Tofino BC FAQs, Frequently Asked Questions about Tofino: Naming of Tofino, Travelling to Tofino, Clayoquot Island, Tofino, BC, West Coast, Canada

The Best of Tofino FAQ's

Read the frequently asked questions below and if you still have one of you own
Fill out the form at the bottom of this page.

On This Page: Naming of Tofino, Work in Tofino, Tofino Rentals, Travelling to Tofino
Number of Tourists, Clayoquot Island, Looking for a Mug

A name to be proud of.
Q. My husband and I visited Tofino a little over 4 years ago and found it wonderful. Such were our good memories we named our first son "T'fino" in memory of the town. He was born 25/6/03. Do you know of anyone else named after or inspired by your town?

Isn't that just the greatest story! If you were inspired by Tofino to name something you love after our town on West Coast Canada please let us know.

Looking for work in Tofino
Q. I would like to work in Tofino. How can I find out where the jobs are?

A. For a list of available jobs in the Tofino area check here.
This list is from the West Coast Career Centre website which may be found here.

The Westerly News posts both job opportunities and housing leads in its classified section. The Westerly is a weekly paper and hits the stands every Wednesday. They can be contacted by phoning 250.726.7029.

Many of the larger resorts also list employment opportunities on their websites.

Naming of Tofino
Q. I was born in the South of Spain, in San Fernando, where the Spanish hydrographer Vicente Tofino de San Miguel was died in 1795. San Fernando is a small town next to the ancient city of Cadiz, where Vicente Tofino was born in 1732, and not 1792 as you mention in your historical review. I know, and probably also you, that this great hydrographer never went to your beatiful country. However, other famous spanish navy explorers, like Alejandro Malaspina and Alcala Galiano, in 1791 and 1792, performed some explorations in Nootka Island and in the area around. For instance, near from Tofino it is placed the Malaspina Strait.

My question is: do you know who and when decided to put the name of Tofino to your beatiful place? I am very curious about it, because I can imagine that was one of the XVIII century spanish saylors, but I don't know who of them and when.

Thank you very much in advance for your help,
M. Ariza, San Fernando, Spain

A. It is thought that our home of Tofino, BC was named after the Spanish hydrographer, Captain Vincente Tofiño de San Miguel. In 1792 two commanders of the Spanish navy, Dionisio Alcalá Galiano and Cayetano Valdés, explored Canada's west in their ships, Sutil and Mexicana. They named one of the inlets they sailed Tofino Inlet. The settlement that grew up in that inlet was also named Tofino and retains that name today. Of course the First Nations people, the Tla-o-qui-aht, had many names for the land and waters of the region and today we use the name Clayoquot Sound for the entire area.

An interesting sidebar is that before Galiano and Valdés arrived, another Spainard, Juan Pantoja, had named the inlet Gervete. Today the three men are remembered in the naming of Galiano Island and Valdés Island in the Strait of Georgia and Pantoja Island in Nootka Sound.

Another explanation for the name follows below:
Tofino Inlet, 1792 Galiano and Valdes - when completing their voyage in Sutil and Mexicana, possibly from the Spanish word "Togino" — a nautical term referring to the pieces of wood used on the sides of a ship as steps.
http://www.rootsweb.com/~canbc/bc_placenames.htm

Response. Thank you very much for your detailed explanation. First of all, I appreciate your comments very much; because the need I had to know about the topic, is now completely closed with your good answer. Second, let me apologize because, between the lines in your historical review, as "horrible" translation, I wrongly thought that you had noted the date 1792 in relation with the date of birth of Tofino. Excuse me for that wrong assumption, due to my lack of knowledge in the use of the English language.

On the other hand, maybe you can have some curiosity about why somebody like me would like to know the origin of the name of your beautiful land (the photos in your website are incredible). If so, let me try to explain it in a few words. Recently, I read a very good book about the exploration journeys that Captain Cook made in XVIII century. In the third trip, he tried to find a sailing route (to the Atlantic Ocean) through the North-West coast of America, so he explored the coast of Vancouver, Nootka and Alaska before having to leave the mission because of the great blocks of ice obstructing the movement of "The Resolution". I was trying to follow the route of Captain Cook on a paper map, when suddenly, to my surprise, I saw a small point named "Tofino" on the chart. The book about Cook mentioned that, before this great explorer, the coast had also been explored by Spaniards. At that moment, I realized that a name like "Tofino", in that part of the world, explored by Spaniards long time ago, could be named by one of the Spaniard explorers. And I begun to study about "Tofino". By the time "Tofino" was born, I knew that it was impossible that the first Spaniard explorers, coming before Captain Cook, were responsible to name the place Tofino. So, I made some investigations pointing to Malaspina and Alcalá Galiano, that were exploring the place in 1791 and 1792. However, I couldn't find any relationship between them and the name of Tofino Inlet, until I received your answer. So, now, I'm quiet happy to know the end of the story, because of your interest to answer my questions. It's a great pleasure to confirm the origin of the name.

