Quadra Island is an Excellent Vacation Destination

We spent two weeks on Quadra Island. It's a small island off the coast of Vancouver island in British Columbia.

We could have flown to Victoria, rented a car, driven to Campbell River, and caught the ferry to the island. However, fares to Seattle are less expensive, and driving across the border is fun. (We got caught in an hour-and-a-half wait at the border because we were crossing the weekend of both July 4th and Canada Day.) We drove 2 hours to Tsawwassen, caught the ferry to Nanaimo, drove another 2 hours to Campbell River, and caught a second ferry to Quadra Island.

I thought the kids would go stir crazy, being on an island for two weeks, but it was much better than expected.

The greatest strength of this island is a variety of interesting places to go swimming. The obvious swimming destination is Rebecca Spit. It's a long, thin sliver of land with rocky beach on both sides. The water is very warm, go figure; I thought Canadian beaches would be cold, but it was warmer than our unheated above ground pool.

There are also a variety of gorgeous lakes. Each one seems to have a perfect rock outcrop that extends into the water for perfect swimming. The water was warm and inviting.

We went on a 4-hour whale watch trip. We didn't see any whales, but the trip was terrific nonetheless. It was a bit pricey though. Next time, we'll save the whale watching for Victoria, where the whales are more dependable, and the trip is less expensive.

The island was overrun by ripe, delicious raspberries. The backyard of our rental house (on Quadra Loop) was fenced by raspberries. We made raspberry shortcakes with vanilla ice cream. We made raspberry smoothies. We ate raspberries plain. What a delight. It's surprising that the locals think of the raspberry brambles as a nuisance.

The greatest weakness is Niko’s Sushi Bar & Grill. The sushi was terrible and terribly expensive. The sushi rice was wrong. The miso soup was wrong. The portions of fish was generous, but the fish wasn't that good. Avoid this restaurant.

Next time on the island, we'll rent bicycles. The price list makes them look expensive, but the dealers seem willing to bargain.

We took a day trip to Coombs. It's a fantastic place with numerous wildlife facilities. The butterfly gardens is interesting. Make sure you stop at the World Parrot Refuge. The North Island Wildlife Recovery center is also interesting. And of course, don't miss a restaurant named Goat's on the Roof. There is a pie bakery across from and North of Goat's on the Roof, that makes excellent pies.

At the end of the trip, we spent two days in Victoria, which is very nice. The castle is worth visiting. The downtown is a great place to walk around. Make sure to leave at least two hours to see the street performers, who are fabulous.

We stayed at the Holiday Inn, which was fine, but I think we could have done better.

We finished with a couple of nights in Seattle and returned home.