The Beautiful Trail, Malcolm Island

We have been travelling quite a bit this summer and finally had the opportunity to go to Bere Point on Malcolm Island. Malcolm Island is across the water from Port McNeil on Vancouver Island.

Bere Point offers a small camping area and gorgeous mountain views, great fishing but most of all a whale rubbing beach!! I couldn't wait to get there!
There is a viewing platform that is to offer you a great way to to see the Orca's rub along the bottom of the ocean near the beach.
The way there was along "The Beautiful Trail".

Alright, take the ferry from Port McNeil to Malcolm Island, follow signs to get to Bere Point from ferry exit. We arrive and park at the start of the trail. There is beach access here as well.

We head out on the trail which starts out beautiful - nice wide trail, smooth, flat and quite enjoyable. Suddenly it narrows, and is over grown with grass and small shrubs. There is another beach access (which is the last beach access) by trail that is a short but a bit steep down.

The trail gets worse and worse from here - there is so many fallen trees, slippery mossy areas, roots, mud, water, open crevice on each side of the trail and it is dark! The trees are tall and no sunlight comes in. It is also muggy from all the heat being trapped under the tree tops. We come across two peek a boo ocean views in the hour we have been hiking. We come to a platform that tells us the "Rubbing Beach Viewing Platform" is still another 1.5 km away and the next part of the trail is accessible down through the rabbit hole which is really a small opening in the bush that descends down into even darker depths.

Time to turn around. The trail has been brutal up to this point and looks like it doesn't get any better. (We later find out that there was a wind storm in 2005 that knocked down many trees but were never cleaned up due to public protest and fear of ruining the landscape near the rubbing beach.) The trail probably once was "beautiful".

We get back to where we are parked and head out on to the beach. The beach is all smooth rocks - big and small - the type that when you walk on them your footing is a bit unstable as your foot sinks into the rocks. However, the air is fresh, the scenery in beautiful, and then . . . . . .

A humpback whale appears! He is fairly close to the shoreline too. I am so excited!! I think if I was still on the trail I would have missed seeing it. The humpback dives and emerges several times exhaling high into the sky through its blow hole. It hits the water with its flippers and smacks his tail a few times on the top of the water and goes down deep into the ocean.

I wait for it to come back up and am really hoping he will come towards the area I am in. He emerges and goes in the exact opposite of me. Of course.

To access the rubbing beach by foot along the beach is 2.5 km from the parking area. We decide that because we are only here for the day that it would be a long treacherous hike because of the rocks and no sand that we wouldn't attempt it. We think the best bet would be to go by kayak, canoe or small boat that you could pull up onto the beach and then reach this platform. But then again - maybe just sitting in lawn chairs on the beach would be sufficient as the whales are visible from the beach.

This a great place to see whales and a great place to fish! The campground is nice but small. There is no water here so bring your own for sure.
I think about returning soon to Malcolm Island. Forget the trail and just enjoy the beach and the view!