San Josef Bay by SUP and Canoe

San Josef Bay, in Cape Scott Provincial Park, is rightly famous; recently making the Top 50 of the World's Best Beaches.  With it's stunning sea stacks and beautiful white sandy beach, it's easy to see the attraction.

 

Getting to Cape Scott Provincial Park 

Despite its remote location on northern Vancouver Island, San Josef Bay is the most accessible beach in Cape Scott Provincial Park; it's an easy 45 minute walk in from the trailhead.

Getting to the trailhead involves a roughly 70km drive along gravel logging roads from the junction at Port Hardy.  These are active logging roads and are pretty rough; take it slow, drive with headlights on, and make sure you have a spare tire (and the tools and ability to change it).  There is no cell service beyond Port Hardy.  Allow at least an hour and a half for this part of the journey.

A 45 minute walk in wasn't quite adventurous enough for us, so we decided to get to San Josef Bay by SUP.  Clearly we couldn't get all of our camping gear, plus two adults, two kids and a dog on our two SUPs, so we roped in our great friends to come with us in a Canoe (and carry a load of our gear - thanks Natasha and Henry!).

San Josef Boat Launch

The boat launch on the San Josef River is operated by BC Parks, but is accessed through the San Josef Heritage Campground which is a private campground. The launch isn't obvious, but the precise what3words address is  ///cherish.drifts.abandoned.  

Officially you shouldn't park at the launch, but should continue on to the trailhead parking and then walk back (roughly 1km).  We spoke to the Heritage Campground manager though and he allowed us to park near the launch for a small fee.

It's a steep and narrow gravel launch which is best suited for small boats, SUPs and kayaks. 

Paddling the San Josef River

The San Josef River is tidal right up to the boat launch, and is only navigable at close to high tide.

We timed our departure down the river to roughly an hour after high tide so that we still had sufficient depth (roughly 3m height of tide at Cape Scott), but also benefitted from the ebbing tide to help us down the river.

On the way back up the river we left the beach roughly 3 and a half hours before high (with just under 2m height of tide at Cape Scott).  We had a nice gentle current from the flooding tide helping us up the river, but we did just touch the bottom of my SUP fin at parts of the river.  I'd recommend waiting another half an hour or so to ensure you have sufficient depth.

You can check the tide times and predicted heights on the Government of Canada tides site.

Its roughly a 2.5km paddle, and with the tide with us in both directions it took less than an hour of leisurely paddling on our (heavily laden) SUPs and Canoe.

There are a few dead heads in the water, but there were no big overhanging trees or anything, and with the gentle flow it was a safe paddle to the estuary.  We stopped while still in the river and protected from the waves at the mouth.  Its a short walk from here to the top of the beach, where there are informal camping areas.

Camping at San Josef Bay

Camping at San Josef Bay is 'random wilderness' camping.  There are no formal pitches, and you are encouraged to camp on the beach.  

There are bear caches and pit toilets.  Practice leave no trace principles and pack out what you pack in - there is no means to dispose of garbage in the park.  Also ensure you follow the Bare Campsite rules; we really enjoyed watching a large black bear feeding just across the river at low tide.  Remember - a fed bear is a dead bear!

There is a water source on the second beach, which is only accessible at low tide, but water must be treated before use.

Be sure to check out our Camping Gear page for more details on the kit we used on our trip.