An Awesome Adventure: Visiting Haida Gwaii on a Tight Budget

Our crazy brave adventure ain’t cheap. And we aren’t wealthy.

So Dan and I are unapologetic cheapskates. For us, part of van-living is exploring new places and experiencing new things …without splurging on big ticket items. We rarely do “vacation-y” activities like tours, amusements, and museums.

We knew that traveling to the island of Haida Gwaii would be a budget challenge. But we really didn’t want to pass it up either. The plan was to experience this place at reasonable cost. And we think we (mostly) managed to pull this off. We had an amazing, relaxing van-cation on Haida Gwaii without spending a fortune.

Getting to Haida Gwaii is a challenge. And it isn’t cheap. But with a little planning, you can explore this lovely place pretty without spending a fortune. In this post, we’ll share our experience visiting this amazing island on a tight budget.

Haida What?

Although most Americans haven’t heard of it, Haida Gwaii is an iconic Canadian place. When we last visited British Columbia, everyone we met mentioned Haida Gwaii. People said it was a “magical” place, unique and wild and ancient. I had no idea what they were talking about. But whatever it was, it sure sounded pretty awesome.

So here’s a quick little info dump:

Haida Gwaii is a large island 60 miles off the Northern Pacific coast of Canada. It has been the home of the First Nation Haida people, since before the ice age. And the Haida Culture is very present here: In language, art, and governance.

The “island” of Haida Gwaii is really an archipelago, a series of islands separated by very small bodies of water. It is about 250 kilometers long and has only about 150 kilometers of roads.

There are a few small towns on Haida Gwaii (None with a population over 1000). And Gwaii Hanas, a Canadian National Park, Preserve and Heritage Site, is the southern third of the island, reachable only by boat.

Due to its distance from the mainland, this island has unique animal and plant life. The black bears here, for example, have developed larger jaws to crack open clams and other sea life along the shore.

And due to its temperate rain forest climate, this island has more biomass per square yard than any place on earth.

There are miles and miles of beaches and rugged coastline on Haida Gwaii…. Most of which is accessible only on the eastern edge of the island, facing the Hecate Strait and mainland Canada.

Getting There

Getting to Haida Gwaii is a challenge. And it was our biggest expense by a long shot. No roads or bridges connect the island to the mainland; it’s 60 miles offshore.

That leaves two options: Ferry or flight. We wanted to camp, so taking the van across on the BC ferry seemed the way to go. But we had to get to Prince Rupert, a small city on the Canadian coast to catch the ferry. This turned into an excellent adventure in itself. The details of that drive are on our daily instagram posts… and in a few YouTube Videos too. (Check ’em out if you are so inclined.)

A round trip on the ferry with our 21 foot van cost around $500 Canadian dollars ($375ish US). And this, by far, was the biggest expense of our eight day trip. In the summer, the ferry sails between Prince Rupert (in Northern BC) and Skidegate on Haida Gwaii about once a day. It sails less often in in other seasons. Check with BC Ferries for more details.

And by all means, book a spot before you arrive.The ferry fills up fast in the summer.

As we are not plan-ahead type people, we settled for whatever sailing we could get… which meant an overnight trip (10:00PM-6AM) on the way out. We were too cheap to buy a sleeping bunk. And so we spent an uncomfortable night on the chairs in the main lounge.

We definitely recommend bringing camping gear on the night ferry. We watched many ferry pros lay out their camping gear and settle in on the floor. And, man, we really wished we’d done that too.

On our return trip, we booked passage during the day. And it was a much better experience. We saw whales and porpoises and enjoyed the views from the deck and large windows. If you have a choice, we totally advise a day passage.

A more expensive option, of course, would be to fly to Haida Gwaii. We didn’t look into this option. But there is a small airport in the town of Sandspit, if that’s your thing. But then you’d have to rent a car or taxi around or…. well, we’re not really sure how that’d work. It would be a whole different kind of trip. Not a budget one.

