North Island

Know the region

The North Island guide

North of Campbell River the Island changes: towns get smaller, forests get bigger, and the wildlife starts outnumbering the people. The North Island — Port Hardy, Port McNeill, Telegraph Cove, Alert Bay, Sointula and the villages between — is the Island as it was, and for travellers chasing whales, bears and truly wild coastline, it's the destination the rest of the Island points toward.

Landmarks & attractions

Telegraph Cove's boardwalk village is the storybook gateway to Johnstone Strait, summer home of the northern resident orcas; the waters near the Robson Bight ecological reserve are among the most reliable places on earth to see them. Whale, bear and wildlife tours run from the cove, Port McNeill and Port Hardy — including trips to watch grizzlies on the nearby mainland inlets. On Cormorant Island, Alert Bay's U'mista Cultural Centre houses a renowned collection of Kwakwa̱ka̱'wakw potlatch treasures, and the village claims one of the world's tallest totem poles. Sointula, on Malcolm Island, keeps the character of its Finnish utopian founders. At the Island's very tip, Cape Scott Provincial Park rewards hikers with San Josef Bay's sea stacks and, for the committed, the multi-day North Coast Trail.

Towns & communities

Port Hardy is the north's service centre and the terminal for BC Ferries' Inside Passage sailing to Prince Rupert; Port McNeill is the practical hub for the mid-north; Port Alice sits on its quiet inlet; Woss and Sayward mark the forestry heartland along the highway.

Getting here & getting around

Highway 19 runs Campbell River to Port Hardy in about two and a half hours of near-empty road — watch for elk. Small ferries link Port McNeill with Alert Bay and Sointula; Port Hardy's airport connects south.

Living here

Life up here is for people who mean it: tight communities, real wilderness, and an economy of fishing, forestry, aquaculture and eco-tourism. The verified businesses below are the north's genuine locals — book the tours early, the season is short.