Guidebook for Sproat Lake & Port Alberni

Eating Out Port Alberni is known to the locals as the 'hidden gem'. They try to keep it quiet so it's stay a small town but this area is incredibly fertile and produces a lot of rich, plentiful local food which most of the restaurants make use off as it tastes sooooo good! We like eating at the Fish and Duck Pub it has affordable pub fare and views that are killer right on the lake. It is located 15 minutes away by foot or a 2 minute drive. It is lakeside. They also rent ski boats if you want to go out for the day or will moor your boat for you. www.fishandduckhouseboats.com/Pub The Sproat Lake Landing is lake side and is a 5 minute drive towards Tofino. It has a small grocery, liquor store and cafe and restaurant with lake views and swimming dock. Website: www.sproatlakelanding.com Pescadores Restaurant in Port Alberni is awesome for breakfast and lunch: www.pescadores.ca Full of Beans is a great place for light, quick fair and has a great play place for the kids: www.alberniplaycafe.ca Boomerangs Cafe is a great breakfast place and all day place! www.boomerangscafe.com For great seafood try the Clam Bucket: www.clambucket.ca Bare Bones Fish n Chips is worth a meal: www.facebook.com/Bare- Bones-Fish-Chips The Starboard Grill has lovely lake views: starboardgrill.com The Little Bavaria is a local favorite for excellent, authentic German and European Cuisine : www.littlebavariarestaurant.com If your feeling in the mood for Greek: Orestes Greek is tasty: www.facebook.com/oresteskouzina For Local Meats to cook on the Barbeque go to Petes Mountain Meats: www.facebook.com/petesmtnmeats For local wines the best is Emerald Coast Vineyards on your right as you drive into Port Alberni from Cathedral Grove. Visit their website here: www.emeraldcoastvineyards.ca Twin Cities Brewery is great for local beers and tasty food: www.twincitybrewing.ca Eating In There's the grocery stores on the main drag you can shop on your way through Port Alberni to the house, and also Save On Foods in the older part of town. Local Farmers Markets for fresh everything: Port Alberni Farmers Market 6211 Cherry Creek Road, Saturdays 9 am-noon, year-round Spirit Square Farmers Market Harbour Quay, Saturdays 9 am-noon, year round Naesgaard’s Farm and Market 5681 River Road, open daily, closed Christmas Day to March 1 Fresh wild Sockeye Salmon is best purchased from people selling on the side of the main highway on the way to the house from June through October. You can inspect and pick your dinner and should expect to pay between $25-$40/salmon. This is legal and the freshest, most locally caught.

Fishing Best spots to track down a pro guide with saltwater in their veins and a powerboat at their disposal are the info racks at the Visitor Centre and the town's leading outfitter, Gone Fishin' (5069 Johnston Road). The staff at the latter are experts on local fish hotspots. The store carries salt and freshwater fishing gear along with licenses and bait. www.gonefishinshop.com Wild Life Viewing There's a family of 4 Beavers who have built an amazing natural habitat within a few metres and in plain view of Drinkwaters Lakeside Lounge Deck, Sproat Lake Landing, 5 minutes down the road. The habitat towers over 10 feet high, capable of withstanding the dramatic difference in lake levels between summer and winter. The best times to see the beavers are early morning or late evening or when a local black bear is in the vicinity causing the clapping of their large tails to warn others of danger. Bears Port Alberni’s Victoria Quay offers popular Black Bear watching experience from a safe distance across the river from the Somass Estuary. While it’s possible to see Black Bears at this location from spring through to late fall, the opportunity is best during the months of August, September and October when they are taking advantage of the returning Chinook. Bears can be seen along the Somass from Victoria Quay to the Orange Bridge and sometimes venture all the way to Sproat Lake Landing. Salmon Run Relax by the waterfall at McLeans Mill, this peaceful riverside park or explore the area by foot on hiking trails that weave their way through the lush forest, past waterfalls and river rapids. Named for the pioneer who built Port Alberni’s earliest sawmill, this park is an amalgamation of Stamp Falls and Money’s Pool provincial parks. One of the park’s main attractions is the annual run of thousands of Pacific salmon circling in the pool below Stamp Falls before ascending the fish ladders on their way to spawning beds. Lookout points along the river offer excellent views of the salmon fighting their way up the falls and fish ladders. This natural phenomenon occurs every year, starting in late August with sockeye and continuing with coho and Chinook right into December. Click this link for some great Alberni Valley Attractions you might like to visit and do: www.albernivalleytourism.com/attractions Things to do in Ucluelet (an hour, 15min drive from the lake house) The Wild Pacific Trail in Ucluelet is only an hour away and you can spend the whole day hiking or just go for an hour or two. www.discoverucluelet.com/play-in-ucluelet Things to do in Tofino (an hour and a half drive from the lake house) www.tourismtofino.com/things-to-do