Rod A.
Yelp
First Things First 1: If the 'special rate' says 'Storm Watching Special' then you should expect a storm...
First Things First 2: This review would have been 5* except for the quake thingy...
There are a few things you need to know before you go.
The Ocean Village Resort is about a 4.5 hour drive from Victoria, BC or 3 hours from Nanaimo, BC. If you are driving from Seattle, including ferry times, plan on an 8-hour drive. But there is a bit a good news for the long trip - the drive isn't just awesome, it is, doubly awesome. There are winding roads, waterfalls, creeks, rivers, lakes, and lots of trees.
Tofino is located at the end of a peninsula so there is just one way in and one way out. See http://www.bit.ly/TofinoPictures
That location is both good and bad. The good is that it is quiet, laid back (imagine Berkeley in the late 60's before it really was Berkeley having a love child with the 'island time' of Hawaii before Elvis invaded it). It is mostly a young town, with people in hiking boots, down vests and wool hats who all love the outdoors.
So, What's So Bad About Tofino? There is the little, itty-bitty nuisance called the Cascadia Fault. Cascadia makes the San Andreas fault look like a high school football player trying to play in the NFL. The Cascadia earthquake will be almost 30 times more energetic than the San Andreas fault. And, as a bonus, it generates a very large tsunami - about the same size as the 2004 9.1+ Indian Ocean earthquake or the 2011 9.0 Japan earthquake.
Oh yeah... did I mention that if it is a 9.0+ quake that the ground will shake for three to six minutes. That is how you know it is the big one.
Wait, There Is More - Pay Attention: You know the airplane drill, "There are 5 exits aboard this plane: 2 at the front, 2 over the wings, and one at the rear of the plane." You no longer pay attention. Well, here is something where you should pay attention. In Tofino, there is only one emergency exits near you.
The Cascadia fault plane is so close to land that you have 14 minutes to get to higher ground before up to an estimated 60-foot wave hits. You won't have time to drive out of town so your strategy is go 'up,' at least as high as 60 feet. In case you aren't good with numbers, that means forget repacking your suitcase - just grab heavy shoes, warm clothing and your cell phone and drive to safe spot... assuming the roads haven't been decimated.
The Cascadia subduction zone erupts every 300 years or so and the last eruption was in 1700. You do the math.
A bonus article... I found a blog posting bit.ly/TofinoEarthquake by a person with a PhD in Structural Geology (ie earthquakes), who happened to live in Tofino at the time. She ultimately left so she could be 'safer.' The article is entitled You're all gonna die. (Whatever). I read it a couple of times, including the comments. My wife 'pooh-poohed' it. You can make your own call.
Now back to our regularly scheduled program... I really liked Tofino.
Wow, Way To 'Reframe': When you go on vacation you typically nice weather, blue skies and stress-free days.
Look at a map and see Tofino 'sticks out' into the Pacific Ocean as makes it very susceptible to all storms from the north, south or west. So how do you market that susceptibility? They offer 'Storm Watching Special' rates during the 'Storm Watching Season' which is five months long (Oct 10 - Mar 9). Smart of them to reframe the weather.
Having said that, we went in October to see a storm (see, reframing works). Well, we got one.
Amenities include indoor swimming pool, hot tub & laundry
Two Paws Up: Ocean Village Resort has dog-friendly rooms. Your dog(s) will love the beach as there is just the right amount of two-paw hopping, tail-in-the-air wagging, ball chasing and butt-sniffing going on.
If You Enjoy Carpal Tunnel You Will Enjoy Endlessly Hitting Reconnect To Attempt To Reive Your Internet Connection: Reconnect... reconnect... reconnect. I say to front desk, "I am going to be the first one ever to say this, your internet is crap." "I've heard that before," she says. But, "Fiber is coming to town." Pause. Then she says, on a somewhat brighter note (?), "It used to be worse."
It's Canadian, Eh? The Currency: There is an exchange rate, meaning that sometimes the US dollar is worth a lot more than a Canadian dollar and vice-versa. In October of 2016, $100 (CDN) per night, costs in US dollars is $76.22.
Your Phone Won't Work. Your Pandora Won't Work. Your Netflix Won't Work: Hey, it is Canada. Once you cross the border your phone won't work, plus there are no TV's.
It's Canadian, Eh? The Metric System: Be prepared to pay for gas in liters, measure waves in meters and speed in kilometers per hour.
But... I would go back!!
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