Canadians love surfing, too. They do it in Tofino on Vancouver Island.

A couple of years ago, I was at a house party in San Francisco when the conversation turned to a place called Tofino.

“TO-FIN-O,” four people said at once, then took turns explaining it: a Canadian hippie surf town. An island paradise, surrounded by other islands. Giant cedars. Whales. Bears. Hot springs. Delicious food. Winter storm-watching.

It was kind of embarrassing because I am a travel writer and probably should have known about this place. But apparently, I was not in on the secret. At least, not yet.

After the party, I read up on the destination and learned there’s actually a popular natural wine shop and bar in San Francisco called Tofino. The name was partly inspired by co-owner Mark Nevin’s experiences camping on the beach and surfing as a teenager in Tofino, as well as subsequent trips there with April, his wife and business partner. 

Tofino's coastline is dotted with smaller islands covered in greenery.

Intrigued, I made noncommittal plans with lots of different people to someday visit. In August, I finally went. It was not a simple thing to arrange, as the destination is tiny, most of the hotels fill up in the summertime and getting there is not easy or cheap (I drove). But after spending a long weekend in Tofino, not to mention several thousand dollars, I am that much more ready to talk up Tofino at Bay Area house parties. 

Here are some of the things I’ll probably say.

The rental shop Swell Paddle + Surf has bikes, surfboards and more at Hotel Zed in Tofino. 

To maximize our time in Tofino, my partner Steven and I took a Thursday night car ferry from Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay, spent the night in the unremarkable port city of Nanaimo and got an early start to the weekend. This turned out to be an excellent idea because the road to Tofino is loaded with stops for hiking, river swimming, lake views and enormous, ancient trees. At a rest area, we took a dip in the Kennedy River, which ran clearer than most of the ones back home, and when we reached Long Beach — a 10-mile stretch of coastline within Pacific Rim National Park — we explored a temperate rainforest featuring giant red cedar trees. These graceful twisting giants reminded me of redwoods, except that walking through them smelled like a sauna, and the banana slugs sliding beneath them came in different shades and patterns.

Back on the road, we drove by a black bear going to town on some berry bushes, and as we cruised up the narrow peninsula, it was remarkable how little of the windswept coastline could be seen through the trees. It wasn’t always this way, and in fact, the road we drove in on was constructed by forestry companies in the 1950s to haul felled trees out. But starting with the creation of the national park in 1971, the recent history of Tofino is defined by waves of environmental activism and battles for Indigenous land rights, which have largely proven successful and paved the way for a thriving tourist economy.

A traveler admires an ancient tree along the Big Tree Trail on Meares Island. 

Fungi growing in a red cedar forest outside of Tofino on Vancouver Island.

When we arrived in the tiny town at the end of the peninsula, which has a Mendocino vibe, I expected it to be overrun with visitors. But it was a little chilly outside, not unlike summer in San Francisco, and there were only a few people out and about. We got a table right away at SoBo and ordered smoked salmon chowder, fresh oysters and a buckwheat soba noodle salad topped with local albacore tuna. Every dish hit the spot, as did the key lime pie for dessert. Already, the three-hour drive across Vancouver Island was worth it.

The party continued at Hotel Zed, our ’70s-inspired, rainbow-colored crash pad with a bike trail through the lobby and a secret bookcase door leading to an arcade with Joust, Tron and Ms. Pac-Man. There were other fun games (Giant Scrabble! A fortune-telling booth! A poker room!) and funky art everywhere, including a life-sized Volkswagen bus made of driftwood. The room was comfortable but also dripped with pizzazz, and the outrageously friendly staff presented my dog with homemade biscuits.

We never wanted to leave, but after a quick dip in the hot tub and a steam in the sauna, we caught an overcast sunset on nearby Chesterman Beach, a wide sandy cove with views of not-so-distant islands.    

The spa at Hotel Zed features a hot tub and a cylindrical sauna with a viewing window out toward the forest. 

A photogenic tree perches along the path to the lookout over Cox Bay. 

