Nanaimo British Columbia things to do

We are in port from 7-5pm. Looking for the must see things. We love to be active walking around exploring not in groups. Do not enjoy shopping. Would prefer to plan a walking tour if possible. If not we could uber some of it. Thx everyone :)

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We are in port from 7-5pm. Looking for the must see things. We love to be active walking around exploring not in groups. Do not enjoy shopping. Would prefer to plan a walking tour if possible. If not we could uber some of it. Thx everyone :)

 

 

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For all the info you want . Just google BC Tourism for all the info you want.

While I noticed in one of your other posts that you were reluctant to rent a car, Nanaimo is VERY small - without shopping, there's not an awful lot downtown to keep you going for a day. OTOH, it's a convenient port for visiting one of most awesome natural areas on the planet - Cathedral Grove - if you rent a car for the less-than-an-hour drive. It's possible there may be an excursion through the ship also, but Nanaimo is a rare port to visit to don't expect lots of local vendors just waiting on cruise tourism. DIY is the way to go.

Yes that's true we really prefer not to rent cars for a day in port. I guess the better question is what would be worth taking a small tour or some sort of transportation from there? We do have a fairly long day to work with. Don't want to just walk around a small downtown area want to see something remarkable if possible as we probably won't be there again thx :)

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^Cathedral grove is by far the best thing near Nanaimo. Unless you hate the outdoors, huge trees, peace & quiet, nature, pleasant walking trails. I've visited Nanaimo a handful of times - we like to take the ferry on different routes to & from the island so it's via Nanaimo on the way over or the way back for us - and frankly I can't imagine spending more than an hour or two wandering without hitting the shops to kill time. If you really don't want to rent a car, see if you can hook up with others on your Roll Call and let them drive - or look into private tour guides (sorry, being locals to this region it's not a service I've used so have no reccos).

We stopped in Nanaimo a few years ago, Beautiful scenery and very friendly people. When we were there, a farmers market was set up for cruisers and therewere locals wearing yellow on everycorner to direct you and answer questions. Be sure to stroll the waterfront promenade. There are stores on the waterfront, on Commercial St. and in the old city area. There was a free shuttle that took cruisers around town. We happened on a dock near the waterfront, where locals were catching lobsters in traps. They let us throw out a few traps.

You indicated that you like to walk and while Cathedral Grove is certainly a good choice how about you take a stroll over Newcastle Island - it sits right in the harbour - it's any easy short passenger ferry ride - the terminal is easy to get to - at extreme low tide it is also possible to rock hop over to Protection Island but I haven't had any luck with this myself.

You can also bike the island - not sure where the closest bike rental is as I have taken my own bike over on a couple of occasions.

Here's the link to the park's website:

http://www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/newcastle/

There is lots of history on the island and many good viewpoints including one where you can see the BC Ferries pass very closer to you.

Another trip that I enjoyed the last time I cruised into Nanaimo was a ships tour to the Horne Lake Caves.

Hope this helps some.

Cheers!

Dennis

:)

Dennis this helps a lot. Cathedral grove looks amazing but appears to be almost an hour from the cruise port. So I haven't been able to figure out a way to get there without a tour. We did that once to Muir Woods and it was so rushed I think we had 20 min or something. I'll look into both of these :)

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My goal the next time I'm in Nanaimo is to throw out my maiden name a few times and see how many relatives I have. My uncle was a well known best selling Canadian author who not only lived there (along with tons of other relatives), he donated a portion of his land for an animal reserve and along with his brothers (including my dad) were prevalent in the lumber camps and flying in early BC history. His books were well known on the BC Ferries. I figure I'm bound to meet a few cousins who will buy me a Blue and tell me some stories. My favorite quote of his was that he lived in a one room log cabin. Ya, because there were no doors on his 3,500 square foot "cabin".

My DH and I were shopping over in North Van one day and saw a notice for a signed "autograph from the author" sign with the purchase of his latest book. So I patiently wait in line, get to the front and he says "how would you like it signed". I said, how about "to my favorite niece from Uncle Joe". He says, "who are you". I say, your brother Lloyd's daughter and I'm not paying for the book either. He says, with the size of our family I can't afford to keep handing out free books. One per family member.

Now, with what I've said so far if you are a relative, I've just given you enough to figure out that we are related. LOL :D

I agree that Newcastle Island is perfect. Take a small ferry from the harbourfront and it takes you over there. Nice and easy walk with lots of trails and a ton of history (mining, herring saltery, first nations). I think it's 7km if you walk around the entire island but there are lots of other options to make it shorter if you like. There is a food stand in the old dance hall on the island or you can bring a lunch.

Cathedral Grove/Little Qualicum Falls is good too, but you need a tour to do it if you're not driving. Timing wise it's easy to do with a rental car. As a tour it isn't too squished either. You should likely have plenty of time at each stop.

Another hike would be Ammonite Falls. You could take a taxi there (15 minutes from cruise ship terminal). It's about 2 hours to hike there and back plus spend some time there. You'd then have to call a taxi to take you back to town.