World-class adventure close to home
Special anniversary plans in store for Victoria line’s flagship Maple Leaf
I always like to try to focus on different cruise lines and voyages that operate around the world, but there’s one unique company that operates close to home.
Headquartered in Victoria, Maple Leaf Adventures (mapleleafadventures.com) has been offering small-ship sailing adventures throughout British Columbia since 1986.
In 2012, the company was awarded the Parks Canada Sustainable Tourism Award for its promotion of Canada’s natural, cultural and esthetic heritage, while at the same time actively working to protect them. National Geographic Adventure ranked them one of the “Best Travel Companies on Earth.”
This year, the line’s flagship — the sleek 28-metre Maple Leaf — celebrates its 110th anniversary.
Lined with teak and accented with Edwardian touches, the wooden schooner is as much of a living piece of history as a comfortably modern way to see B.C.’s West Coast.
To celebrate more than a century of service, guests who book the company’s Vancouver Island & Great Bear Rainforest itinerary, departing April 23, and the Great Bear Rainforest and Kitlope cruise, departing May 2, will be treated to a $110 flight credit if their trip is booked prior to March 10.
Both of these featured voyages focus on the stunning natural beauty of British Columbia’s coast, as well as the extensive cultural history of the region.
It’s a part of the coast that most large cruise ships steam by on their way to Alaska during the summer months, but one that the Maple Leaf’s intimate size allows her to explore in-depth.
So unique are these Great Bear Rainforest itineraries that Frommers ranked them as one of their “Trips of a Lifetime,” while National Geographic included it as part of its “Best of the World” listings in 2013.
More new features are afoot for the coming cruise season.
This year, Maple Leaf Adventures has partnered with the Royal Canadian Geographical Society to create a series of intimate expedition cruises that explore Canada’s West Coast.
The program kicks off with an intimate, all-inclusive Great Bear Rainforest sailing departing on June 19, 2014 with acclaimed Canadian artist Robert Bateman and his wife, Birgit, as special guests.
Maple Leaf Adventures also offers sailings that explore some of the most pristine areas of Alaska, along with voyages to Haida Gwaii, Gulf Islands National Park, the Inside Passage, Discovery Islands and even the Galápagos Islands aboard a power yacht.
They also recently added a second sailing vessel, the 21-metre schooner Passing Cloud, to their fleet.