When I visited Port Alberni for work this summer I had no idea what to expect. One friend of mine told me it was a cute little port town, and another looked at me aghast and asked, “Why on earth are you going there?” Indeed, when I googled it, Port Alberni came up with the heading “Canada’s worst place to live.”
But honestly, after spending some time there, I realized it was completely underrated. And that can be a great thing! Here are a few things that I loved about Port Alberni, and why I would definitely go back for a summer vacation.
- It’s not crowded
Port Alberni is about two hours from Tofino (another huge plus!), which means a lot of travelers overlook it to get to surfer mecca. Therefore, that leaves a lot of space for you, the traveler, to explore the Oceanside boardwalk, the winding forest roads, and pit-stop beaches free of crowds. On top of this, there are some places in the area that don’t get cell reception, my cabin being one of them. This was a hindrance at times but I found it beautifully refreshing to be deep in nature and out of contact with the digital world.
- It’s Basically Hawaii
Make no mistake, Port Alberni is hot. I don’t recall ever being more thankful for the sweet respite of grocery store air conditioning. It’s the best place on the island for uninterrupted sunshine and tanning by the lake.
- Sproat Lake
To escape the heat, Sproat Lake is a must. It’s long and somewhat narrow with three arms forking at the eastern end. You can kayak, you can paddleboard, you can anything! It seems like almost endless territory to explore. I have been houseboating on this lake before and it was honestly one of the best weekends of my life. Endless sunshine, warm water, great friends, and nature all around us. I would highly recommend it, and if you want to, reserve ahead with Fish & Duck. I know there are many campgrounds on the lake as well that would definitely be worth checking out, and vacation rentals all along the water’s edge.
- Wind Sports
Did you know that the Port Alberni is actually on the map as a kiteboarding, kitesurfing, and windsurfing destination? I absolutely did not before I went there. Port Alberni is situated at the end of a long, curved inlet coming in from the Pacific. In addition to being surrounded by mountains, this makes a perfect environment to harness wind while attached to a board of some kind. When I was there I took a Kite Boarding lesson from Girl on a Board Kite School, and I loved it! Be warned though, learning that sport takes a lot of practice and some financial investment. You should be prepared to pay for at least three lessons, because the first lesson is dry land.
- General Outdoorsiness
Being a mill town in a valley, Port Alberni is surrounded by mountains. There are so many options in terms of hiking, mountain biking, dirt biking, or any other mountain activity you can think of. The general level of nature around you is so much higher than I’m used to, and I loved the getaway. Case and point: Cathedral Grove. It’s not hiking, but it’s a nature destination just 20 minutes outside of Port Alberni where you can experience an old growth forest with some of the tallest trees on the West Coast.
So as it turns out, to me at least, Port Alberni was the cute little port town I was told it would be. Sure, it’s a little quirky, and it’s got a laid back island feel, but there is so much to do there, and if you don’t want to do anything, there’s all the space in the world on Sproat Lake just waiting for you.
