What to do in Nanaimo???

We will be on the 3 night cruise in the Pacific Northwest on 9/28 sailing. Anyone been to Nanaimo? What is there to do there? Do we need to book a tour, or is there stuff to do on our own? How close to the pier is the town?

You will tender to a New Pier which is fairly close to downtown. If the weather is nice the harbour and walk along is great. It's a nice small city and the shops will be open and they will be lookin' for you. Small boats/kayaks for rent nearby. Float plane tours etc etc.

There will be a tour to the West Coast of the Island. Cathedral Grove (tall tree stand) is not too far away and there are Caves nearby somewhere that friends of ours say were quite interesting.

Nothing too exciting just a nice coastal city on the Inside of Vancouver Island.

I was there last fall on a Sunday and the town was closed.

About the only place open was a small casino.

Hi There! Love your screen name. Hubby & I will be in the same cruise too. I posted this question on the Canada board and it sounds like to me it is a quiet town. We booked the Wine & Cheese tour off the X site. We also have a thread going on the Celebrity connections board.

Here's a link to tourism BC's Nanaimo's things to do page:

http://www.hellobc.com/en-CA/SightsActivitiesEvents/Nanaimo.htm

The walk along the waterfront is excellent - the short boat ride over to Newcastle Island is an interesting trip - living across the water from Nanaimo in Vancouver I get over their regularly so take many things for granted - when our Star repo stopped there two years ago the whole town was out to greet us as we were only the second large cruise ship to visit the port - how many hours do you have - if all day - a trip up to Cathedral Grove and Parksville is also feasible - The leaves will be starting to turn so the surrounding countryside could be quite colorful.

Hope this helps somewhat

Cheers

Dennis

You could walk down the seawall to Maffeo-Sutton park and take the little ferry to Protection Island and have lunch at the Dinghy Dock Pub - delightful spot on the water, if weather is nice. Deirdre who works in Nanaimo

We are also doing one of those 3 day cruises but in October and we will be there on Sunday so I wonder if the town will be closed? Now I am a little bit worried......

Nanaimo relies on tourism for a big part of its economic engine and is really trying to attract the cruise lines so most businesses catering to cruisers should be open - their are few restrictions on retail openings in the province of BC and Sunday shopping is widespread.

Cheers

Dennis

We thoroughly enjoyed Cathedral Grove when we were in Nanaimo a couple years ago on a Pacific Northwest cruise. You can see pictures of it in our review at www.thepreismans.com .

We thoroughly enjoyed Cathedral Grove when we were in Nanaimo a couple years ago on a Pacific Northwest cruise. You can see pictures of it in our review at www.thepreismans.com .

I am just thanking you for your great review... it was done so nice and neatly... I had a good two hours checking out your review on Canada..

Thanks so much for sharing ....

If a tour is available to go to Chemainus I would highly recomend that. Twenty five years ago they started painting murals on the walls and has become quite the tourist town.