General
Daajing Giids (Queen Charlotte) Visitor Information Centre Haida Gwaii, 250-559-8316
Masset Visitor Information Centre, 250-626-3982
lovehaidagwaii.com
gohaidagwaii.ca
Gwaii Taxi and Tours: will help you plan your trip
Note to Visitors
If you are flying into Sandspit and need a rental car, don’t try and book through Budget online. You will be told there are no cars available. The reason is (I phoned Budget at the airport to ask) they are “delisted.” “If we were listed we wouldn’t have any cars because they would all be rented.” If you want a Budget rent a car at Sandspit call 250-637-5688.
This is a phenomenon particular to Haida Gwaii. A restaurant might be closed because “if we are open too many people will descend upon us and we won’t have enough food to feed everyone.” A friend who had a bakery stopped making her chocolate chip shortbread “because they kept buying them.”
Be prepared. If you have no expectations you will continuously be surprised and magical things will happen to you.
Everything You Need to Know
Everything You Need to Know to Plan a Trip to Haida Gwaii
At the Edge of the World, an Indigenous People Thrives
Inland Air
Inland Air is the only company that flies to Gwaii Haanas, as far as I know. I took that trip three years ago — the plane can be chartered but is less pricey if you share it with other passengers. (You call the company and put your name on a list.)
The plane takes about an hour to fly down and an hour back. You are taken by zodiac out to Sgang Gwaii from where the plane puts down, in a sheltered bay.
Contact in January to make a booking for following summer
info@inlandair.bc.ca
INLAND AIR: Monday to Friday leaves Masset two flights a day 9 a.m. and 4 pm. An hour-long flight to Prince Rupert
Car Rentals
CAR RENTALS: (Updated May 31, 2023)
Budget at airport in Sandspit 250-637-5688. Call for rate.
Budget in Daajing Giids: Bill and Angela, have a few available – take a $50 deposit and a credit card – no logging roads
Call 250-559-4641
Toll free: 1-877-559-4641
Gracie’s in Daajing Giids- two SUV’s call for prices 250-559-4262
Masset Car and Truck Rental (Jen) 250-626-7089
Rustic Rentals (Masset): 250-626-3756
Gwaii Taxi and Tours 250-637-1162
https://www.gwaiitaxiandtours.ca/services
Reservations highly recommended.
Public Transport
Public Transport (to and from airport) If you don’t rent at the airport you would take the shuttle bus (bookings should be made in advance with Gwaii Taxi and Tours to Alliford Bay and then take the ferry across to Skidegate Landing on Graham Island: https://www.gwaiitaxiandtours.ca/
It is approximately 15 minutes from the airport to the ferry terminal and then a 15-minute ferry ride across. You can check BC Ferries website for the running times (www.bcferries.com) but they usually link up with the flights (provided they are on time).
Further Reading
https://outershores.ca/7-things-probably-didnt-know-haida-gwaii/
8-Day Trips to Haida Gwaii
Midnight Sun Adventure Travel offers 8-day, small group trips to Haida Gwaii. Meet Haida artisans and guides we have come to know over the last decade.
Gwaii Haanas Tours
James Nickerson comes highly recommended if you want a week or so on a boat.
Maple Leaf Adventures also has an excellent reputation.
Moresby Explorers does one-day trips as well as longer ones, and they are a local (born and bred) operation.
And finally, I would recommend Haida Style Expeditions — the only Haida-owned and operated cultural ecotourism company operating on Haida Gwaii — contact person James Cowpar. They do one-day trips by zodiac to four different abandoned Haida village sites, including Sgang Gwaii, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I took a zodiac trip with Haida Style Expeditions last August. It is a very long day — almost five hours there in the zodiac, two hours on the island and five hours back. James Cowpar (Haida Style) also does day trips to three other village sites that are much closer, and I suspect these would be a more relaxing experience.
I believe he is working on a way of finding overnight accommodation with the guesthouse at Rose Harbour. This way guests could visit Ninstints (called Sgang Gwaii these days) in a more leisurely way.
Kayaking
Alan Lore in Port Clements, a 30-minute drive from Masset. Here is his contact:
https://lovenorthernbc.com/community/port-clements/business/kayak-haida-gwaii/
Green Coast Kayaking for Gwaii Haanas
http://www.gckayaking.com
Eagle Talon Adventures is open for kayak rentals.
Please pre-book your adventures at 778-361-0276.
https://gohaidagwaii.ca/attraction/eagle-talon-adventures/
PLACES TO STAY (IN THE PARK, GWAII HAANAS)
http://www.roseharbour.com/descript.html
Tours
Tours of Masset/Old Massett, Sleeping Beauty, etc.
https://www.gwaiitaxiandtours.ca/services
Owner/Operator of Gwaai Naay Island House, Ilski’de ( Elsie Gale) offers her services as a Haida Guide for Nature walks and or Totem Pole and village tours. Custom tours available.
https://gwaiinaayislandhouse.com/packages
In Skidegate you should have a traditional Haida feast at Roberta Olson’s — Keenawaiis Kitchen. You’ll find more information about it on Go Haida Gwaii website, or check out the story on the Feast: An Edible Road Trip.
Fishing Charters (out of Masset)
David Jones: 250-626-9276
(22’ aluminum boat with fishing gear for salmon and bottom fishing)
Chad Elwood: 250-626-7510
Michael Mayr: 250-637-1056
(an 18 foot Hourston Glasscraft boat and a 24-foot Grady White Offshore boat)
Oliver Bell 250-626-9294