I also appreciate very much the web-link you provide to the origin of British Columbia names, where I have found several spanish names; like Apodaca, another great man from the history of "Cádiz" county. So, thanks to you, now I know new things about the history of Cádiz great explorers and their links with Vancouver Island and its around; that make me think that British Columbia and Cádiz are only far in the distance but not in spirit.

Once again, thank you very much for attending me so quickly and for your comments about my country. Your website is really very nice and it seems to me that your county is really wonderful to visit.

Thanks,
Manuel Ariza

Travelling from San Francisco to Tofino
Q. Coming from San Francisco, where should I fly to in B.C. to reach Tofino the quickest? We are happy to take a ferry to the island.

A. You can fly into Vancouver and take a flight from there to Tofino (fastest). You can also fly into Vancouver and take the ferry from Horseshoe Bay (about 1 hour from Vancouver by car) to Nanaimo and drive or take a bus across the Island to Tofino. You can fly into Victoria, already on Vancouver Island, and drive or bus to Tofino from there (about 5 hours drive).

If you are coming in the summer and renting a car in Vancouver, it would be a good idea to check into a ferry reservation to Vancouver Island if travelling during weekends or holidays. There is also a ferry from Tsawwassen that goes to Nanaimo but I am not exactly sure how long the drive is from Vancouver and the ferry trip is 1/2 hour longer.

GoTofino.com Transportation page

GoTofino.com Drive to Tofino page

Number of Tourists
Q. I was hoping to find out the approximate number of tourists that visited the Tofino area in 2003. Any help you could provide would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

A. There are many numbers out there, anywhere from 10 to 25,000 visitors per day in Tofino during the summer, but they are all anecdotal. We had 38, 243 visitors come through the Visitor Centre during the year. People have looked at the number of beds in the community (about 4500 not counting vacation rentals of which we don't know how many there are) and the occupancy rate, plus the number of people camping to try and come up with the number of people who stay during the summer. But then there are all the day trippers from Ucluelet and as far away as Victoria, so it is a very hard number to come up with. I am sure there are people out there who study this type of thing and who would have a formula, but no one has ever done it to my knowledge. This answer from the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce.

Clayoquot Island
Q. I would like to know about Stubb Island. Apparently it is possible to visit the island of the May long weekend by boat from Tofino. (private island off Tofino) Thanks.

A. Thank you for your email. With respect to your inquiry about Stubbs Island and getting there by boat I have enclosed some information about the island and a contact for Jamies Whaling Station, a boat charter company.

A brief note about Stubbs Island, which is now called Clayoquot Island.
* first non-native settlement in the region
* 1855 - a trading post founded, sotres, houses, school, hotel and jailhouse followed
* 1937 - the island was given as a wedding gift to Madeleine and Pierre Malon
* 1940's - the island was sold to Betty Farmer. She and her sister operated the hotel and pub
* The sisters began a garden and were recognized for the magnificinet rododenrons they grew from seed
* The rhodos are now trees
* 1989 - the island became the Clayoquot Island Preserve and the gardens are once again as they were in the 1940's, indeed they have been added to by the current owner.

I think the time that the gardens are open to the public this year is May 29-30, 2004. You may check with Clayoquot Island Preserve, 100 Stubbs Island, Tofino, BC, V0R 2Z0, 250-725-2115

You may also wish to contact Jamie's Whaling Station and ask if they do a tour to the island during your stay.

Looking to buy another Tofino mug
Q. The summer before last we visited Tofino and I bought a beautiful blue stainless steel travel mug with silver native mask designs around the circumference, and I lost it. I know I bought it in a little shop on the main street right beside the place where we went whale watching. Any idea the name of the shop, or how I can get another one?

A. This question goes out to all you locals - anybody know the mug? If so please drop an email to GoTofino.com. Thanks!

Update: The mug may be found at House of Himwatsa. Thanks Debbie!

Thank you to the Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce
Some of the information for these answers came from The Tofino-Long Beach Chamber of Commerce. GoTofino.com wishes to thank it's knowledgeable and dedicated manager, Michael Tilitzky.

Have a Question about Tofino? Talk to Us!
Write us today!

If you are contacting us regarding a listing please use this.

If you are looking for a job in Tofino check here.