Travel British Columbia
The nine cabins at Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort are often booked well in advance.
Exploring Nimmo Bay Deep wilderness luxury on Canada’s West Coast
By Tim Johnson
L
ike the revelation of a mystery, the fog lifts once we roll away from British Columbia’s Sullivan Bay. With the fog too thick to land right next to the lodge, the pilot put her down further away, the amphibious plane’s big pontoon’s skimming evenly across a saltwater inlet, then taxiing, with a little boatlike sway, to a little cluster of buildings. A shop, café, fuel station, and a few private residences ring a harbor so glassy-calm that their façades are reflected back in it, mirror-perfect. The pilot makes a call from the coffee shop, and soon enough we’re skimming again, this time in the Raven, the fastest boat in the fleet at Nimmo Bay. With the last wisps of murk now far behind us, we roll up to an unlikely oasis, a strange, wonderful bit of luxury deep in the forest. Passing a series of postcard-perfect
58 I N S I G H T March 11–17, 2022
cabins strung along a stretch of wild Pacific coast, we walk up the dock, are greeted by a friendly dog, then seat ourselves in overstuffed chairs. The Lumineers spin on a record player somewhere nearby. Every window is like a work of art, revealing its own scene of beauty. I’m at Nimmo Bay Wilderness Resort, in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest. With just nine cabins located both in the forest and the intertidal zone, it’s connected by docks and wooden walkways. Both luxurious and stylish, it’s an uber-comfortable place from which to launch wild adventures. But first I take a tour of the place with Neepa, the resident mutt, tagging along. The two-bedroom cabins are separated from the main lodge by a waterfall, which provides both fresh water and hydroelectricity to guests and staff. Walking past a series of helipads and over a bridge that traverses a fresh little stream, I settle into
BRITISH COLUMBIA
NIMMO BAY
VICTORIA
Nimmo Bay is located in the southern Great Bear Rainforest.