In our element: Tofino’s seaweed-bathing and tree-hunting adventure

After opening the boat’s throttle and whizzing up Lemmens Inlet, part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, we whoop with delight at first glimpse of the magnificent new Moon Jelly Bathhouse. Sitting next to a rustic cabin on the water, it’s a floating haven of cedar-and-aluminum tubs, sky hammock over the ocean and benches around a fire – surrounded only by a horseshoe of Meares Island forest that wafts and creaks in the sun.

So much old growth makes you feel utterly grounded, but this afternoon’s ‘thalassotherapy’ – lolling in seaweed in a hot tub in the middle of Clayoquot Sound – quickly leaves us feeling almost spacey. The wood-fired steamy water soothes with such minerals as zinc, magnesium and potassium from kelp and dulse that turns luminous and tactile from brown when harvested.

And naming it after the moon jelly, the non-stinging species that bloom around the B.C. coast? Well, it’s as close to describing the ‘cushioning’ feeling you get from bathing in seaweed, explains Kaeli Robinsong, who is one of the original owners of Tacofino and set up this new venture with her business partner Mike Mavis.

Our skin softens, brains’ recalibrate, and souls reconnect with nature as the stress of our daily lives (and five hours of ferry and road travel) evaporates in the heat.

I plunge between the cold ocean and our hot tub. (If you’re not brave enough to take a dip, however, there’s even a fresh rinse shower that still brings the outside in through the strategically cut wood.) The place embodies the maxim — When you move half as fast, you notice twice as much. The whole concept “was inspired by my experience seaweed-bathing on the west coast of Ireland, my ancestral homeland,” says Robinsong.

Thankfully, it does wonders for our tired muscles, too. Our mesmerizing trip to Moon Jelly followed a few hours (and a similar 15-minute boat ride) trekking around its neighbouring trees on The Big Tree Trail within the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation’s Wanachus-Hilthuuis (Meares Island) Tribal Park.

Our hike is part of an homage to the fight over some of the world’s tallest and oldest (heck, some have unfathomable 1,500-year-old storylines). It’s three decades after the infamous ‘War in the Woods’ protest (the fabled spot where former forestry group MacMillan Bloedel’s mission to clear-cut old-growth forest ground to a halt after historic protests).

Couples from California and Kelowna join us as we bounce over the new hand-split planked boardwalk installed to help preserve the route (no need to navigate myriad roots and boggy areas in this dense forest).

With plenty of lichen or old man’s beard for company, under the canopy where sunlight only peeks through, we hug as many of the western red cedar, hemlock and spruce as possible on the undulating three-kilometre stretch. We zigzag from the Cedar ‘Tree of Life’ to the ‘Hanging Garden’ tree (a circumference of some 18 metres) and a plethora of nurse trees sheltering others in between.

In awe of the forest, ocean and seaweed of Tofino, it’s no surprise the next day the surf is calling. No other place on Earth lures me quite like Tofino to don the unflattering uniform required for playing in its chilly 49-degree ocean: neoprene hat, boots, gloves and the thickest wetsuit known to humankind.

Today the waves are so forgiving even the newbies—including our gung-ho 61-year-old friend – successfully catch some whitecaps. After all, we’re in Cox Bay or Čaha yis, the Nuu-chah-nulth name for ‘always rough’, back on the rugged Pacific Ocean coastline as we flop onto boards in the giant washing-machine of the Pacific.

Our reward for braving the cold? A wood-fired sauna in a custom-built wooden barrel large enough to accommodate four and heady with the scent of cedar. As we sweat and contemplate, we gaze out through the shoreline trees and across the wide sands to the Pacific waves beyond. We shed yet another layer of skin and know that our internal clocks now tick firmly in laidback ‘Tofino Time’.

IF YOU GO…

As beachfront as it gets—Pacific Sands Beach Resort boasts 41-plus acres by more than 1,000 feet of beach. From gorgeous beach houses to oceanside suites, the resort has a wide range of accommodation (it’s pet friendly, to boot). Only steps to the Surf Sister lessons and rentals and the SurfSide Grill.

For the best wraparound view of the ocean jutting out on the rocks, the Wick’s top-notch The Pointe Restaurant always takes your breath away. Expect executive chef Clayton Fontaine to wow you with his epicurean alchemy with B.C. coastal ingredients. And, if possible, say yes to the spruce sausage at brunch.

Vancouverites Dylan and Sung Kim (and his “mama Julie”) hadn’t even stayed a night in Tofino before they knew it was the place to open their Korean restaurant Jeju. Named for Korea’s largest island, also filled with natural wonders, Jeju was a finalist for EnRoute’s best new restaurants in Canada in 2022.

With their distinctive pink shirts, you can always spot a Surf Sister lesson on the beach. Celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, this group needs a mighty pat on the back for stoking women’s (and men’s) interest in the sport.