Prepping Meals

Because we were planning to camp, packing food for meals was a no brainer. We knew that the few small grocery stores on the island would be expensive. And we wanted to have a wide choice of ingredients. So we made sure to arrive on Haida Gwaii with enough food to last us the full eight days.

We stocked up on fresh veggies and hard to find items like almond milk and collard greens. This plan worked wonderfully. With one notable exception, we bought no food at all while on the island. And we saved ourselves a ton of money. Basically, we spent what we would have on the mainland, or anywhere else. So I didn’t include the cost of groceries in our final trip total below.

Fishing and crabbing are popular on Haida Gwaii. And you may want to supplement your meals with fresh seafood while you’re here. There is a seafood market at the marina in Daajing Giids, the largest town on the island. Or you could catch your own dinner. We met quite a few people who’d come to Haida Gwaii just to fish and crab.

Gassing Up

Gas is a also little pricey on the island. And there are many kilometers of roads to drive. We planned ahead here too and gassed up in Prince Rupert before we boarded the ferry. We spent eight days on Haida Gwaii without the need for a fill up. Our gas-cost was far less than it would have been on the mainland. And we didn’t include that in the total either.

Free and Cheap Camping

Here’s where the rubber meets the road: Haida Gwaii’s awesome, inexpensive, camping options!

There are five BC rec sites on Haida Gwaii. These small campgrounds are totally free and a great option. They have picnic tables and pit toilets but no other “amenities”. On Haida Gwaii, these rec sites are nestled in beautiful mossy forests or along scenic beaches.

Almost all sites on the island are first come, first serve. If you want a spot, you should to plan to arrive around the time folks are packing up. Between 9 and 11 AM seems to be the sweet spot (pun intended).

Kagan Bay Rec Site, closest to the ferry at Skidegate, was packed both times we tried to snag a spot. And Hayden Turner Municipal Park ($20), also first come/first served and on the outskirts of Daajing Giids, was full as well. But Gray Bay, our all time favorite campsite on the island, had spots available late on a Saturday afternoon.

But no worries, there are other other affordable camping options here! Naikoon Provincial Park, on the Northeast corner of the island has two large campgrounds: Misty Meadows and Agate Beach. These are first come first served as well.

Misty Meadows is closer to Skidegate and Daajing Giids, and tucked into the trees. You can access some wonderful hiking from here. And the cost is $18CD per night (1/2 price for “seniors”). The helpful woman at the visitor center told us that Misty Meadows is a good bet when things are busy. She said there are almost always spots available there.

Agate Beach (also $18) is right on the beach and facing north. Perfect for catching both the sunset and the sunrise. We spent three nights at Agate Beach at $9 CD per night (We are 1/2 price “seniors”).This was a lovely spot, with trails, beaches, fishing, and historic sites all within walking distance.

Also, there are many spots along the coast that are totally free. And we had no trouble finding boondocking sites. Our iOverlander 2 was super helpful in this. But there were many more tucked-away places that weren’t listed there.

Take note: Some of Haida Gwaii’s free rec sites are hard to get to. Gray Bay was down about 18km of dirt road. And yeah, it was pretty muddy in the rain. Not my favorite drive. BUT so worth it.

Most other free rec sites, Mosquito Lake, Moresby Camp, and Rennel Cove are even more challenging to get to. Probably lovely though, if you have the heart (and wheels) to reach to them. Check in at the visitor center in Daajing Giids and ask about road conditions before you start your trek.

In addition, to all these affordable options, there are two other municipal campgrounds ($20/$25 CD). The Hiellan Village Longhouses, a Haida-run campground and cabins ($20 tenting/$40 RV). Built on the site of an ancient Haida community, this place has cabins as well as camping. Sunset Park ($25 CDN) in Port Clemens is another solid municipal option.

