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Village in British Columbia, Canada
Photo: David Stanley from Nanaimo, Canada, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Alert Bay is a small town of 449 people (2021) on Cormorant Island, off the east coast of northern Vancouver Island, British Columbia.
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A modern take on a traditional First Nations Big House, this building is used for potlatch ceremonies. This is a 1999 rebuild of a 1996 original, which was lost to fire. The "World's Tallest Totem Pole" is nearby.
This museum preserves and exhibits artifacts of Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw culture. A highlight of the collection are potlatch artifacts, confiscated by Canada in the 1920s in an attempt to stamp out potlatch culture, and returned to this museum decades later.
A marsh was created when a 19th-century cannery operation dammed a stream. Now the area is a bird haven. Three trails, each 10 minutes or so walk, loop around the area. Get a map from the visitors centre.
The upper-floor dining room has a commanding view of the harbour, and serves unpretentious food.
Three rooms in various sizes, from 2 to 4 people.
14 cabins, each sleeping up to 4 people. Pilots take note: the cabins are a few meters walk from the east end of CYAL runway 09; you can park your plane in the grass and easily walk to the cabins.
There are no bridges to this island, but there is a ferry service to Sointula (Malcolm Island) and Port McNeill (Vancouver Island). The nearest airport with scheduled commercial service is at Port Hardy.
Read in the guideThe village is small enough to be walkable. The island is also walkable, but given the hilly topography, a car or bike comes in handy.
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Port Hardy · Regional · YZT
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