3 days in Tofino

The travel is worth it
While it takes us just over 5 hours to get from our apartment in Vancouver to Tofino (longer than flying to Mazatlan) our once a year visit is definitely worth the trip. This visit was a mix of business and relaxation. We saw three client facilities but got to spend three nights at ‘chill out central’ aka The Long Beach Lodge.

Long Beach Lodge Resort
The Great Room at the Long Beach Lodge became our home away from home for three days when we were not working or in our fabulous beach front room with views and access to the beach and rugged coastline. A cocktail in the Great Room rivals lunch at the Wickanninish Inn (see below) for amazing views. We had one sunny day with a gorgeous sunset and two dark and stormies so my signature drink became the Great Room’s krak ‘n stormy – kraken black spiced rum, ginger beer, cinnamon, ginger, lemon, coconut water and an egg white ($9).

View our full photo set on Flickr including the Long Beach Lodge and more.

Lunch at The Wickanninish Inn
We chose one afternoon for a late lunch in The Pointe Restaurant at The Wickanninish Inn. Chef David Sider sources BC game, seafood and produce for all dishes and offers west coast wines and beer to pair with the terrific food. A glass of Joie Noble Blend (a long time favorite) was the perfect start to a delicious brunch/lunch of smoked salmon benedict and halibut with chips.

Tofino Brewing Company
After our fabulous lunch, with nothing left to do but go back to the room for a nap and to read a book by the fire we decided to stop and pick up some local favorites from Tofino Brewing Company. With a rotating selection of up to 10 brews available on tap and direct for purchase at the brewery we selected a 4-pack of bottles – two Tuff Session Ales, a Blonde Ale and a Hoppin Creatin IPA.

Jack’s Waterfront Pub & Restaurant
Since this trip took place back in March the Canucks were still playing hockey and we needed a spot to catch a game and grab a bite. Jack’s at Marina West was a perfect choice. It has lots of TV’s for watching hockey and a great view for when the hockey sucks. We tried the Jack’s Burger and the daily special Halibut Burger with Chowder. Both the food and service was quite good.

Tofino is a place where you cannot help but relax. The slowness of the wifi and the lack of a 3G signal in many places is a forced power down, even for someone like Jeff who tweets 18 hours a day. The scenery is amazing and storm watching is like therapy. We enjoy our annual visits and plan to continue them.

We, Jeff & Tara Ciecko of CK Golf Solutions write two blogs, one is our 19th Hole Blog where we share personal experiences and the other a Biz Blog where we comment on business best practices and give golf industry related opinions. We have owned CK Golf Solutions for 7 years and provide marketing, social media and business services to the golf and other industries. We DO NOT get paid for ANY of the blogs on our website. These are the places we visit and the things we do because we want to. When we say that we like or dislike something or have a good or bad experience this is our opinion and the truth as we see it. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us anytime.