The island's beach-holiday town, and the junction for everything west
Parksville and Qualicum Beach are a pair of small resort towns on the sheltered east coast where the tide goes out a kilometre over warm sand — Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park is the reason families have come for generations. Qualicum is the quieter, older-money end; Parksville has the resorts, the mini-golf and the summer sandcastle competition.
The tours from here are mostly inland and underground. Horne Lake Caves, forty minutes into the hills, runs guided cave tours from easy family walks to helmet-and-headlamp trips and is open year-round. Coombs, ten minutes west, is the market with goats grazing on its sod roof and the start of the drive to Cathedral Grove's old-growth firs and on to Port Alberni. Whale-watching boats leave from the marina at French Creek between the two towns.
If you are driving to Tofino from the ferries, this is the natural place to break the journey, and a night here turns the long day into two easy ones.
Getting there
Highway 19 from Nanaimo's ferry terminals — Departure Bay from Horseshoe Bay, Duke Point from Tsawwassen — puts Parksville half an hour from the ferry. Highway 4 to Port Alberni and the Pacific coast starts just north of town.
What departs from here
Whale and wildlife tours depart from French Creek marina in Parksville; cave tours meet at the Horne Lake Caves park visitor centre; sailing trips leave from Fairwinds marina in Nanoose Bay. Cathedral Grove and Coombs tours from Victoria pass through rather than start here.
Staying
One night as a Tofino stopover, three or more for a beach holiday. Beachfront resorts with pools and spas in Parksville, cottages and motels in Qualicum, and a large provincial campground at Rathtrevor.
Season
Beach season is July and August, when the shallows warm up. The Brant Wildlife Festival marks the spring goose migration in March and April. Caves run all year and are a good wet-weather day.
Know before you go
A regional bus links the towns and Nanaimo but not the caves or trailheads. Summer accommodation in Parksville books out early. The Highway 4 junction traffic backs up on summer Fridays.
