Bamfield

Bamfield is an interesting settlement. Spanning two sides of Bamfield Inlet, the “action” is on the West Side but road access and more services are on the East side. We like to spend our time on the West side.

We always enjoy walking on the boardwalk from the public dock to the Bamfield Mercantile grocery store. Along the way, you pass tidy homes - many with private boat docks - the magical fairy kingdom and even the no longer active feral cat community homestead. Bamfield has character.

The biggest downside with Bamfield is there is almost no available transient moorage for a boat our size in season. It’s all about fishing, and the fishermen consume the available moorage. We even wrote to the harbour mistress four weeks before our visit and she said she was booked until September 5th.  So unlike our previous 2 visits, we had to anchor.

Though many anchor in the Inlet off McKay Lodge, it was crowded and really a bit manic with all the fuel dock traffic and sport fishing boats. So, we chose to anchor in Inner Bamfield Inlet behind Rance Island. It is very peaceful, with the occasional passing sportfishing boat. The Inlet is lined with impressive docks and homes, though none of the homes are intrusive on the anchorage.  There is money coming into Bamfield judging by the homes up in the hills under construction!

The entrance is narrow, but well charted, and the Inner Inlet has good holding in 25 feet. The other consideration when entering this inlet is the overhead power lines at the entrance. The published clearance is 56 feet (Karen swears it is less based on her observation of OceanFlyer going under the wires), so this is not an option for some sailboats. It is a mile dinghy ride back to the Bamfield Mercantile store, but we found the peace and quiet well worth it. Not to mention the 3 bears we saw at low tide, including a Mom and Cub.

oceanflyer anchored in Inner Bamfield Inlet looking back toward bamfield

The only issue with anchoring is finding a place to tie up your dinghy when you want to explore West Bamfield. There is no dedicated dinghy dock. The general store allows you to tie up for 20 minutes to go shopping, but they don’t want you to tie up long enough to explore Bamfield. If you can find an unused, unreserved space on the public dock, you can tie up there, but our first day we could not find any place open. A nice small fishing boat that was leaving for two hours, saw our plight, and offered us their spot while they were away. Amazing!

As for dining in Bamfield…we visited the Pacific Gateway Lodge for lunch. Located at the entrance to Bamfield Inlet on the West side, they have their own dock and encourage visitors to tie up for lunch. You can walk up a steep hill or get a ride in one of their golf carts up to the lodge that overlooks Trevor Channel. The view is stunning. The food is just OK.

the dock at Pacific Gateway Lodge

the M/V lady rose heads out of bamfield as viewed from Pacific Gateway Lodge

the Bamfield Wreckage is good eats in Bamfield

However, there is a new game in town, the Bamfield Wreckage. It’s where the old Boardwalk Bistro used to be, right at the Bamfield lodge. We had lunch there on day 2 and it was amazing! A real win for Bamfield, we hope it continues to flourish.

One of our favorite things to do in Bamfield is to walk to Brady’s Beach on the ocean side of Mills Peninsula. We prefer to start the Walk at the Coast Guard Station. It is a bit longer walk, but the grade is less steep. The beach is awesome – lots of sand, driftwood and sea stacks to explore.

brady beach is long with sweeping vistas

the brady loo is the mostimpressive on the west coast

Another outing we always make when we are in Bamfield is to take the dinghy over to Grappler Inlet and Port Desire. Here you’ll find more homes and lodges, and at high water you can continue to explore to the end of Grappler Inlet. Along the way you’ll be surprised at how many docks and homes are tucked here and there.