misty isles adventures - day tours

If you would like to experience the magic of majestic mountains meeting deep, crystal clear ocean waters and sweet pure air in a very special part of North America, but don't have your own boat, I can't imagine a better, more cost effective and rewarding way than going aboard the "Misty Isles" motor/sailor with Captain Mike. My wife and I went on a Misty Isles Adventures tour, this past August, with the Malaspina Naturalists from Powell River. We embarked from Lund, B.C. and toured Desolation Sound as well as a bit of Toba Inlet before stopping at Toba Wildernest Lodge. During the return cruise to Lund, we stopped and anchored for a refreshing swim in the amazing warm waters of Pendrell Sound. The "Misty Isles" is a beautiful, solid, comfortable boat of good size; perfect for a familiar group of people and those meeting for the first time. Mike is a very good, safe Captain with a lot of experience in the Desolation Sound and Discovery Islands of British Columbia as well as other parts of the world. He's also a gifted storyteller with an in-depth historical and contemporary knowledge base that he shares with delight during the entire trip. He and his mate, Jonah, anticipated and catered to our every need and more. The whole trip was peaceful, inspiring and a reminder of the way the world was meant to be and still is ... a true eco-tour.

The humpback whale was a special sighting! We can only hope that they will become more frequent as the whales return to their historic feeding grounds such as Desolation Sound. Thanks for taking the time to write a review!

"Desolation" Sound was not an appropriate name for the place on that day! "Delightful" would be more like it. Thanks for taking the time to share your experience!

Hi Gina,Great food and beautiful scenery, you said it all in your review. And the pictures are beautiful too!

Thanks Susan! It is always such a pleasure to show people special places like Mitlenatch Island!

It is so nice to be reminded of summer fun on a foggy, cool January day. Thanks so much for the review and the great memories!

We booked a two day charter with Capt. Mike and Sabeen, mid September 2013.Sabeen picked us up from the Ferry Landing on Cortes, made us feel very welcome and gave us a rundown on the history of Cortes as we drove across the Island to board Misty Isles. The information continued to flow, from both Captain Mike and Sabeen on a huge range of topics from Biology, to Astronomy, to the Antarctic voyage of Shackleton - it was amazing.We found Misty to be a great vessel for the trip, very comfortable, well kept up, and fully equipped with safety gear - right down to an onboard sprinkler system. Samantha had prepared great meals, which Sabeen dished out, while continuing to field questions on almost any topic. Both Mike and Sabina are very environmentally conscience, and provided lots of background on the local flora and fauna.The area itself is an amazing place to cruise, fiord-like topography with stunning views and pristine waters - part way up Toba inlet the waters started to take on a green shade that I relate to glacier feed water, and with the bare topped mountains made a perfect setting. We took their Zodiac part way up the Brem River and watched the Pink Salmon spawning - again amazing to watch.Can't recommend it enough.

I was part of a group kayaking program with Misty Isles, through Hollyhock Center on Cortes Island. We spent 5 days, going out in the morning on Misty Isles, with excellent captain, Mike Moore and very knowledgeable biologists Sabeen and Heidi. Misty Isles would take us to various destinations to kayak amongst seals, sea otters and lots of birds. We learned about navigation, the history and ecology of the area and lots about the marine life around us. We enjoyed fabulous lunches on various beaches, prepared by Mike's wife. By late afternoon, we returned to Hollyhock to enjoy wonderful dinners, interesting presentations and soaks in the hot tubs. We slept in the comfortable cottages there, and awakened to another wonderful day of kayaking. The weather and scenery were outstanding!the night time bioluminescence paddle was a real highlight, the plankton made the water appear bright with strings of light, in the darkness.

