TOFINO: THE BEST SURF TOWN IN CANADA

Highway 4 climbs through Cathedral Grove in MacMillan Provincial Park — a stand of Douglas firs 800 years old and 75 metres tall. You pull over, not because you planned to, but because you have to. The road is quiet. You stand there for longer than you expected. This is the right way to arrive.

Cox Bay faces southwest into the open Pacific. At dawn, with the mist still on the water and the sea stacks rising from the surf, it is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Not in a postcard way — in a raw, elemental way. The waves are consistent, the water is cold (12°C in summer), and the surfers who paddle out before breakfast are not doing it for the Instagram.

Pacific Surf School on Campbell Street is the best option for beginners. The instructors are patient, the equipment is good, and they know the beach well enough to put you on the right break for your level. A two-hour lesson will have you standing by the end of it. The wetsuits are thick enough that the cold stops being a problem after the first ten minutes.

After the surf, walk the Wild Pacific Trail. The 8.9km loop from Amphitrite Point Lighthouse to Florencia Bay follows the headland above the ocean — rocky outcrops, old-growth spruce, and views out to sea that make you understand why the Nuu-chah-nulth people have lived here for thousands of years. Take the lighthouse loop first, then the longer section south. Allow three hours.