April Point is situated on beautiful Quadra Island in the waters of Discovery Passage.  Known as the “salmon fishing capital of the world”, April Point is an ideal mix of adventure and relaxation. Explore the rich tradition of BC salmon fishing in the renowned Campbell River   Visit the well known April Point Lodge.

Cortes is considered one of the main islands in the Discovery Islands group. Discovery Passage is approximately 20 miles long, and separates Quadra Island and Sonora Island from Vancouver Island. It is the main route for commercial traffic. It's known for its calm lakes, deep gorges and the abundance of shellfish on its beaches. Discovery Islands boaters could easily cruise around the island for a week or two, checking out the many nooks, crannies and coves of its varied coast. Cortes Bay in the south offers a public wharf and seaplanes provide scheduled and chartered flights from here. On the southwest side of the island, Mansons Landing Marine Park is popular because of its lovely anchorages and its beaches with saltwater and freshwater swimming. There is also a public wharf, a market, a cafe and a restaurant located here. Gorge Harbour is another popular stopping stop on southwest Cortes, with a marina, anchorage, a restaurant, a cafe and hiking trails.

Whaletown Bay in the west has anchorage and a public wharf, as well as a general store with basic provisions and good ice cream. Hathayim Marine Park in narrow Von Donop Inlet on the eastern side of the island has many quiet lagoons and peaceful anchorages to discover. Also on the eastern side, Squirrel Cove is one of the most popular cruising stops on Cortes because it's located across from the entrance to Desolation Sound. Excellent anchorage is found throughout the cove, and Marilyn's Salmon, the only restaurant in the area, has its own smokehouse and offers good, traditional First Nations food.

The Outer Islands
The rest of the Discovery Islands are referred to as the Outer Islands, and include East and West Redonda at the mouth of Desolation Sound. West Redonda Island offers two popular marine parks, Teakerne Arm Marine and Roscoe Bay, while East Redonda includes Pendrell Sound -- known to have the warmest salt water north of Mexico in the summer months. Read, Maurelle and Sonora Islands, just across the Oksollo Channel from Quadra Island, all offer areas to discover, while East and West Thurlow Islands, a bit further north, provide for peaceful cruising.

Jervis Inlet cuts deep into the coastline and the mountains just off the Sechelt Peninsula. Beautiful, calm waters and snow-capped peaks greet boaters as they cruise up this granite-walled gorge to Princess Royal Reach then Queens Reach, where there is a branch to Princess Louisa Inlet and famous Chatterbox Falls. The seven-to-ten knot Malibu Rapids mark the entrance to Princess Louisa, where a Christian children's camp has its idyllic location. The inlet, only reachable by boat or plane, is 300 metres deep, never more than 800 metres wide and eight kilometres long with fjord walls rising straight up from the placid sea waters.

In the spring, the melting snow from the mountain peaks creates more than sixty waterfalls cascading down the inlet walls. At the head of the inlet is the 40-metre Chatterbox Falls, with a dock nearby offering moorage for 10 or more boats, and waters that hit 20 degrees Celsius in the summer. There is also anchorage in the shallows at the foot of the falls, and mooring balls behind MacDonald Island, which is about halfway into the inlet.

Princess Louisa Inlet is a protected marine park thanks to James F (Mac) MacDonald who first cruised the area in 1919, eventually struck it rich prospecting in Nevada, and purchased the land around Chatterbox Falls in 1927 and built a log cabin where he acted as host to visiting boaters. "This beautiful, peaceful haven should never belong to one individual," he said. "I have felt that I was only the custodian of the property for Nature and it has been my duty to extend every courtesy."

In 1940, Mac's cabin tragically burned down and, in 1953, he decided to put the land in trust for all boaters to enjoy. The non-profit Princess Louisa International Society was then formed with an equal number of Canadian and American trustees to make sure the beautiful area was preserved. Mac was always given a place near Chatterbox Falls to moor his houseboat and spent his last summer there in 1972, when he was 83 years old. He died in 1978.

The Princess Louisa International Society eventually passed the land to the British Columbia government to administer and the property became Princess Louisa Provincial Marine Park in 1965.  The Society website is www.princesslouisa.bc.ca