Canada tourism is booming — but these enchanting islands remain secret

Times

25-05-2025

We are rounding Gangxid Kun (known in English as Cape St James) at the very bottom of Haida Gwaii, an archipelago of about 150 remote islands and over 1,800 islets, 62 miles off the vast northwest coastline of British Columbia. The islands are on the edge of a continental shelf; just below the waters a 2,800m submarine cliff falls away, while above the immense reaches of the Pacific Ocean stretch out until Haida Gwaii brushes up against Antarctica.
This is Canada's windiest region, prone to gale-force winds that blow across 600 miles of open sea. It is not for the faint-hearted. As we round the cape, GidinJaad — a Haida woman — calls for our safe passage, lighting sage leaves, wafting the aromatic smoke with a single feather from a bald eagle, which quivers above her tattooed face.
I am on board Cascadia, a luxury 138ft, 12-cabin catamaran. Alongside GidinJaad, other members of the team include the dependable hands of the captain, Jeff Harvey, and the mate, Bryn Flanagan. Both men are on the bridge guiding the boat across the cresting waves, while beside them, scouting for humpbacks, colourful puffins, pods of orcas or white-sided dolphins, is the expedition guide Phil Stone and a naturalist, Marlo Shaw, who is scanning the horizon with binoculars, eager to share any sightings with the 16 guests on board.
We are on a voyage to discover the breathtaking wilderness of Gwaii Haanas, the southern part of the archipelago, which lies two hours north of Vancouver by plane. These islands, which translate to Islands of Beauty, were named the Queen Charlotte Islands after the ship of an 18th-century British trader, despite being populated by the Haida nation for more than 13,000 years.
Before 'first contact' in 1774, tens of thousands of Haida people thrived on these shores. Then European diseases including smallpox and influenza wiped out entire villages until fewer than 600 people were left. The history of the Haida reflects the turbulent and brutal dismantling of the First Nations indigenous peoples across Canada. Oral traditions, homes, land and culture were destroyed from the 18th to the 20th centuries as colonists and government policies enforced bans on culture and language.
I grapple with the dark legacies of the British Empire while beyond the boat's windows a perfect panorama of spruce-covered islets drift by, along with great stone rookeries overlaid with fleshy, barking sea lions. A small library filled with naturalist guides, history and art books dedicated to the Haida and the islands is designed to help guests understand this beautiful, wild place.
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Comfortable sofas and the steward Blythe — the best cocktail maker on the KandaliiGwii (the Hecate Strait) — ease my experience of the boat's gentle roll as it navigates the narrow sandbanks and deep blue bays of the archipelago. The chef sends up the latest assembly of still warm cinnamon rolls mid-morning, just in case anyone is peckish between a full breakfast of Canadian pancakes, local berries and bacon, the hearty lunches and the lavish three-course suppers the 16 of us share together. Fresh steaks of salmon or grilled meat are all delicately arranged with linen tablecloths and local wines.
'I have this tattoo on my chin to signify a prayer of oneness, that we all belong,' says GidinJaad. She is on board to answer our questions about the Haida, their beliefs, dark past and brighter future. Her chin features a small dark raven and eagle. 'The raven and the eagle are back-to-back supporting each other, not just for Haidas, but all humanity.'
These birds are central to her culture. Every Haida belongs to either the Eagle or Raven Clan, and in this matriarchal society you follow your mother's clan. GidinJaad is Eagle Clan and she, Stone and Shaw carefully unpack Haida history, together with the biodiversity of the environment we are cruising through.
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Over seven days Cascadia takes us on an expedition deep into this untamed landscape. We set off from Skidegate, a small town on the largest island, Kiis Gwaay (Graham Island). Stops throughout the week are made at islands and inlets to take in the ecology. We visit ancient forests with red cedar and Sitka spruce trees that are thought to be between 800 and 1,000 years old, untouched beaches where thousands of chanterelles flourish and giant banana slugs the size of mice snuggle among skunk cabbage leaves, and islands whose village fragments, such as SGang Gwaay, a Unesco world heritage site, silently remind us of the rich lives once lived. Rules are strictly observed. Just 12 visitors are allowed ashore at one time in any location, so we visit in shifts.
The archipelago is a designated Haida heritage site, national park reserve and national marine conservation reserve following a co-operatively managed agreement made in 1993 between the Council of the Haida Nation and the Canadian government. A handful of islands have 'watchmen', Haida descendants, living on them, protecting the villages and sharing stories with visitors, but many are uninhabited. Decisions about which we see are made by the captain based on the weather and other boats, although we encountered just one the entire week.
