Vancouver Island

explorenorth wrote:
//snip for brevity

Disappointments
1. Tofino, accommodations and food were ridiculously expensive and not that great.  Best meal we had was a BBQ chicken from the Co-Op grocery store.

Wow, I find that odd. Although, during the busy season, most places are trying to keep up with the traffic, and may not have the time to really make it well.

Probably won’t be back but, if we did, would book ahead into Green Point campground in the park.  Crystal Cove was fine with a terrific beach that we let the dogs run loose on but $70 a night and extremely tight campsites made it something we wouldn’t go back to.

Yeah, that's expensive. But, if you want, try down toward Ucluelet. Surf Junction is a pretty good place (stayed there many times, and I LIVE out here!!) with fairly decent rates. Be warned, it is very busy in the summer. There is also Ucluelet Campground in town. Wya Point has a campground as well, not sure the rates, though.

2.  Lack of decent seafood everywhere.  Weird.  Campbell River had the best halibut and chips we could find.  Tofino was the worst.

Odd. Given both towns are fishing communities, decent deafood should be a given. We did buy fresh (like, off the boat that morning) Halibut from Trilogy Fish Co. in Tofino once. Made awesome homemade fish & chips! But for good fish & chips, try Barebones restaurent in Port Alberni. It is located on Johnston Ave (main drag through town) in an old church. They do awesome food there.

Regards,
Mike