Going to Vancouver for 1st time with 19 yr old son and hubby. Would like to see some surfing and originally planned on heading to Tofino. Ucluelet looks wonderful as well, but a little bit closer. I am sure I cannot go wrong with either, but does one town have more to do than another?
Ucluelet or Tofino
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A couple of questions for you first: what time of year are you heading there and what is your budget? How many days do you have there?
Ucluete is nice, but much smaller. We stayed in Tofino and liked it better. I would recommend staying on the oceanfront rather than in town. The surfing in Tofino is wonderful.
U isn't really that much closer (not sure to what) and you
can easily drive between the two towns.
I like the wide-openness of T - the vast beach vistas. Plus
some good places to eat and, of course, the surfing.
Honestly, it doesn't matter where you stay - the beauty of visiting Tofino or Ucluelet isn't the town/village - it's the wilderness (rainforests, beaches, islands) located in between the towns. You just use the towns to access the wilderness, not to spend time your time in town.
Basically when you take the highway to the west coast of Vancouver Island, you eventually get to a fork in the road. Taking a left brings you to the town of Ucluelet after a few minutes. Taking a right takes you past Pacific Rim National Park and then the town of Tofino, again, just a short distance later. You can drive between the two in 30-40 minutes, if I recall - after travelling 5 hours from Vancouver, the extra 20 minutes it takes to drive to Tofino is negligible.
I found in my past experiences, Ucluelet feels like a real genuine blue collar working town whereas Tofino feels like a fishing village that has embraced west coast bohemian culture and has, from my memory, a few more tourism-oriented storefronts (ie: art galleries, gift shops).
Ukee is a fishing town with active fish plants right on the waterfront downtown.
It's been ages since any commercial fisherman could afford moorage or even parking in Tofu Town.
Tofino would be and has been my choice, ,, as noted, the travel distance is about the same to Ucluelet , but the vibe in Tofino is more fun,,and there are a few more places to eat, book tours for kayaking , whalewatching etc.. but don't worry, Tofino is very small also,, not a city at all, ! The best surfing beaches are near Tofino.
http://www.canada.com/Public+market+light+Ukee+Friday+nights/6853008/story.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjj-rQ8sipY
here is a great tourism video about Tofino/ Ucluelet and Port Alberni