There are also a few private campgrounds on the island. But we don’t need to spend money on electric, water or sewer hook-ups. So we didn’t check these out.

We camped on the beach every night on Haida Gwaii. In total, our 7 nights of beachfront camping cost $27. Pretty sweet, eh?

Fun, Free Things a Plenty

We aren’t hard to please. We can spend our days poking around the desert or wandering trails… or even just hanging out beside our van. So it was no surprise to us that we had plenty to do on Haida Gwaii.

We spent our seven days, beach combing and hiking and exploring the many varied beaches of Haida Gwai. There are many trails here and many beaches as well. One day, we hiked 20+ kilometers on the Cape Fife Trail. It was a highlight of our trip.

On our last day, we were a little “civilized” and wandered around Daajing Giids, which was fun too.

If you have a Kayak Haida Gwaii would be an awesome place to paddle. So many sheltered inlets and interesting coves! We had planned on maybe renting kayaks while here. But we were plenty busy, and we decided to save that for another time.

If you have the budget for it, there are guided boat tours and cruises to Gwaii Hanas, the National Preserve. But those were definitely out of our budget. Maybe next time, though? (The visitor center is a great place to get info on these… and everything else.)

Dining Out

We’d planned not to “restaurant” much on our trip to Haida Gwaii. There are few options and we didn’t want to end up buying something we could make ourselves. Most places just didn’t seem worth the cost.

This is where preparation came in handy. We had many delicious meals straight from our own cupboard. And we didn’t miss restaurants… didn’t even see them really as we were busy outside of towns, camping and hiking and beach combing.

But on our last night on the island, we splurged. And what a splurge it was! We spent more at this one restaurant visit than we did on anything else(!)

Blacktail Restaurant was pricey (for us) and even with the positive currency exchange rate, it took a bite out of our budget. But it featured local foods and creative cocktails and was thoroughly delicious. We dined on local halibut steak and fresh made pasta made with locally-collected mushrooms and herbs. It was fantastic!

This swanky spot was busy at 4:00 when it opened. And it doesn’t take reservations for parties of less than six. So plan ahead here, too.

Our meal (two entrees and two fancy cocktails) cost about $100 CDN ($74ish US).

A Few “Extras”

We had a few other expenses on Haida Gwaii. We bought showers at one of the private campgrounds in the town of Massett. ($12 total). And we did laundry there too ($16).

And we took a smaller ferry to Moresby Island to explore the even quieter beaches there. That ferry cost $35 round trip.

We did do one “vacation-y” thing on Haida Gwaii. But it was well worth it. We visited the Haida Heritage Center to learn more about the people who’d shared this special place with us. The visit cost us $34 each (Yipes!) But it was a really wonderful experience. We learned a lot. And the money felt like a worthwhile way to support the people and economy of Haida Gwaii. Guess we aren’t total cheapskates after all!

Our (not so) Grand Total:

Our journey to Haida Gwaii was one for the ages. We totally enjoyed our stay. We treasure the time we spent beside the water and in the gorgeous, lush forests of this amazing place.

And it really wasn’t half as spendy as we’d feared.

Here’s (approximately) what we spent for our 8 day visit to Haida Gwaii:

• Ferries: $535
• Camping: $27
• Eating out: $100
• Museum: $70
• Showers: $12
• Laundry $16

Grand Total: $710 (or $518ish US dollars)

Not too bad for 8 days of awesome in a hard to reach and unique place. Right?

So Worth It!

So yeah, it costs a little extra to visit Haida Gwaii, that ferry ride especially.

But, aside from the ferry, A pretty cheap week. And so awesome too! Our experience at Haida Gwaii was one of the highlights of our last three years of van travel. So yeah, totally worth it!

And with a little planning, you too can explore this lovely place on the cheap.

** If you’d like more info on Haida Gwaii, we made three (yes, THREE) videos about our time there. (Here’s the link)

Or write us. We’d love to answer your questions about this awesome place.