2027 DATES ARE LIVE | NEW FOR 2027: 8-DAY SOUTHERN SG̲ANG G̲WAAY̲ | NEW: LEVEL 6 SURGE DRY PANT ADD-ON - PADDLE IN THE GEAR OUR GUIDES WEAR & RECOMMEND
Butterfly Tours is a small, guide-led sea kayaking company built around a simple idea: the best way to experience the coast is with people who genuinely love being out there.
Butterfly Tours has been part of the Haida Gwaii kayaking community for more than 40 years. As one of the early companies offering sea kayaking experiences in Haida Gwaii, Butterfly Tours has a long history of bringing people to these remarkable islands.
The company has evolved over the years, including changes in ownership, leadership and vision. Today, Butterfly Tours is led by Wes and Rob, who have brought their own approach to the company—one rooted in small groups, personal guiding, exploration and a genuine love of sea kayaking.
While the company may look different than it did decades ago, our connection to Haida Gwaii runs deep. We are proud to carry forward the name and history of Butterfly Tours while continuing to develop it in our own way.
Wes and Rob are kayak guides first and business owners second. Their connection to the coast comes from years spent paddling, camping, exploring and guiding in the remote waters of British Columbia. Butterfly Tours has grown from that love of being on the water and a desire to share these extraordinary places with others.
Our home is Haida Gwaii, where we spend much of our time guiding in Gwaii Haanas—a place of ancient rainforest, exposed coastline, hidden beaches, abundant wildlife and a rich Haida cultural history. We also lead sea kayaking expeditions in the Great Bear Rainforest, and continue to develop new trips along the remote coast of British Columbia.
One of the things that sets Butterfly Tours apart is that our trips often begin with a simple question:
Where do we want to go kayaking next?
When Wes and Rob aren't guiding, they spend their own time exploring the coast with friends—paddling new shorelines, scouting campsites, finding remote beaches and discovering places that are rarely visited.
These aren't simply research trips. They're places we genuinely want to explore because we love sea kayaking.
When we find somewhere special, we start thinking about how we can share it with our guests.
That's how our trips continue to evolve. Our Great Bear Rainforest expeditions and the 10-day Kunghit Challenge, for example, have grown from our own desire to explore some of the wildest and most remote coastlines in British Columbia.
We believe this makes a difference. Rather than simply offering a fixed list of tours, we're continually exploring, learning and looking for new places that are worth travelling to by kayak.
We keep our groups to six guests and two guides—just eight people in total.
Small groups allow us to travel more quietly and move with greater flexibility. We can spend more time together when the conditions are good, stop for an unexpected wildlife encounter, explore a shoreline that catches our attention, or simply linger somewhere beautiful without trying to keep a large group moving.
There is also a practical advantage to travelling small in remote coastal environments. Campsites and shorelines can be limited, particularly around the Watchmen sites and popular beaches. A group of eight gives us more options when choosing where to camp and allows us to make better use of smaller beaches and campsites when larger groups may need to pass them by.
After a long day of paddling, the difference is even more noticeable. A smaller group is easier to organize, easier to cook for, easier to move around camp—and simply more comfortable to spend time with.
Most importantly, six guests and two guides feels like a group of people travelling together, rather than a tour group.
Our guides are professionally certified through the Sea Kayak Guides Alliance of BC and bring decades of combined experience working and guiding in remote coastal environments.
But qualifications only tell part of the story.
Our guides spend their time off the water doing exactly what they do while guiding: kayaking. That ongoing experience keeps our skills sharp and continually expands our knowledge of the coast.
We learn where the best camps are, which beaches are worth exploring, how different stretches of coastline behave in changing weather, and where we might find wildlife. We bring that knowledge back to our guided trips—not from a guidebook, but from time spent actually travelling through these places.
Safety, sound judgment and thoughtful trip planning are fundamental to what we do. So are curiosity, humour, good food and enjoying the journey.
Haida Gwaii isn't somewhere we visit only when we're working.
When we're not guiding, Wes and Rob can often be found planning their own kayaking trips with friends, exploring different islands and coastlines simply because they want to see what's around the next corner.
For us, kayaking isn't just our profession. It's what we choose to do in our free time, too.
That passion is at the heart of Butterfly Tours.
We want to share the places we love, but we also want our guests to experience them in the same way we do: slowly, quietly and with enough time to really take them in.
We believe the best way to experience the coast is from the water.
To paddle quietly beneath towering rainforest. To explore a remote beach. To watch whales surface nearby. To walk and camp among ancient trees. To sit around camp at the end of a long day and watch the light disappear across the ocean.
We provide carefully selected kayaking and camping equipment, comfortable camps and exceptional meals because those details matter. But they're there to support something much more important: time spent immersed in the landscape and culture.
Our goal isn't simply to take you kayaking.
It's to help you develop a deeper connection to Haida Gwaii, its landscapes, wildlife, culture and wild coastal environment—and hopefully leave with a desire to return.
Meet your Butterfly Tours Guides