plan a sea kayaking trip to British Columbia’s beautiful Toba Inlet? This guide to paddling Toba Inlet has everything you need to know!
Why this blog? Hi there! My name is Maddy and I work as a coastal kayaking guide and writer, and have been since 2018. In 2022, I set out on a 70-day paddle trip up the inside of Vancouver Island! One of the regions we concentrated on exploring were the inlets and islands around Desolation Sound and the Redonda Islands. Toba Inlet was one of my favorite places that we spent time, and I’m happy to show you around!
Oh hey there! This blog contains affiliate links! That means if you choose to make a purchase, I make a small kickback at no additional cost to you.
How to visit Toba Inlet, British Columbia
From kayak trips to Wilderness Resorts, this is your ultimate guide to exploring British Columbia’s remote Toba Inlet!
Leave No Trace in Toba Inlet and Desolation Sound:
Toba Inlet and Desolation Sound are primarily on the cultural homelands of the Klahoose, Homalco, and Tla’amin First Nations. For this reason especially, it’s important to treat every site as a potential cultural or archeological site and minimize impact.
Take nothing from the environment with you, and leave nothing behind. Best practice is to pack out all trash, including food waste (bears are frequent in the area; cook with care).
It’s also important to note that this is a wilderness destination with no cell service for most of the journey, likely for days at a time. The area is subject to strong tidal currents, katabatic winds, and even tidal rapids. Consider booking a guided tour for a journey like this.
Where is Toba Inlet and how do I get there?
Toba Inlet is located at the northern limit of British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast! This is a wilderness destination, and it is for the most part boat-in or fly-in only. The nearest town is Lund, British Columbia. From Lund, it is about a minimum 2-3 days of kayaking through Desolation Sound and the Homfray Channel to reach the entrance of Toba Inlet, around 30 nautical miles.
Toba Inlet is located just outside of the official boundary of the Great Bear Rainforest.
To visit Toba Inlet, you’ll either want to paddle-in on a guided trip, or book a motorized boat and wildlife viewing excursion.
What makes Toba Inlet special?
Toba Inlet is a fjord in British Columbia best known for it’s dozens of large waterfalls cascading directly into the ocean and milky blue glacier fed waters. Toba Inlet is also an excellent area to see wildlife including grizzly bears, porpoises, humpback whales, orcas, intertidal life, otters, and more.
What to pack for a trip to Toba Inlet and Desolation Sound:
For a full list of what to pack for a kayaking trip, click here. In general, for any oceanside trip to British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest you should pack…
- Synthetic Puffy Jacket: highly packable, you want something that will pack down to nothing but add a lot of warmth at night.
- 3-5 pairs of Darn Tough Socks (min 1 pair worn, one for sleeping, one spare.)
- quick dry shorts
- One pair of long underwear (or just leggings that already have holes in them)
- Hiking pants; good for sun protection and keeping legs safe from rocks while hiking or paddling.
- 1 long sleeve wool baselayers top to wear, one to pack. I like Smartwool, it’s consistently had the most longevity of any baselayer I own.
- One fleece pullover, thin weight
- Camp Sandals for camp (alt: crocs). I recommend a good pair of hiking sandals; if you get blisters on the way in you can hike in these instead to give your feet a break.
Sea Kayaking Toba Inlet:
In my opinion, the best way to experience Toba Inlet is by multi-day sea kayaking trip. There is truly no feeling in the world quite like paddling up to the sheer cliffs and waterfalls and feeling small beneath them.
That said, sea kayaking to Toba Inlet has a number of hazards— cold water, tides, and of course, the extremely treacherous katabatic/anabatic winds (inflow and outflow winds), which can produce wind speeds strong enough to capsize a kayaker and waves as tall as six feet in height.
Note that katabatic winds are winds are not likely to appear on the marine forecast. Instead, know that katabatic winds are caused by gravity rapidly pulling high density cold air (like that at the tops of cool mountains) down a slope as the air at lower elevations heats.
Guided kayak expedition options for Toba Inlet:
Unless you have significant experience ocean and wilderness sea kayaking, I strongly recommend booking a guided tour for a trip like this! Here are a few options for a guided sea kayaking adventure of Toba Inlet:
Powell River Sea Kayak: Powell River Sea Kayak, based near Lund, offers two options to take you to Toba Inlet! The first option is a 6-Day Trip which will circumnavigate the Redonda Islands, entirely by kayak power. This trip will take you to the entrance to Toba, which is extremely scenic, and to some of the lovely campsites along Pryce Channel and West Redonda Island. This route has some of the best campsites, and is the area where I saw the most wildlife. The second option is a 7-Day trip that takes you up the Homfray Channel and into Toba Inlet. This route features impressive waterfalls and a water taxi back to beginning.
Coast Mountains Expeditions:For a longer, 8-day trip into Toba Inlet, Coast Mountains Expeditions based on Read Island (boat transport to their wilderness lodge included). This route heads up Pryce Channel and into Toba Inlet where boat-pick up and shuttle back to the lodge is arranged. Coast Mountains is also one of the only outfitters offering trips in to the significantly larger (and depending who you ask, more treacherous and more impressive) Bute Inlet.
Wildlife tours in Toba Inlet:
While sea kayaking is one of the most incredible ways to experience Toba Inlet there are also a few other options to experience Toba Inlet:
Klahoose Wilderness Resort: Klahoose Wilderness Resort is tucked away on the edge of the Homfray Channel and a First-Nations owned retreat. Accommodations are lodge rooms or cabins. Included with most stays is a 4-5 hour boat tour of Desolation Sound and Toba Inlet to look for wildlife including grizzly bears and whales! The resort has wifi, sauna, kayaks and SUPs, as well as rainforest hiking trails.
Homalco Wildlife and Cultural Tours:Full-day tour of Toba Inlet and wildlife departing from Campbell River, BC during grizzly season (August-October). Also First Nations owned and operated.
Looking for more sea kayaking destinations? Check out…
- Read all about sea kayaking the nearby Desolation Sound
- Sea kayak British Columbia’s Gulf Islands
- Looking for a US-based sea kayaking destination where you can see orcas? Head to the San Juan Islands
- Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands National Lakeshore is one of the best places in the world for sea kayaking sea caves! Check it out here!