Day 4: Victoria - Summer Weather & (Not) a Whale Watching Tour

July 16, 2024

Day 4:

Due to jet lag, we are already awake at 7 AM and after a cozy breakfast, we set off towards Victoria. The sun is shining, the sky is blue, and the temperatures are no longer brisk even at 8 AM, with seaplanes buzzing over the campground every minute. Our Canadian neighbors, a retired couple, tell us that one can forget about sleeping in here - or one sleeps with earplugs...

Since we are already awake quite early, the planes do not really disturb us.

Because we are going whale watching this evening and don't want to carry a full backpack for each person (I have my camera bag with me), I make the huge mistake of wearing long pants....😬

We start walking from Salish CG to Victoria at 9 AM. It's a beautifully scenic path along the coast, with photo stops making it about a 1-hour leisurely walk.

Already, with each step, it is getting warmer. Wow, I should have checked the weather forecast...

The thick fleece jacket I have wrapped around me for the whale watching this evening does not help either...

We explore Chinatown, the waterfront, and when the temperatures climb to nearly 30 degrees around noon, we take refuge in the BC Museum - it has air conditioning! Wow, it is warm!!!

Did I mention that after my last, often really awful 'sweaty vacations' (I find anything over +25 degrees awful) in the Caribbean & Co., I wanted to have a summer vacation without sweating???

Okay, better than rain! 🤣🤣🤣

And since I had to convince my husband to take this tour for 15 years (he's the type who gets cold easily and it is cold with bad weather in the 'north'), the surprising summer weather is quite convenient (he can't complain 😛)

However, we are a bit disappointed with the BC Museum. The 'Canadian section', including Natural History with some aquariums, stuffed native animals, and a bit of 'History' (old western facades, etc.), is otherwise a huge exhibition on 'Stonehenge' and modern art on the upper floor.

We also watch the film 'Blue Whales' at the IMAX theater. It is really cool.

For lunch, we go to the Old Spaghetti Factory. They have a lunch menu - you can basically choose anything from the menu for a fixed price. Delicious! We treat ourselves to 3 courses and then stroll a bit along the waterfront, sitting in the shade in front of the Parliament building. We still have some time before heading out for the Sunset Whale Watching with BC Whale Tours. I chose BC Whale Tours because they offer the Sunset Cruise and travel by Zodiac (only 12 people). My husband requested 'something small & fast'. Hopefully, I will survive it thanks to Vomex.

At the whale watching counter (which is a bit off the beaten path compared to other providers like Prince of Whales, etc.), we receive our stylish red safety suits - swimming-all-weather suits. Very stylish 🤭

We start at 6:30 PM - there are only 7 people on board (the three of us and two couples) - and we chug out of the harbor. Yesterday, it was very windy in the evening, and there were decent waves in the harbor. But today, the weather is ideal, the sea is flat: perfectly calm!

Our guide explains that there are whales today in the passage between Vancouver and Vancouver Island; we need to 'drive quickly'. So, we turn on the engine and really race across the flat sea along the coast up to Swartz Bay. He stops, whales are in the distance, too far away, and he speeds up again. We've been on our way for an hour when the boat slows down. Oh, where are the whales? We all stare intently at the sea while we continue to chug along. Then there’s a loud hiss, the boat wobbles, and we stop. We still think we might see whales, but our guide announces: 'Sorry guys, the engine is broken!'

What??? Oh no, this cannot be true! The engine dies on us after 1 hour right in the middle of the sea

He radios multiple times with a colleague, and after several attempts, he gets one of the two engines running again and we chug very slowly all the way back along the coast to the harbor. We reach the harbor around 8 PM. Great.

Had a nice boat tour - unfortunately, we didn't see any animals 😥

Free boat tour without a whale. Money will be refunded. Such a pity, we were so looking forward to orcas...

After this unsuccessful attempt to see whales, we head home. We actually don’t want to walk back, but don’t see a taxi either. Maybe we can manage to get a taxi boat? On our way back, we position ourselves at the Victoria Harbour Ferry - Delta Ocean Point Pier and wave at a passing taxi boat. The nice gentleman in the taxi boat makes an exception for us since the boat usually only operates until 8 PM and we already have 8:30 PM

The 10-minute taxi boat to the campground and the harbor next to it is not exactly a bargain, however (10 $/person), but after nearly 20,000 steps, we are glad we don't have to walk the 5 km back to the campsite at this late hour

BC Whale Tours offers us a replacement tour via email in the evening, but it starts at 10:30 and is supposed to last for 4 hours. That is too late for us; we have planned another route for tomorrow - the journey continues...

While my husband and son are not very keen on whale watching, I am quite sad because I was really looking forward to seeing orcas.

I find the offer from Eagle Wing Tours online, also an 'open boat' and the tour starts at 9 AM and is supposed to go until 12:30 PM. Sounds great, since we can still manage our day tomorrow reasonably stress-free. Unfortunately, I just don’t check WHERE Eagle Wing Tours is located, as I assume it, like all other whale-watching tours, would be at the waterfront....

Will there still be something with whale watching tomorrow????