Outer Discovery Islands
Quadra and Cortes Islands may bask in the highlight of regular ferry service but there are numerous other islands and islets that surround them. Read, Maurelle, Sonora, Stuart, East & West Redonda, East & West Thurlow and the Rendezvous Islands are the most significant of the Outer Islands. These islands and the intricate waterways that weave between them are home to resourceful and hardy people. Fish farms, fishing and kayak lodges, homesteaders and logging camps are dotted throughout them.
Services
Groceries are available at West Redonda (Refuge Cove), West Thurlow (Blind Channel), and Stuart (Big Bay). Surge Narrows is home to Canada's only floating post office.
Public wharves are located: at Big Bay on Stuart Island, Surge Narrows on Read Island, Owen Bay on Sonora Island, Shoal Bay on the north side of East Thurlow Island. There are also several commercial marinas dotted throughout the islands.
With snowcapped mountains and deep inlets fed by tumbing glaciers as a backdrop, the scenery to be found in the Outer Islands is arguably some of the most impressive on the BC coast. The recreation possibilities here are endless and of an unrivalled calibre.
Sportfishing with sleak silver fish slicing through the emerald waters; sea kayking among calm protected channels and exquisite islets, with boiling tidal rapids for the more adventureous;Divers are attracted to the high concentration of marine life in the protected waters of Surge Narrows Park and Octopus Islands Marine Park. Sports fishing enthusiasts troll for the mighty tyee.
There's hiking and climbing on the Outer Islands themselves or on the adjacent mainland Coast Range mountains where, among many others, BC's highest peak Mt Waddington lurks at the head of Bute Inlet. These inlets also serve as the gateway for hikers, mountaineers, and ski tourers into the vast sweep of the Coast Mountain Range. The Waddington Range from Bute Inlet, the Tahumming Range in Toba Inlet, and the Homfray Circuit in Desolation Sound are all accessible from the Discovery Islands. Expeditions can depart from several locations, including Squirrel Cove on Cortes Island and Heriot Bay and the Surge Narrows Road on Quadra Island. Bute and Toba Inlets are accessible by working freight boats, floatplanes, and water taxis, all of which accommodate passengers. Their steady summer winds provide exciting sport for the sailor.
The Outer Islands are still on the frontier, caught between the luxury of paved roads and reliable telephone service and one of the last great wilderness areas of the world. Boat charters, sea kayak tours and flights into these islands are all available locally. Due in part to the beautiful scenery and landscape and the available local businesses, people from all over the world view the area as a highly desirable tourist destination. On this site you can get a great idea of the different local businesses that will available to you when you arrive as well as what they do. Although the area still has a relatively modest number of permanent residents many people still shop around online for moving companies to investigate how expensive it might be to move to the Discovery Islands.