In the morning, we drank coffee on a deck facing Tofino’s mudflats, which double as a bird sanctuary, and then picked up breakfast burritos from the hotel’s grab-and-go counter. Fueled up, we puttered around some more forests and beaches and drove the road south to Ucluelet, which sounds exactly the way it’s spelled (you-clue-let) and provides a slightly more affordable and mellow alternative to Tofino. Sort of like Canada’s Fort Bragg? On our way back north, we hit up Ukee Poke and were again floored by the local albacore, which paired splendidly with Tofino Kombucha’s ginger lemon beverage.

As the afternoon rolled around, we boarded a boat to Meares Island. The island is very close to Tofino — some people prefer to kayak over — but our boat captain and guide with Ocean Outfitters made the ride worthwhile by introducing us to a wild sea otter and regaling us with stories of the island.

A group of kayakers has docked at the Big Tree Trail on Mears Island near Tofino.

Delicious local albacore poke and ginger lemon kombucha at Ukee Poke. 

Thirty years ago, Meares Island famously hosted “the war in the woods,” which saw environmentalists and Indigenous groups join forces to save the temperate rainforests of Clayoquot Sound from industrial logging. When our guide dropped us off on the island, we walked past a sign explaining that we were within a tribal park and asking us to respect the pristine forest. We hiked over a janky boardwalk through one of the region’s oldest groves of red cedars, and with complex canopies and reiterative trunks, these trees rival any you can find in Redwood National and State Parks. We had only scratched the surface, though. For those who opt for the longer boat tours or scenic seaplane flights, there are bears and whales to be watched and geothermal pools and glaciers to be visited.

Dinner that night at Roar, Hotel Zed’s restaurant, was prepared over an open flame, campfire-style. I had the salmon kebab with puffed wild rice, and my travel partner went with the seared lingcod tagine salad. Tofino had done it again, and after yet another hot tub sesh and sunset stroll, we melted into the bed.

Vancouver Island's Tofino has banana slugs, too! 

The reward for a muddy scramble up a mountainside is this view of Cox Bay. 

Sometimes travel can start to feel a little too indulgent. So after a quick breakfast Sunday morning, we headed for Chesterman Beach to volunteer with a group of scientists who were counting sea stars. The tide pools out there reminded me very much of those in Sue-Meg State Park — there were giant green anemones and bright purple and orange sea stars everywhere. We were counting the healthy ones but also looking for those afflicted with the same wasting disease that has decimated the creatures all up and down the California coast. Luckily, we only saw a few individuals with the telltale white patches that indicate the disease, and it felt good to have contributed to science.

We rewarded ourselves with fish sandwiches at Wildside Grill. They were perhaps the best fish sandwiches of our lives. The ingredients were fresh and simple: toasted brioche bun, sweet chili mayo, pickled ginger, fresh veggies and seared, marinated local albacore. After lunch, I rented a wetsuit and surfboard and surprised myself by catching several long rides at Cox Bay Beach. Hundreds of other tourists were taking lessons and playing in the waves, which were ideal for beginner and intermediate surfers. Later in the afternoon, we hiked through a muddy jungle up the side of a mountain on the south end of the beach and were rewarded with 360-degree views of Cox Bay and far beyond.

The tidepools on beaches surrounding Tofino are full of fun surprises. 

Cold-smoked then fried, this potato-crusted oyster from Wolf and the Fog in Tofino is perfection on a plate.

Our Sunday night meal was not just the weekend’s best but a highlight of my entire summer. Wolf in the Fog’s potato-encrusted oysters with mushroom puree, truffle oil and creme fraiche really need to be eaten to be believed, and the braised pork capicola with polenta, Swiss chard and morel juice sent me into a blissful food coma. Just like that, the weekend was over, and soon we’d start the long drive home.

As we left town, we agreed that Tofino is almost eerily reminiscent of the best parts of California. It might even be a parallel universe. That said, it’s definitely a place that every Californian should think about visiting.

Ashley Harrell is an Associate Editor covering California's parks for SFGATE.