Tofino is a remote destination, a few hours from the nearby cities. To save yourself about 2-3 hours of driving, we highly recommend flying into Nanaimo Airport instead of Victoria. From Nanaimo, it’s about a three hour drive to Tofino, rather than 5-6 hours from Victoria. Once you arrive, immediately pick up your surfboard rentals and sneak in a quick eveining of surfing at Chesterman Beach. This spot tends to have calmer waves and is more sheltered, so it’s a great location to start your trip.

After a cinnamon bun breakfast from the Iconic Rhino Cafe, it’s time to polish your surfing skills. If you haven’t surfed in a while, or you’re completely new to the sport, you’ll get a chance today to polish your skills. Pacific Surf Co lessons offers a great set of lessons for beginners and intermediates. They’ll determine which beach you’ll go at based on the wave conditions that day. After you've wrapped up a surfing lesson, head into town to spend an evening exploring the shops and enjoying an oceanfront dinner.

Tofino is famous for Tacofino, a California-style Mexican restaurant that began in the town. Vancouverites and visitors to Tofino are obsessed with getting tacos from the original Tofino location, so you’ll want to get in line for it at around 10:30 to beat the rush. Consider it a Tacofino brunch! After enjoying your burritos, you’ll head over to Cox Bay. This beautiful cove produces some of the most consistent, pristine waves in the area. The beach is about a 10 minute walk from the parking lot, but it’s well worth the short trek with the surfboard. Enjoy a full afternoon on the water before heading back into town for dinner.

Today’s your final day in Tofino! This trip works great around a long weekend, especially if you take an extra day off to make this a four-day getaway. Your last day will be spent surfing Long Beach. As the name suggests, there’s miles of coastline to surf on, but most visitors stick to the northern ends of the beach. If you’re able to brave the waves to get to the outside of the break, you’ll be rewarded with one of the best runs of your trip before heading back to Nanaimo.