Whale Watching Day Trips

We are excited to announce our new whale watching day trips in partnership with Vancouver Island Whale Watch to be held on August 21st. With minimum and maximum groups of five guests, these trips are a great choice for families and friends to travel as a group!

These tours begin at 8:40 a.m. at the South Terminal Floatplane Dock at Vancouver International Airport, where guests check in with their pilot prior to the flight departure at 9 a.m. Guests then board one of our floatplanes for a beautiful 20 minute flight across the Strait of Georgia to Silva Bay on Gabriola Island.

Shortly after arriving at Silva Bay, guests board a semi-covered watercraft for a three to four hour whale watching tour with Vancouver Island Whale Watch. With a 90% success rate for spotting whales on day trips, they are the number one choice for whale watching trips in the Salish Sea.

In the event that no whales are spotted during the duration of a tour, Vancouver Island Whale Watching will provide a free future tour to all passengers. Please keep in mind any free tour does not include transportation to and from Gabriola Island with Gulf Island Seaplanes. 

Vancouver Island Whale Watch is also committed to conservation and education. As part of this commitment, each of our tours has a marine biologist onboard to educate guests about these incredible animals and the ecosystems they inhabit.

We recommend that all guests bring protection from the sun, including sunscreen, hats and sunglasses. We also recommend bringing rain jackets or ponchos in case of inclement weather. Please be advised that food or drink is not provided, and as such we recommend that guests bring their own. Lifejackets will be provided.

After returning to Silva Bay and disembarking, guests will have the option of returning to Vancouver right away or enjoying the afternoon at nearby Drumbeg Provincial Park on Gabriola Island before returning to Vancouver later in the day. If guests opt to spend the afternoon at Drumbeg we can provide them with transportation to and from there.

Guests who choose to spend their afternoon on Gabriola Island can return to Vancouver later in the day on one of our scheduled floatplane services if they prefer. Guests should keep in mind that these return flights must be on the same day and within daylight hours.

Many of our whale watching tour guests choose to spend their afternoon on Gabriola renting kayaks, stand-up paddleboards or canoes at Decanso Bay Regional Park.

Pricing (Including roundtrip flights and whale watching tour)

Adults (Aged 13 years+) – ($399)

Children (up to 12 years) – ($339)

Gulf Island Seaplanes also provides regularly scheduled and charter services to a number of destinations on the West Coast of B.C. To find out more about booking your own chartered floatplane service, call us at 250-247-9992 or reach us by email at info@gulfislandseaplanes.com today!