Lonely Planet has named Canada its number one destination for 2017. If you’re planning a trip, we at Huck would like recommend a little gem that we predict will be the country’s next ‘it’ spot.
When people think of Canada, they almost never think of surfing. Unless they’re in the know about Tofino, that is.
Tofino on the western coast of Vancouver Island is where more than a millennium-old-rainforest meets the sea. Its 35 kilometre-long beach is where the Pacific storm wave break.
It was while watching a storm on their father’s porch, beers in hand, that Charles and Howie McDiarmid were inspired to build the Wickaninnish Inn so they could share the wonder of where they grew up with the rest of the world. Surfers have been coming to Tofino since the 60s but the brothers’ inn opened 20 years ago, the “Wick” has been credited with setting off a chain reaction that turned this town of 1,800 people into a dynamic food and hospitality scene. The Wick inspired Shelter, which in turn inspired the founders the Tofino Brewing Co. and so on.
A team from Huck recently made the trek from East London to Western Canada our neighbour John Quilter, aka YouTube’s Food Busker, to capture Tofino’s laid-back way of life first hand. The result is the short film for Explore Canada you see above.
To get into the waves, we brought along our own Aquaman with a camera, Allan Wilson, as director of photography and our friends at Arts & Crafts records helped bring on board Canadian indie bands Rah Rah and Paper Lions to provide the soundtrack.
We hope you enjoy this taste of Tofino — and get to experience it soon for yourself.
You can check out more films from the trip here and if you’d like to see more short films by the Huck team, why not subscribe to our YouTube channel?
Latest on Huck
The party starters fighting to revive Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival
Free the Stones! delves into the vibrant community that reignites Stonehenge’s Solstice Free Festival, a celebration suppressed for nearly four decades.
Written by: Laura Witucka
Hypnotic Scenes of 90s London Nightlife
Legendary photographer Eddie Otchere looks back at this epic chapter of the capital’s story in new photobook ‘Metalheadz, Blue Note London 1994–1996’
Written by: Miss Rosen
The White Pube: “Artists are skint, knackered and sharing the same 20 quid”
We caught up with the two art rebels to chat about their journey, playing the game that they hate, and why anarchism might be the solution to all of art’s (and the wider world’s) problems.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The Chinese youth movement ditching big cities for the coast
In ’Fissure of a Sweetdream’ photographer Jialin Yan documents the growing number of Chinese young people turning their backs on careerist grind in favour of a slower pace of life on Hainan Island.
Written by: Isaac Muk
The LGBT Travellers fundraising for survival
This Christmas, Traveller Pride are raising money to continue supporting LGBT Travellers (used inclusively) across the country through the festive season and on into next year, here’s how you can support them.
Written by: Percy Henderson
The fight to save Bristol’s radical heart
As the city’s Turbo Island comes under threat activists and community members are rallying round to try and stop the tide of gentrification.
Written by: Ruby Conway