Would you book a vacation based on a novel? Here’s what happened when I did

Article content

I’ve been wanting to go to Tofino for years, but it’s always been in the background as a “someday.” After reading Toronto author Carley Fortune’s newest bestselling book, Our Perfect Storm, I knew I had to go immediately. I assumed we’d missed the window for good weather, but September turned out to be an unexpectedly beautiful time to go after Tofino’s famously foggy “Fogust.”

Article content

In the book, the main character, Frankie, has just had a personal reckoning and takes a one-week trip to Tofino with her longtime best friend, George, who she hasn’t been close with in a while. George has created a well-researched itinerary with the goal of healing Frankie, using the magic of the Pacific Northwest.

Article content

Article content

My sister and I were eager to spend some uninterrupted quality time, since we don’t get as much of it now that we are adults with demanding jobs. Suddenly, George’s itinerary made a lot of sense to me. I couldn’t think of anyone I’d rather drag across the country for two days of Pacific Northwest healing.

Two days was all we could muster from our busy schedules, so it would have to work. After all, we were “utterly desperate for an adventure.” 

How to plan your own ‘Our Perfect Storm’ getaway

Stay at a beachfront cottage

The resort where Frankie and George stay, Moss & Stone, is technically fictional, but Fortune has said it was inspired by several real Tofino properties. The two-level cottage described in the book felt particularly similar to Long Beach Lodge Resort’s Rainforest Cottages.

Article content

Similar to the book, our cottage had a full kitchen, a large bedroom upstairs, a huge living area downstairs and its own private hot tub. The best part was that we could each have our own bed upstairs, with windows looking into the forest. It felt like a remote cottage in the woods, except we were 20 steps from the resort’s main building.

What made packing much easier was that the rooms were equipped with heavy-duty Helly Hansen rain jackets for use in case of wet weather. Luckily, we never needed to use them, but we would have been totally covered if needed. 

Like in the book, there were several great restaurants on-site where we ate most of our meals overlooking the beach. The main building, as described, had a warm and rustic feel, along with a mix of Indigenous artwork and photos of local wildlife. 

Fly in a float plane 

In the book, Frankie and George take a float plane before embarking on a hot springs tour. Having only one full day, we didn’t have time. However, we did get the float plane experience a different way. 

Article content

Upon booking our trip to Tofino, I was excited to rent a car and do the full road trip, but my carsick-prone sister was not keen. I didn’t think there was any other way to get there, but we were pleasantly surprised to find that we could take a 1-hour floatplane from Vancouver Airport’s south terminal directly to Tofino Harbour. 

I cannot speak highly enough about our Harbour Air experience. It was totally seamless and felt less like transport and more like an extension of our adventure between the scenic views and the laidback gate experience. Walking out to a plane on a dock trumps the packed Pearson gates any day. I truly didn’t understand just how many mountains there really were until we were above them. 

Take beach walks 

Staying right on the beach, similar to in the book, was my favourite part of this adventure. We were able to go on the most incredible beach walks on the hard sand in Cox Bay. But even better were the sunsets in the bay. We grabbed (my new favourite drink) a Phillips Dinosour Stone Fruit Sour beer and our towels, and would head down around 6:30 p.m. to get the full 7:30 p.m. sunset, staying for at least 30 mins after to see the fiery sky.

Article content

If we had a week, I would have loved to read a book down there, but we just used the time to yap while watching the mass of surfers in the foreground with nature’s best artwork behind them. 

Whale watch on a zodiac boat

This was an absolute must for me. I am a bona fide non-nature girl, so I knew if I had travelled all this way and was in the heart of the outdoors, I would need to get out of my comfort zone. 

There are so many options which made it overwhelming to choose, but luckily we got on a midday zodiac tour with Jamie’s Whaling Station. Beyond looking like he could walk out of a rom-com, our guide was also incredibly knowledgeable about the marine life. We have since regurgitated his endless facts about sea otters, sunfish and whales to everyone we know.

We saw nearly a dozen gray whales and, similar to Frankie, I also shed a little tear. I don’t actually know why, but it was overwhelming to be so close to something so incredible and such a stark reminder of how small and unimportant we really are. In a good way. 

Article content

Explore the town 

The town of Tofino is straight out of a movie. There are restaurants and shops, where almost on cue, every worker who clocked out would load their surfboard onto the top of their van barefoot and rush to wherever had the best waves of the day. 

We got our lay of the land from the women working at Surf Sister, a shop highlighted in the book. In the most West Coast fashion, the helpful staff shared where we could get surf lessons, find the best brunch and enjoy the Indigenous gallery where she recommended we “smoke a doobie” before popping into, even suggesting we grab a pillow at the Co-Op and sleep on the beach. 

Other highlights included the most flavourful fish and chicken tacos at Tacofino’s new in-town spot, the coffee at Rhino Coffee House, the oysters at Shelter and the most beautiful shop off the main drag, Merge. There were so many great and non-tacky souvenirs – I even bought a Tofino x Pacific Rim National Park shirt similar to what I imagine George’s Parks Canada shirt being like. 

Article content

Since our itinerary could only accommodate a few days in Tofino, we weren’t able to check every item off of George’s schedule. However, if you have more time in the area than my sister and I did, don’t miss these activities.

Relax in a floating sauna

Similar to the hot spring tour, booking a floating sauna was a more time-intensive activity that we simply couldn’t make work. If we had more time, this would have topped my list. But if the remoteness of the floating sauna makes your stomach turn, there are also incredible beach-side saunas available for two-hour rentals where you can create your own cold plunge with little run down to the ocean.  

Visit Ucluelet and Wickaninnish Inn

We didn’t have a car, and with the seasonal shuttle having ended a few weeks earlier, we relied on Tofino’s city bus, which runs roughly every 80 minutes. That made getting beyond town tricky, so Ucluelet and the Wickaninnish Inn were both a stretch, while the rainforest loop was completely out of reach without a car. We were devastated to miss the hike we’d been most excited about but, as we always say on trips, you have to save something for next time.

Article content

Take surfing lessons

Given that we had to walk or take the bus everywhere, we were getting nearly 20K steps a day, which made surfing a spectator sport for us this time. If you’re interested in trying your hand at surfing, there are several reputable spots for lessons, including Tofino Surf School, Pacific Surf Co., Swell Tofino and more. 

Most people don’t have a spare week to disappear to Tofino, so I’m glad we proved you don’t need one to experience the magic. Of course, we would have loved to stay longer, but even with just two days, we had an incredible trip.

We made friends everywhere we went, including a world-travelling couple from Germany, a British family visiting their daughter who lives in Whistler and a Belgian couple who were spending nearly a month in Canada travelling around the West Coast. Even as Canadians, we were amazed by it all. 

Everything from sitting on the beach to relaxing in our hotel room or waiting for the bus felt like part of the adventure. Tofino looks like the kind of place that was designed for a movie or a screensaver, and I’m glad that we got to live inside it, even if it was just for a few days.

See more Canoe on Google — save us as a Preferred Source.

Why trust us: We research, test and vet so you don’t have to. Learn more about our methodology or subscribe to our newsletter for the best of Canoe delivered to your inbox.

Article content