Can You Drive to Hot Springs Cove?

No. You cannot drive to Hot Springs Cove. There is no road to it. The cove sits in a remote corner of Clayoquot Sound, north of Tofino, and the only ways in are by boat or floatplane, followed by a boardwalk of roughly two kilometres through old-growth rainforest to reach the pools themselves.

This catches a lot of visitors off guard, because on a map the cove looks close to Tofino. It is close, as the crow flies. The problem is the terrain in between: a maze of forested inlets and islands with no highway, no bridge and no trailhead you can drive to. Getting there is part of the experience, and it is one of the reasons the pools still feel genuinely wild rather than like a roadside attraction. Plan the journey properly and it becomes the best part of the day rather than an obstacle.

How do you actually get to Hot Springs Cove?

You reach Hot Springs Cove from Tofino two ways: by boat, on a wildlife cruise of roughly ninety minutes each way through Clayoquot Sound, or by floatplane, which crosses the sound in a fraction of the time. Both drop you at a dock, from where a two-kilometre cedar boardwalk leads to the pools.

The boat is how most people go, and it is the better value and the richer experience. A Hot Springs Cove tour with a wildlife cruise runs about six hours in total from Tofino, aboard a comfortable covered cabin cruiser that carries a small group, threading the inlets of Clayoquot Sound where seals, sea lions, otters, eagles and, in season, whales or dolphins turn up along the way. Because the cabin cruiser takes only a dozen or so passengers per departure, these trips fill in summer, so book ahead. The floatplane is the fast option: it turns the journey into a scenic flight of minutes rather than hours, which suits travellers short on time or prone to seasickness, though it costs more and skips the wildlife on the water. Some visitors fly one way and cruise the other to get both. Hot Springs Cove is one of the most sought-after natural attractions on this coast, listed among the region's highlights on Vancouver Island's tourism site.

What is the boat trip like?

The boat trip is a wildlife cruise in its own right, not just a transfer. Over roughly ninety minutes each way, the covered cabin cruiser winds through the sheltered inlets of Clayoquot Sound past forested shorelines and rocky haul-outs, with a good chance of seals, sea lions, sea otters and bald eagles, and possible whales or dolphins.

Clayoquot Sound is a protected expanse of old-growth rainforest, islands and inlets, and the run out to the cove reads like a highlight reel of the coast. The cabin cruiser is covered, which matters on a shore where a bright morning can turn to drizzle within the hour, and the crew watch the water for wildlife the whole way. The same waters draw the coastal black bears that forage the shoreline at low tide, the focus of a separate Clayoquot Sound bear watching cruise, and the whales that pass offshore through the warmer months, which our guide to whale watching on Vancouver Island covers season by season. Bring a warm layer even in summer, because it is noticeably cooler out on the water than on shore.

What are the boardwalk and the pools like?

From the dock, a boardwalk of about two kilometres winds through old-growth rainforest to the springs. At the end, geothermal water flows down through a series of rock pools to the ocean's edge, cooling as it goes, so you can pick a pool that suits you and soak where the hot spring meets the cold Pacific surge.

The boardwalk itself is memorable, a raised cedar path built plank by plank through towering, moss-hung forest, and generations of boat crews have carved their vessels' names into the planks over the years. Allow twenty to thirty minutes to walk it each way. The springs sit within the protected Maquinna Marine Provincial Park, where hot water emerges from the rock, spills over a small waterfall and runs down through a chain of pools to the sea. The lowest pools meet the incoming waves, so the temperature shifts with the tide and the swell, hotter at the top, bracing where the ocean reaches in. Wear sturdy footwear for the boardwalk and something you can move in over the wet rock at the pools.

What should you bring, and is it worth it?

Bring a swimsuit worn under your clothes, a towel, water shoes or sturdy sandals, drinking water and a warm layer for the boat. And yes, for most visitors it is worth it: the combination of a wildlife cruise, an old-growth boardwalk and a soak where the spring meets the sea has few equals on the coast.

There are no services at the pools, so pack what you need and carry your rubbish back out. Change into your swimsuit before you set off, since the changing space at the cove is basic. The honest caveat is that this is a long outing built around a remote natural feature, not a spa, and on a busy summer midday the pools can be shared with other groups; going earlier or later in the day, or in the shoulder season, buys you more space and quieter water. For where it fits among everything else on the coast, see our roundup of things to do in Tofino and our guide to Pacific Rim National Park. You can check pickup times and live prices on the tour listing, and browse other guided Tofino boat tours to build out your days on the west coast.