Bear Watching Holidays in the Great Bear Rainforest

The Great Bear Rainforest, in British Columbia, is the ideal location for bear watching holidays, as it is one of the largest stretches of temperate rainforest left in the world. But it's not only the bears people come to see.

The Great Bear Rainforest spans along the coastline of British Columbia and is home to many different types of trees, such as Amabilis Fir, Ancient Western Red Cedars, Western Hemlocks and Sikta Spruce. Its forest floors play host to thick moss, ferns and plants, receiving an annual rainfall of between 60-200 inches. The moist conditions are perfect for an array of wildlife that thrives in these conditions, including Grey Wolves, Cougars, Black Bears, Kermode ‘Spirit’ Bears, Grizzly Bears and Bald Eagles. The oceans off the shores of the region are home to Orcas, Pacific White-sided Dolphins, Steller’s Sea Lions, Grey Whales and the famous Humpback Whales.

Read on to discover your best opportunities of seeing this exciting array of animal species on dedicated bear watching holidays along the lush coastline of British Columbia.

Grizzly Bear

Early autumn in British Columbia sees the streams fill with pacific salmon, the perfect opportunity for enthusiasts to see the majestic Grizzly Bears. The famous annual salmon run is a spectacle to behold in itself, with shallow streams teeming with salmon as they wriggle their way upstream in order to spawn.

A trip to witness this special event requires travel via water, leading to an on-foot shore excursion. There are many vantage points at which visitors on bear watching holidays can rest, and these make the perfect hideouts as they overlook the rivers where Grizzlies are most likely to be found. The Khutze Inlet is an ideal location for sightings of salmon-hunting Grizzly Bears.

Humpback Whales

A visit to one of the many river estuaries during bear watching holidays to the Great Bear Rainforest will provide the added opportunity to see some exciting wildlife species, including those of the water and air variety. A selection of avian species you may see include the Red-necked Grebe, Western Grebe, Belted Kingfisher, Marbled Murrelet, Spotted Sandpiper and Great Northern and Red-throated Divers.

Perhaps the most exciting of all animal species in this area is the Humpback Whale, which is surprisingly the most frequently recorded cetacean to be sighted. Humpbacks are thoroughly enjoyable to watch as they have such a playful nature, which leads to activity such as slapping their pectoral fins on the water’s surface for fun or even launching into the air. It can make for a very exciting photo opportunity for the lucky few who get to witness the Humpback Whale in play. The Fjordland Conservancy is a great location for sightings of these magnificent cetaceans.

Kermode ‘Spirit’ Bears

The Princess Royal Island in British Columbia is a very special location, as the coastline between here and Prince Rupert in Alaska is the only place you may be able to see one of the rare Kermode ‘Spirit’ Bears on your bear watching holidays.

Kermode Bears are a variant of Black Bears that have inherited two copies of a recessive gene, which gives them their beautiful white or cream-coloured fur. They are an extremely exciting find as only one in ten Black Bears on the Princess Royal Island are believed to have this variant in their genes, making them very much sought after by nature enthusiasts. It is advised to set aside one to two days in this stunning location in the hopes of sighting one of the Spirit Bears, but you can still look forward to seeing the equally majestic Black Bears if your search proves to be unlucky.