Salty Express: Spring Break

Surf, hike, and camp your way through Spring Break with the best experiences Vancouver has to offer

This Spring Break, the Fireside team is excited to offer a spectacular outdoor learning experience that visits three of our favourite spots on Vancouver Island: Parksville, Tofino, and Ucluelet. Make the most of this Spring Break with an epic overnight adventure that is so much more than just another holiday.

While others are staying home or running away to warmer climates, we’ll be heading out into our beautiful backyard on an experience that proves our home has so much to offer no matter the season. On this unique youth overnight camp, we’ll enjoy an island camping experience including activities such as surfing, bike riding, outdoor skill-building lessons, and visits to the Roy Henry Vickers Museum, Tofino Botanical Gardens, and so many other hidden gems!

Information Package

DATES
March 17 –21, 2025

DETAILS
This camp needs a minimum of 10 participants to run
Ages: 13–18
Group size: 10–12 with 2 instructors
Drop-off: Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal at 7:30AM
Pick-up: Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal at 7:35PM
Locations: Rathvenor Park, Tofino, Ucluelet

PRICES (CAD)
$1499.00 + GST
Non-Refundable Deposit: $200 + GST

Includes:
– Pre-course video check-in
– 24-7 supervision by 2 experienced outdoor instructors
– Outdoor and leadership skills instruction
– Ferry and land transportation
– Food (starting Monday dinner to Friday breakfast)
– Group cooking equipment (stoves, coolers, kitchenware)
– Accommodation (tents)
– Surfing lessons and gear rentals
– Entrance to Roy Henry Vickers Art Gallery and Tofino Botanical Gardens
– First aid and safety gear

Does not include: Anything not mentioned. Sleeping bags and therma-rest pads are available for a rental fee. 

Contact us for more info: office@firesideadventures.ca

“There exists within everyone a grand passion, an outlandish thirst for adventure, a desire to live boldly and vividly through the journey of life.”
— Kurt Hahn, outdoor education pioneer

While fun is always a big part of what we do, Salty Express is designed to be an educational, transformational, and challenging experience that creates independent, self-motivated, and confident youths. Here are a few of the ways we do this:

• Duke of Edinburgh’s Award: earn your Bronze, Silver, or Gold with us. Here’s how.

• Outdoor skills: Challenge yourself with camping, surfing, outdoor skills training, and more. These experiences develop universal life skills like perseverance and problem-solving, not to mention a love for nature.

• Social-emotional learning & resilience: Spending time in nature brings challenges but also opportunities for peace, reflection, and connection. This is the unbroken space and time you need to build relationships, trust, and personal transformation through a mix of one-on-one coaching, daily journaling, and group dialogues.

• Increase self-knowledge: Over five days, become introduced to some of our personal values, strengthen your decision-making skills, and learn how to set and achieve short-term goals.

• Introductory leadership training: Guided by our pillars (Independence, Community, Knowledge, Experience, and Vision), define what leadership means to you and hold yourself accountable.

You won’t want to miss these experiences:

• Reconnect with yourself and nature during a digital detox with no technology or external distractions. During the experience, our focus is on the people we are sharing the journey with. As long as you’re with Fireside, it’s just the group, the smell of the cedars, and the distant crashing of waves against the shore.

• Bond with experienced and inspiring instructors who will be there for you 24-7. They’ll teach you plant identification, camp management, and so much more!

• Take to the waves in Tofino, Canada’s #1 surfing destination. No prior experience, no problem! We can arrange surfing lessons for all who need them.

• Enjoy the finest of Vancouver Island art at the Roy Henry Vickers Art Gallery.

• After a long day of exploration, there’s nothing better than frying bannock around the campfire with your new friends. Enjoy fresh, nutritious meals that you made yourself!

An exclusive Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Experience

Fireside is proud to be one of two Duke of Edinburgh ‘Trained Activity Providers’ in Canada. The Duke of Edinburgh’s award is an internationally recognized award that accelerates youths’ journeys into post-secondary education, careers, self-confidence and independence. This expedition is compatible with achieving your Bronze, Silver, or Gold Adventurous Journey (both practice and qualifying), or your Gold Project and beyond. Click here to learn how to earn the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.