Crystal Cove Beach Resort, Tofino, BC.
The end of our time in Sooke meant that it was finally time to head to Tofino, BC. Ever since I was a teenager, Tofino has been on my list of “must visit” places in Canada. Unfortunately, I had built up such great expectations that Tofino was a little bit of a let down. Don’t get me wrong, Tofino is absolutely stunning. The beaches, the parks and the wildlife are all worth the trip; however, with all those amazing things also comes the downsides to a hugely popular tourist town. Even in the off-season, Tofino was crowded and with the layout of the town itself, traffic can be a nightmare. We can’t even imagine what it must be like in August. If you like to surf, or would like to learn, Tofino is the place you should go. If you like the beach, Tofino has miles and miles of beautiful beaches. However, if your reason for visiting is hiking or wildlife viewing, our suggestion would be to get in and out as quickly as possible, there are other places on the island with equally beautiful hikes and lots of wildlife that are must less crowded and much more affordable. Unless of course the crowded tourist scene is your bag…….baby (if you didn’t get that reference, we can never be friends, sorry).
Location
Some California Sea Lions enjoying the sun and taking in the view.
There is only one road that leads to Tofino and it is quite the adventure with a large trailer. It is full of steep climbs and descents, narrow windy bends and long stretches of rough pavement. With our 35-foot 5th wheel I found myself frequently slowing down to under 40 km/h. For this reason, the drive feels much longer than it is. Eventually you’ll come to the end and have the choice to turn south to Ucluelet or north to Tofino. Another 20 minutes of driving through old growth forests and past long sandy beaches and you’ll enter the District of Tofino. Crystal Cove Beach Resort sits just outside the town of Tofino. It is nestled back off the main road, surrounded by dense forests and borders Mackenzie Beach. We found the location of the park to be close to everything you need and also pleasantly secluded.
Once you’re situated at the park you can walk over to a small plaza (for lack of a better word) where you can grab a coffee or pastry at Tofitian or dinner at Wildside Grill. There is also a small convenience store/grocer, bicycle and surfboard rentals, a chocolate store and a taco food truck called Tacofino. If you need fuel or propane there are 2 gas stations less than 5 mins away or you can drive another 2 minutes and be in downtown Tofino where you’ll find shops, restaurants, tour companies, a hardware store, liquor store and the only grocery store in town. Tofino is a small remote town so it is a good idea to make sure you have everything you absolutely need with you. Especially if you have specific dietary concerns, the Co-op Grocery Store was missing many of the products we use on a weekly basis and the stock was inconsistent. This is not a criticism; this is something you should be prepared for and expect from a small remote town.
Once you’re all settled in and looking for activities, be sure to drive back south along the coast to check out Long Beach, Combers Beach, Chesterman Beach and The Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. There are two short 1km boardwalks through beautiful old growth forests that provide a lot of interesting information about flora and fauna. If you’re looking to go whale watching, we really enjoyed our experience with Ocean Outfitters , not only were they professional and well organized, they are a green company with an emphasis on ocean conservation and environmental protection. Our guide Ron was fantastic and full of interesting information. He made sure we had an awesome day and even kept us out well over an hour after our tour was supposed to end because of the gang of Orcas we were hanging out with.
You should also set aside a day for a 30 minute drive down to Ucluelet to check out the town and some of the walking trails within it. We parked at Amphitrite Point Lighthouse and walked the Lighthouse Loop Trail. This is also where we got our first glimpse of Orcas.
Park Layout
Access to Mackenzie Beach directly from the park.
Crystal Cove is a large resort consisting of both RV sites, cabins and glamping sites (basically onsite RV rentals). The most important thing to know about the RV sites is that none of them are really suited for anything longer than 35 feet. If you are bigger than 35 feet and absolutely must stay here, the only site I saw that would work is site #34. It is also important to note that sites 8 and 9 are listed as 35’ long but the road they are on is so narrow that backing into site 8 was a challenge to say the least and I’m 100% positive I would not have gotten into site 9. I should mention that I spent 10 years driving a transport truck around North America and have a considerable amount of experience backing trailers into tight places.
All of their campsites offer water, sewer, 30 amp power, a picnic table and a firepit. They have 3 classes of sites, standard, superior and premium; however, we could not discern any real difference between them. Our site was listed as a premium site and the only thing that made it “premium” in our opinion was that it was far away from the playground.
Park Services
Crystal Cove had all the typical services you would expect an RV park to have. The only two worth noting were the playground and the laundry. We are child-free but the playground was impressive for an RV park. If you have little ones, they will surly love the large, sandy playground. On the other hand, if you do not have children, be sure to look at the park map and book a site far away. The laundry room was spacious and had four washers and five dryers. Unfortunately, I found that two of the washers washed my clothes in hot water even though I set them to cold and one of the dryers tumbled but did not heat, disappointing for laundry service that cost $6 per load. As always, the park did have Wi-Fi but we did not use it and can not comment on how fast or stable it was.
Stand-Out Services
Here is where the resort shines. Or at least it would have if not for Co-vid. As with most places right now many of the services that the park would usually offer were not available. This, of course, is not the resort’s fault. They had a great little store that offered brewed Starbuck’s coffee and baked goods. There are countless seating areas around the campground with amazing views of the ocean. If you do not have an RV, their cabins looked fantastic with many having a hot tub or sauna. If you like to surf, you’re walking distance from catching some waves. And maybe best of all, campfires are permitted on the beach! Sitting out on the beach with a campfire, watching the sunset was definitely a highlight.
Affordability
Since it was off season, we paid $55 per night for our site which we thought was reasonable for an RV site at a popular tourist destination. However, during peak season the cost of our site would have been $95 per night and we feel that is very steep for what you get. The park is right on Mackenzie Beach, but there are multiple other resorts and hotels that also share the beach. Even during the off season, the beach would get crowded on nice days and loud at night. Our premium site didn’t have a lot of space or privacy, it didn’t have an awesome view, it didn’t come with any other out of the ordinary amenities you would expect from a premium campsite. I will never compare one specific RV park to another, but I will say that I’ve never been to another park that would have considered our site one of their premium sites.
Final Thoughts
If you are visiting Tofino as a family, Crystal Cove should definitely be on your short list for places to stay. Even if you don’t have an RV. Their cottages were amazing and many of them were right on the beach with beautiful views of the ocean. There is a ton of stuff for you to do with your kids and the awesome playground will surely get you some time alone with your significant other. Near by there are many amenities for your convenience and lots of stuff for you to do with the kids. The RV sites on the other hand, were pretty underwhelming. The sites were small, not very private and none of them took advantage of the amazing location of the park. If you are like us and you don’t really care for the crowds, traffic and inflated prices, then I would suggest you stay in near by Ucluelet or even Port Alberni and just drive up to Tofino for a day or two. In the end we feel good about the time we spent at Crystal Cove, however, as a full-time childfree couple, I don’t think we would choose Crystal Cove over some of the other options again.