Sea Wolf Adventures at Sointula Lodge invites travellers into the Great Bear Rainforest for Indigenous-led adventures rooted in culture, wildlife, and reciprocity.
This September, a new kind of wilderness experience will welcome travellers into the heart of British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest. Set in an ancient landscape shaped by salmon runs, sacred stories, and the hush of old-growth cedar, Sea Wolf Adventures at Sointula Lodge is the latest initiative from Sea Wolf Adventures—a Kwakwaka’wakw-owned tourism company reshaping what responsible travel can mean.
Sea Wolf Adventures at Sointula Lodge isn’t your standard resort. This forested, ocean-facing retreat is built to immerse guests in the living culture of the Kwakwaka’wakw people. Launching its inaugural season this fall, the lodge will host small groups for four-day stays that blend wildlife encounters with cultural learning—guided by those whose connection to the land stretches back thousands of years.
Guests move through Kwakwaka’wakw territory by boat, on foot, and aboard jet boats—tracking bears, spotting orcas, and learning about Potlatch. These ceremonial gatherings, once banned by the Canadian government, strengthen community ties through music, dance, and gifting.
Each stay follows a thoughtfully paced itinerary. The journey begins with a cultural visit to Alert Bay, followed by a day observing grizzlies along salmon-bearing rivers. Day three brings a choice between a guided fishing trip or a jet-boat safari through ancestral waters, with a final day devoted to wildlife viewing in the broader expanse of the Great Bear Rainforest.
Evenings offer a slower rhythm—ocean-view cabins, storytelling sessions, and hands-on activities like archery, bone games, or a quiet paddle at dusk. Sea Wolf Adventures also offers day tours, including a powerful, immersive grizzly bear viewing experience.
Travel That Tells the Truth
Sea Wolf Adventures at Sointula Lodge continues the work Sea Wolf Adventures has been doing for years: creating experiences where Indigenous perspectives take centre stage. Led by Mike Willie, a member of the Kwikwasut’inuxw Haxwa’mis Nation, the company is both host and cultural guide.
In Alert Bay, guests visit the U’mista Cultural Centre to learn how policies like the potlatch ban attempted to dismantle cultural continuity—and how those traditions remain active and essential today. Other excursions move through culturally significant areas where guests come to understand how the connections between land, wildlife, and people are sustained through ongoing stewardship.
As knowledge keepers, guides pass on ancestral teachings in ways that feel immediate and grounded. Whether it’s tracking bears through Indigenous Protected Areas or listening to stories around the fire, visitors gain access to a deeper layer of place—one not often found on conventional tours.
A Living Landscape
The Great Bear Rainforest is one of the largest intact temperate rainforests on Earth. It’s a stretch of coastal wilderness where glacier-fed rivers, moss-draped cedars, and secluded inlets host an extraordinary range of life. Orcas and dolphins move through the waters. Eagles circle overhead. Bears feed along the riverbanks, continuing cycles that have shaped this region for millennia.
Sea Wolf’s philosophy of travel is rooted in reciprocity. Guests are encouraged to be fully present, to listen, and to walk away with not just photos, but an enriched understanding of the natural world and their relationship to it. In an industry that often packages experiences without context or care, Sea Wolf Adventures at Sointula Lodge offers something else: authentic travel with depth, meaning, and values you’ll want to bring home.
Travel, Truth, Beauty—Journey into the Great Bear Rainforest, learn more at seawolfadventures.ca.
