Adventures Tailored To Your Family’s Hopes and Dreams
Every family arrives onboard with its own rhythms, interests, and hopes for what they get from their time together, and Ocean Wayfinder allows us to shape each expedition around them. Days might unfold under sail, or branch out into zodiac excursions, kayaking, paddle boarding, swimming, and snorkelling in sheltered coves or kelp forests. Beach walks invite close-up investigations of tide pools and hands-on marine biology for kids. Time ashore can include tours of ancient Indigenous villages, strolls along white-sand beaches and through old-growth forests, picnics, and beach campfires.
Wildlife encounters can unfold slowly, shaped by patience and perseverance. Shared quality time can be spent scanning shorelines, listening, and learning to read the subtle signs of wildlife along the coast. In time, that care is often met with moments of awe. A grizzly bear foraging in a majestic coastal estuary. Humpback whales bubble-net feeding. A raft of sea otters busily feeding and preening. Dolphins or porpoises playfully riding on our bow. For the most fortunate, those moments may even include a fleeting glimpse of coastal wolves or the extraordinarily elusive Spirit bear. These experiences are never rushed or guaranteed, but when they happen, they are shared by everyone on board in remarkable ways.
And while some families delight in a wide-ranging blend of these experiences, others prefer to lean more deeply into what most excites them. Whether that’s paddling, wildlife, learning, or simply time at anchor, we tailor each private family voyage to reflect the people on board, creating a personal – yet shared – authentic BC coast expedition experience.
A Ship Designed for Shared Discovery
Some journeys are about distance covered. Others are about who you share them with. With the arrival of our new expedition vessel, Ocean Wayfinder, Outer Shores Expeditions enters a new chapter that makes it easier than ever for families and groups of friends to explore British Columbia’s Pacific Coast together.
For years, our expeditions aboard the schooner Passing Cloud have offered an intimate way to experience this coast. With her additional capacity and amenities, Ocean Wayfinder builds on that foundation while expanding what is possible for families travelling with children, parents, and grandparents alike.
Ocean Wayfinder increases our guest capacity up to 12 guests in six private cabins. This shift may sound modest, but it is transformative. It allows extended families and groups of friends to travel together on a single expedition. Just as importantly, the ship itself offers more room to spread out. Comfortable shared spaces invite conversations, games, reading, and quiet reflection. There are places to gather and places to retreat, which matters when travelling with a wide range of ages and energy levels.
Designed With Accessibility in Mind
Multi-generational travel succeeds when everyone feels confident moving through the day. Compared to Passing Cloud, Ocean Wayfinder is more accessible throughout, with easier circulation above and below deck. Young children find it simpler to move safely around the ship or be limited to the aft-deck cockpit, while grandparents appreciate the thoughtful layout, level decks, gentle stairways, easy boarding and disembarking, and hand-holds throughout. And that accessibility extends beyond the ship itself.
Zodiac excursions are a hallmark of our expeditions, and Ocean Wayfinder’s aft stairway and boarding platform makes them easier than ever. Thanks to the gentle stairway, full-width boarding platform (or “swim grid”), and custom-built handholds, boarding and disembarking our inflatable boats is straightforward and comfortable for guests of all ages.
The swim grid also opens up a different kind of access. As its name clearly suggests, on warm days, it becomes an open invitation to easily swim or snorkel directly from the ship. There’s even a fresh water shower for rinsing off when you get out! For kids, this is a pure delight. For adults, it is a reminder of how rare and refreshing this kind of freedom can be.
Learning That Spans Generations
Marine biology and ecology has a way of captivating all ages. Onboard Ocean Wayfinder, our expert crew delight in answering questions from the endlessly curious, whether those questions come from a child encountering a sea lion for the first time or an adult eager to understand the complexity of coastal ecosystems.
This is learning without screens. It happens on deck, in the zodiac, on beach walks and forest hikes, and during unhurried conversations over shared meals. Knowledge is exchanged naturally and curiosity is encouraged at every age.
Expert Led, Well Fed
While this is very much your family’s and friends’ time away, it is not time that you need to manage. Every excursion is fully guided by our experienced expedition team, allowing everyone to relax into the experience, rather than having to worry about planning it, keeping track of the schedule, and making sure everyone is where they need to be at the right time.
From zodiac excursions to forest walks and beach explorations, each experience is guided by a crew whose knowledge of the coast informs every choice along the way, ensuring everything unfolds safely and smoothly. That freedom creates space for families to be fully present with one another, knowing the details are being thoughtfully handled.
We also know that families arrive with many kinds of appetites, preferences, and needs at the table. Some guests are adventurous eaters, others are comfort-seekers, and many fall somewhere in between. Onboard, our chef-prepared meals are designed to accommodate a wide range of dietary requirements, without compromising quality or taste. Shared meals can then become another point of connection, bringing everyone together for unhurried and satisfying meals, anchoring the day as your family gathers to reflect, exchange stories from excursions, resurface questions, and build anticipation for what tomorrow might hold.
Time Together – Creating Memories That Last
Perhaps one of the greatest rewards of a multi-generational expedition is time that is truly undivided. Time beyond notifications, news feeds, and the noisy pull of screentime. Instead, our days are shaped by tides, weather, and wildlife.
On Ocean Wayfinder, phones and tablets are set aside and attention returns to what is immediately present. Families reconnect through shared experiences. Watching the coast drift past. Warming hands around a mug on a cool morning. Laughing at stories told and retold, and all of it uninterrupted.
Multi-generational expeditions go beyond simply accommodating different ages. They are about creating a shared chapter in a family’s story. One that grandparents will cherish as something deeply meaningful and one that children will carry forward as a formative memory of wonder, belonging, and connection to the natural world and their family.
Ocean Wayfinder was built for this kind of experience. Spacious, welcoming, and designed to help those on board more deeply connect to the places we explore, making it more enjoyable than ever for families and friends to experience the coast together.
