Great Bear Lodge

Great Bear Lodge is a floating structure moored at the mouth of a salmon river on the central coast of British Columbia, 50 air miles from Port Hardy. It has run its grizzly bear viewing programme since 1999, making it one of the longer-standing operations of its kind on the coast. The lodge itself was rebuilt in 2014, when each of its eight bedrooms gained an en-suite bathroom with a shower. Power comes from wind and solar. There is no road in. Guests arrive by seaplane, a journey that crosses Queen Charlotte Strait before touching down on the inlet itself. Rooms are simple, fitted with either a king bed or two twins, and open onto natural wood decks that ring the lodge. A wildlife biologist leads two viewing sessions a day, from boats in spring and summer and from riverside blinds once the salmon run peaks in autumn. Numbers stay small: no more than eighteen guests at a time, and tours run on a three-night cycle with a final night in Port Hardy. Meals are served family-style, built around local ingredients and, in season, salmon cooked on a cedar plank. There is no internet connection at the lodge.