On these remote islands the remnants of the Haida people, their long houses and poles (the Haida do not say totem), hand carved from the trunks of cedar trees and positioned on windswept beaches, are gradually decomposing. With each passing year the fragments are gently returning to the earth.
Once hundreds of poles would have stood, intricately carved with eagles, bears, frogs, clams, ravens or supernatural animals, mapping the villagers' lives and lineage. Many were stolen and today only a handful of poles remain. There is a tangible energy in the air as we walk among these astonishing remains, our path delineated by white clam shells, wind whipping our hair, birdsong trilling and jubilant in the temperate rainforest just metres away.
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The barely perceptible rocking and daily lungfuls of fresh Pacific air pull me into a deep sleep each evening in my warm and elegant wooden-clad cabin. A door directly on to the deck means I can step outside at night to marvel at the galaxies above.
One morning we get up at dawn to canoe in the bay in which we anchored overnight. Seals follow us curiously, their sleek speckled bodies slipping under the kayaks, before popping back up to stare at us. Peeping Swainson's thrush and black cap chickadees sing from the shore, while on the ocean floor colourful starfish, sea slugs, mussels, abalone and clams are visible in the clear water. Afterwards I climb to the top deck and sink into the hot tub as Cascadia gently pulls out, heading back into the Pacific.
Jumping in the tenders one afternoon, we take a trip down GaysiiGas K'iidsii (Burnaby Strait), buzzing along the narrow waterway, surveying the blissfully empty beaches, home to huge sun-bleached, driftwood trunks. Black bears patrol the edges for crabs and urchins, massive twiggy nests, home to majestic bald eagles, balance high in the Sitka spruces lining the shore. Trills of oystercatchers sweep overhead, and gangs of pigeon guillemots rise as one as we approach, then settle back on the waves from which the glossy bobbing heads of harbour seals pop up, eyes blinking, before silently descending.
We have much to learn from the Haida. As Reg, watchman at the village site HIk'yah GawGa (Windy Bay), says: 'The common thread throughout all humanity, whatever colour, creed or religion, is the Earth — we must look after our planet.' Hannah Newton was a guest of Maple Leaf Adventures, which has eight nights' full board from £5,013pp, including drinks with dinner and excursions, departing on June 13, 2026 (mapleleafadventures.com); the Fairmont Waterfront Hotel (fairmont.com); and Destination Vancouver (destinationvancouver.com). Fly in to Masset and from Sandspit via Vancouver
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The First Nations influence runs throughout British Columbia's local cuisine and many restaurants serve smoky cedar plank salmon, candy glazed with maple syrup. But Vancouver's only indigenous-owned and operated restaurant, Salmon n' Bannock is an ideal location to explore First Nations culinary traditions. The dishes showcase food from the land and sea that is traditionally harvested by indigenous people and includes fiddlehead ferns, bison and smoked sock-eye salmon (mains from £22; salmonandbannock.net).
Granville Island Public Market, a city institution, is where local chefs flock to choose the best produce the province has to offer. Sample briny sea urchins, fresh gooseneck barnacles hand-harvested by First Nations fishermen on Clayquot Sound, sweet crab, juicy salmon berries and blueberries (granvilleisland.com).
Vancouver is a city renowned for its sushi and Miku serves the best Aburi sushi outside of Japan. Working with Ocean Wise, a global conservation organisation working with chefs and restaurants to support sustainable seafood, the restaurant serves exquisitely presented dishes, alongside the finest saké, not to be missed (set menu from £77; mikurestaurant.com).
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Delve straight into First Nations history in Stanley Park, Vancouver's thousand-acre urban oasis, once home to 10,000 Coast Salish First Nations people, displaced in the early 19th century. A First Nation guide shares their personal experience and knowledge of the plants and people who lived here, a must-do (£45; talaysay.com).
Bill Reid's work Spirit of Haida Gwaii is the sculpture that welcomes visitors to the city, on display in the international terminal at Vancouver airport, and is also depicted on $20 bills. Reid is a legendary Haida artist and this gallery in downtown Vancouver at 639 Hornby Street is dedicated to his life's work (£7; billreidgallery.ca).
The views over the city, Gulf Islands and the Pacific are alone worth the 2,800ft trip to the top of Grouse Mountain via the Skyride cable car. At the top you can also discover ziplines, tree canopy climbs, lumberjacks, skiing, and Grinder and Coola, the peak's rescued grizzly bears (£11; grousemountain.com).
The buzz of seaplanes taking off from the harbour, the mountain backdrop and a cruise ship or two make the Fairmont an ideal base in Vancouver. Cycle to Stanley Park, stroll round the corner to the Bill Reid Gallery and enjoy the lively bars and restaurants on the north shore of the city. Within walking distance to the historical district of Gastown and downtown, this relaxed corner of Vancouver is easy to get to from the airport on the Canada Line train.Details B&B doubles from £180 (fairmont.com)