Fascinating Cruise.
We boarded the small ship ‘MV Frances Barkley’ at Port Alberni Harbour Quay after buying our tickets from their onshore office. It sailed into the waters of the Barkley Sound towards the Pacific Ocean at 8 am sharp for a four hour mini cruise to Bamfield, a small fishing hamlet on the west coast of Vancouver Island.
The ‘MV Frances Barkley’ is a working ship owned by the Lady Rose Marine Services Company which supplies goods and freight to the remote towns located along the west coast of the island. It also takes on tourists and passengers who get a chance to view the fascinating scenery of the rain forests of beautiful British Columbia.
We could walk about the ship both inside and outside. There were some benches on the outside decks where we could enjoy the sunshine or cold sea breeze, or occupy the inside seats if the weather became too intimidating. The kitchen and dining room was down in the galley and we had a breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese muffins followed by coffee. Cold drinks, beer and wine was also available.
This ship also delivers mail to the remote coastal villages. When we stopped at the floating post office at Kildonan, the postmaster’s dog started barking and we saw a black bear prowling in the trees about two hundred meters behind. We made some more stops along the way where freight was off-loaded.
About 10 minutes before docking at Bamfield, near Tzartus Island, the Captain spotted a humpback whale and we clearly saw the tail fluke coming out and quickly go back in. It was too fast to take a picture.
We reached West Bamfield around 12.15 pm and were received by our hostess from MacKay Bay Lodge, where we stayed for a couple of days. ‘MV Frances Barkley’ goes further in to East Bamfield and returns to the West Bamfield docks in about an hour and a half to start the return trip to Port Alberni. Most of the tourists have lunch at Bamfield, do some sight-seeing and return back to Alberni by 6.30 pm.
Show lessThe ‘MV Frances Barkley’ is a working ship owned by the Lady Rose Marine Services Company which supplies goods and freight to the remote towns located along the west coast of the island. It also takes on tourists and passengers who get a chance to view the fascinating scenery of the rain forests of beautiful British Columbia.
We could walk about the ship both inside and outside. There were some benches on the outside decks where we could enjoy the sunshine or cold sea breeze, or occupy the inside seats if the weather became too intimidating. The kitchen and dining room was down in the galley and we had a breakfast of bacon, egg and cheese muffins followed by coffee. Cold drinks, beer and wine was also available.
This ship also delivers mail to the remote coastal villages. When we stopped at the floating post office at Kildonan, the postmaster’s dog started barking and we saw a black bear prowling in the trees about two hundred meters behind. We made some more stops along the way where freight was off-loaded.
About 10 minutes before docking at Bamfield, near Tzartus Island, the Captain spotted a humpback whale and we clearly saw the tail fluke coming out and quickly go back in. It was too fast to take a picture.
We reached West Bamfield around 12.15 pm and were received by our hostess from MacKay Bay Lodge, where we stayed for a couple of days. ‘MV Frances Barkley’ goes further in to East Bamfield and returns to the West Bamfield docks in about an hour and a half to start the return trip to Port Alberni. Most of the tourists have lunch at Bamfield, do some sight-seeing and return back to Alberni by 6.30 pm.
Date of experience: August 2019
Ask EkMusafir about Lady Rose Marine Services
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
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