TAKEN BY STORM
Fascination with roiling waves and wild weather gives boost to B.C.’s off-season tourism,
NEW YORK— Growing up on Vancouver Island’s remote Pacific coast, Charles McDiarmid prayed each winter for storms. Great big storms that lashed at the windows and sent roiling waves exploding toward the heavens, which a young McDiarmid would watch starry-eyed from the warm confines of his family’s battened-down cabin in Tofino, B.C. Because of the geography of this rocky stretch and the openness of the sea around it storms can roll in with the ferocity of a Category 1 hurricane. In such moments, nine-metre logs, normally parked on the beach, easily rise on the crests of 7.5-metre waves before slamming into the beach and surrounding bedrock.
“Those logs become giant tuning forks, and you hear a very low bass sound, which travels through the shrieking sound of wind and waves,” McDiarmid said. “There’s nothing like being in a giant storm.”
McDiarmid opened the Wickaninnish Inn in 1996 with this churning spectacle in mind. Although storm-watching was long a pastime of British Columbia locals, the hote- lier’s move unintentionally gave birth to a storm-watching region that today stretches from Tofino to Port Renfrew 130 kilometres to the south. This year, local businesses are anticipating the busiest winter season yet.
At the Wickaninnish, the main idea is to watch a storm from the safe and dry confines of the inn. Rooms are outfitted with hurricane-proof glass. Each room features a gas fireplace and a soaking tub pressed against the Pacific-facing window. Guests find a complimentary flagon of port wine in their rooms upon check-in.
Those who do wish to venture outside will find storm gear in their closets. One call to the front desk, and sized-to-fit rubber boots will materialize; the main dining room has an electric boot-and-coat dryer.
“When the Wickaninnish first opened, McDiarmid said it enjoyed 30-per-cent to 35-per-cent occupancy during storm-watching season, roughly from November to March. This year, he anticipates 60-per-cent to 65-per-cent occupancy.
That success seems to have had an effect on other accommodations in Tofino. Among the town’s larger hotels, occupancy during prime storm-watching season has increased steadily over the past five years, said Samantha Fyleris, the marketing manager for Tourism Tofino.
Nearby Ucluelet, B.C., another old trading port, is also seeing a tourism bump. Kevin Bradshaw, the operator of Hello Nature Adventure Tours, said this was the second year his company would offer a two- hour Winter Storm Watch tour; he guides parka-clad trekkers to safe but spectacular spots to view nature’s fury. They include a rocky outcropping known as the Blowhole, which propels storm-driven water skyward like a geyser.
Bradshaw said that few tourists storm-watched in Ucluelet five years ago, but “the bigger resorts like Black Rock every weekend are sold out now.” Also in Ucluelet, the First Nations-owned-and-operated Wya Point Resort made a commitment for its cabins to stay open year-round two years ago; this month, the resort’s on-site yurts were outfitted with gas fireplaces to accommodate off-season visitors. Tourism Ucluelet declined to cite specific figures, but said the town’s revenue from a hotel tax has grown 10 per cent or more year over year since 2014.
“Tourism Ucluelet has really focused our efforts to grow the shoulder and off-season; it is gradually coming to fruition,” said Denise Stys-Norman, the executive director of Tourism Ucluelet.
“Storm watching stimulates all of your senses,” she said. “You can feel the power and energy move through the ground; you hear the roar and impact of the waves; and you feel the gentle mist on your face. It really is a unique experience to be had along the Wild Pacific Trail.”