My sister and I joined the Cortes Museum trip August 31st day trip to Desolation Sound. 30+ years ago, we spent every summer in both Desolation and Pendrell Sounds on our Dad's Chris Craft and it was wonderful to be back.We didn't know what to expect with a museum tour but are we both ever glad we went! The 10 we were with was a diverse group of locals and tourist spanning from California to Calgary to Fort St John BC. The Misty Isles is a lovely sailing Troller. It's large enough that a group of 10 spreads very comfortably and groups well for stories. Everyone could both hear and see easily. The safety run down is thorough and clear. Capt Mike is ex Coast Guard and currently also runs Zodiak tours in Antarctic waters. He's qualified up the hoop! (No just-a-guy-with-a-boat running tours here!) Misty Isles herself is in immaculate shape. We had an elderly couple aboard and boarding/offloading wasn't difficult for either. We rode in the Zodiac (fits 5 passengers easily) to where she was moored.The only difficulty that one elderly passenger had was getting out of the Zodiac at the end of the day at the wharf as the step up was a little high. (More polite to let the elders get off sooner, but perhaps easier for them if more weight was out of the dinghy?)Capt Mike's knowledge of the area- geographically, the waters, history, the ecological issues, the political climate, the people, the wildlife, the medicinal discoveries in the unique plant life and so on was liberally shared in a fascinating manner of story telling, use of charts and humorous anecdotes. No dry information trip here!Christine (Mike's crew) was lovely and full of information as well. She is a kayak guide as well when Misty Isles goes on Mother-ship tours. Snacks and coffee/tea were offered a couple times during the day but be sure to bring a lunch (AND a bathing suit!) On this trip we stopped for a swim and lunch break at Predost Haven. Beautiful area. Water is easy to launch yourself off the boat into. We did, into a colony of Moon jelly fish. (Plankton eaters-They don't sting) I wouldn't call it bathwater warm, but it was certainly pleasant.We also toured into Roscoe Bay for more interesting settler stories and then to seal rock before going back to Cortes Bay. A 7 hour trip all told.Due to lack of wind, we were unable to sail. (I think having a sunny, calm, warm day boating is hardly second best!) All in all the trip was full of gorgeous scenery, interesting information, bits of local humor and wonderful hospitality pulling it all together. Both Mike and Christine are very approachable for questions and super interesting people.If you are not staying on Cortes Island, you can still enjoy this trip. They time departures and arrivals to make catching the ferry as convenient as possible, and super helpful giving rides to and from the ferry for foot passengers. We stayed on island at the Gorge Harbor Lodge, but about half our group didn't and every effort was made to get them back in time. (The ferry leaves Cortes approx. every 2 hours.)

great Captain, safe clean boat, local history, and magnificent scenery. We have been on 2 trips this summer: one to the tidal flats off hernando Isle and one circumnavigating East Redondo Island. Informative and passionate Marine biologist gave information plus, plus on the former trip; on the latter we had azure ocean and emerald forests and sealife and pictographs and funghi and an amazing warm and bouyant swim in Pendrel Sound. I can't wait to go out again with Mike and Sabina. Gayle Millbank, Cortes Island.

We did a full day trip to Desolation Sound with Captain Mike and marine biologist Sabine. Be sure to bring a swimsuit to swim in the warm waters of Desolation Sound Marine Park. Mike is a great story teller and Sabine was a weatlh of knowledge about all things above and in the oceean. Environmental issues were explained and the history of the area was fascinating. Highly recommend this trip which was organized by the Cortes Island Museum.

Had a great day cruising around Desolation Sound with Cap'n Mike - and couldn't recommend Misty Isles strongly enough! We even got some sailing lessons included, as we opened the sails up on the open water. Make sure that you sign up for the onboard pizza, complete with a salad fresh from his garden! Mike's knowledge of the area - its history, flora and fauna - is fantastic!

A wonderful experience for the entire family! We went on a day cruise out of Cortez Island with 11 family members including two kids (5 and 3 years of age). Captain Mike and first mate Christine treated us to stories of local history and culture, Misty Isles past adventures, and educated on the area's spectacular nature and geography. All-in-all and unforgettable trip we look forward to repeating.

This was an absolutely enjoyable day, absolutely beautiful, and amazingly informative. We saw a large number of plants, formerly unknown to me, and including a prickly pear cactus in full bloom,on an island only a few miles off the shores of cortes island. We had easy access to viewing areas where we saw gulls nesting, among many other species of seabirds. On a zodiac trip around the island, we watched large colonies of 3 separate varieties of cormorants, caught site of nesting blue herons, and observed both a large number of seals in and out of the water, and later, a very large colony of sea lions, entirely covering a sizeable rock islet, some individual animals weighing as much as 2000 pounds. It was an amazing experience, and the level of environmental knowledge at our disposal was remarkable. It was the best! Highly recommended and book early

A few years ago, I was fortunate to be included in a two day Misty trip from Lund to Toba Inlet. Today, I just returned from a day trip from Lund to Mitlenatch island. In both cases, I was very impressed by the professionality of Captain Mike and his colleagues and the seamless planning of the trip.Together with an amazing wealth of information about the area and its inhabitants, both animal and human, we were also treated to some entertaining stories.Being able to see Stellar sea lions and all the birds of the island up close was already a treat, I feel very priviledged to have been guided by an expert who made the experience much more interesting and enjoyable. We all agreed that we have learned much on this trip and that it gives another dimension to our understanding of this amazing place.It was a fabulous day and the cetacean sighting on the way back gave it a porpoise.