Wilderness Lodge invites you to Fly and Dine

West Coast Wilderness Lodge is inviting local residents to fly up with Tofino Air and have dinner. Or come for lunch and enjoy the on-site adventure tours that include Kayaking
and Zodiac wilderness viewing in Sechelt Inlet and Skookumchuck Narrows near Egmont. //
Photo submitted

Ever thought you could be sampling exquisite foods and have an unforgettable adventure all in one afternoon or evening, and right here on the Sunshine Coast?

A locally-owned wilderness lodge is trying to make it easier for more people living here to enjoy what a lot of international travellers have already experienced.

“We realized we provide such a depth of experience to people from afar, and yet we have so much ability to offer that to local residents,” said Paul Hansen, owner and operator of the West Coast Wilderness Lodge with his wife, Patti.

“That’s when we started operating adventure services around food,” he explained. By just hopping aboard a Tofino Air flight from Sechelt, people from around the Sunshine Coast will have easy access to a unique experience this summer in Egmont. The 7000 square foot lodge is perched 120 feet above Sechelt Inlet with dining areas and patios overlooking unbelievable mountain, water and wildlife views.

The Fly and Dine charters came about because it can be too long a trip to drive in for dinner, if guests want to return home the same night, so Hansen said they decided Wilderness Lodge invites you to Fly and Dine to work with locally-owned Tofino Air to bring people in and out for a few hours on a special charter.

You only need to go to the Aerodrome in Porpoise Bay, Sechelt to catch the plane, and after your plane gives you the spectacular birdseye- view of the inlet, you’re delivered to the lodge where the fun continues.

“Your waiter will take you to your private deck somewhere around the lodge and you’ll have your special drinks that are made for your group, then you sit down for a sumptuous fivecourse tasting menu, so the only thing you’ll have to decide is the kind of wine you want,” Hansen explains.

So what is on the tastingmenu?

“It’s a highlight of the best of everything that B.C. has to offer, including local seafood and wild game,” Hansen tells the Local Weekly, “all you do is sit down and say feed me, and they start bringing it up.”

And there you are watching the sea lions and the eagles out front of your dining table, and enjoying the worldclass cuisine prepared by the lodge chef, Warren Cobb.

“So combining a five course tasting menu with a fabulous float plane tour makes for a perfect evening, especially if you got another couple visiting or a special occasion or anniversary,” Hansen notes, “or just a group of friends who want to come out and do something completely different.”

And it’s undeniably affordable. The fly in dinners with the flight included, for a party of four are only $149 per person and $20-each less for groups of six. The chef and concierges are waiting to pamper you, he noted. Lunch adventures for those driving in are an affordable treat. Kayak rental with a gourmet lunch is $39 and Zodiac with lunch is $55, (and if you want a guided kayak tour with lunch these are only $64.)

Full day adventures are not much more with adults at $99 and kids, $69.

“There’s so many cool adventure services up here that it’s a pretty neat way to spend the day,” the lodge host added. All their adventure tours are run in-house and offer everything from kayaking to Zodiac viewing scenery and wildlife in Sechelt Inlet and Skookumchuck Rapids.

A 24 hour reservation is required for fly-in dinners but not for the lunch and kayaking or Zodiac tours. You can reach the Lodge at 604-883-3667, toll free 1-877-988-3838 and e-mail lodge@wcwl.com – their website is www.wcwl.com

By Apryl Veld