We have been trying to arrange a kayaking/camping trip with our friends but have not yet got further than asking more and more people if they would like to come. Someone has to eventually take the reins and actually organize it, and I guess that person will probably be me.

The intention is to hire a kayak from Deep Cove in North Vancouver and then paddle up the Indian Arm River, camp overnight and then paddle back the next day. We think that the beginning of September would be the best time to do it as we are busy all of July and our friends who we initially broached the idea with have guests for most of August. We may end up doing this on the Labour Day weekend.

Having looked at the Deep Cove Kayak rental website, it appears that we have a choice of 3 places to camp. One campsite is on the larger, northernmost island of the Twin Islands which would seem the ideal place to stop for a night except that it is only a 1 hour 40 minute leisurely paddle from Deep Cove. The other two campsites are a lot further up the river, and will take much longer to paddle to – 5 hours to Berg’s Landing and 6 hours to Granite Falls (the best campsite with the best view). This might be a bit too much paddling for me as I think I’d be fine doing one long day but might not want to paddle back the next day, particularly as the headwinds are strong on the return journey.

I’ve just been reading up on the website and it says that you have to have done a capsize course to take out one of their kayaks unaccompanied – this will mean taking a 3-hour lesson one evening or morning for $70. Alternatively, we can do a guided overnight kayak tour for $100 per person per day – that might be better if we wanted to go longer distances.

They also have a link on their website to Takaya tours – a First Nations run eco-tourism business. I keep forgetting about this for some reason but I absolutely want to do their West Coast Canoe Adventure Tour, which involves going out in a group on a traditional 25 foot First Nations canoe, paddling around the Indian Arm area while the guide sings traditional songs, tells legends and points out ancient village sites. I’m sure they used to include a BBQ salmon picnic but that doesn’t seem to be a part of the proceedings anymore (though perhaps if a group of us booked we could ask about this, as they still appear to do it for corporate events).

They, too, rent kayaks and at a cheaper price than Deep Cove Kayaks – but as they are based in Cates Park, where the Indian Arm river flows into Burrard Inlet, you have further to paddle to get to the campsites. Having said that, it might just make the Twin Islands Campsite a 3 – 3.5 hour leisurely paddle, which would be perfect. And they also have expanded recently and opened a sister paddling centre opposite Cates Park at Belcarra Park, which gives us another option since this is on the right side of the Indian Arm River for the Twin Islands Campsite. However, it seems that there is no overnight parking allowed at Belcarra Park, and probably not Cates Park either.

Someone has written up their kayaking trip to Twin Islands from Rocky Point (Port Moody) here and they have also written about their experiences kayaking on Buntzen Lake (Port Moody/Belcarra) and Alouette Lake (in Golden Ears Provincial Park where we want to go camping).