Tofino is a pretty fishing village at the tip of Esowista Peninsula near the entrance to Clayoquot Sound on the west coast of Vancouver Island. Tofino is a rapidly growing tourist centre for Long Beach and other Pacific Rim destinations. Once a timber and fishing town, Tofino has become a favoured destination for travellers from around the world.

Tofino was named in 1792 after the Spanish Hydrographer Vicente Tofino de San Miguel (1732 – 1795) who was Rear Admiral of the Spanish Naval Academy in Cadiz. Amongst Tofino’s pupils while a mathematics teacher was the explorer Bodega y Quadra.

The first trading post and hotel was established on Stubbs Island around 1875, where the building remained until 1905 before being moved to present day Tofino. Tofino was incorporated in 1932 and connected to the rest of Vancouver Island in 1959, when a gravel road was built to Port Alberni, which has since been upgraded to a full paved highway.

Local environmentalists and artists have banded together to suspend destruction of one of the last virgin timberlands on the west coast of Vancouver Island and halt the rapid development for which the area is ripe. Tofino boasts miles of sandy beaches to the south, islands of old-growth cedar, migrating grey whales, hot springs, sea lions, and a temperate climate.

Tofino’s docks bustle with local fishermen and act as launching points for numerous sea kayaking, whale watching, wildlife, hot springs and cultural tours. Local boats also supply the 1,500 residents of five Nuu-chah-nulth communities and others who make their homes on the nearby islands and secluded shores of Clayoquot Sound.
The economy of the relaxed, vacation destination of Tofino is largely dependent upon tourism and aquaculture.