Della Falls Water Taxi
11000 Central Lake Road V9Y 8Z2 Port Alberni, BC, Canada

Hello from Doug and Chris, Well..... it has been a crazy few months! Like nothing this generation has ever seen before. This virus has caused many deaths and also put lots of people into financial and emotional hardships worldwide. Job losses, businesses bankrupt or closing, the worry and stress of possible bank forclosures and huge government debt, it's going to take a while to climb out of this and some of our old daily activities will never come back to the way they were. ...But we have faith in the human spirit and come back we will! This has been another lesson in learning how precious life really is and a reminder to enjoy all the small things that happen everyday. The old saying still rings true "Stop and smell the flowers!" One recent development that is a positive sign on the way to recovery is the announcement by BC Parks that most provincial parks will reopen to day use as of May 14th and will reopen to overnight camping as of June 1st. This includes Strathcona Park and the Della Falls Trail. Which means Della Falls Water Taxi is back on as of June 1st. So the prime time of June through July for veiwing the falls is still going to happen this summer! Some positive thinking people had booked taxi trips even during the peak of the virus rampage but since the announcement by BC Parks we have had many inquiries from people wanting to get out and do the hike and some weekend dates are starting to fill up. We will be taking some precautions such as limiting the amount of seating on each trip to allow for some more distancing and spraying and wiping down all common surfaces between trips. Also we will have hand sanitizer and towels on each boat. If you choose to wear a mask during the boat ride you will need to provide that for yourself. If you have a group of people that are considering doing this hike we encourage you to send us a quick email and we can advise you on the availability of your ideal dates and times. Let's get out there and...... Hike on!!

Hello from Doug and Chris, Wow! How times have changed since our last update in early Feb! In just over 2 months the entire world has turned it's focus to fighting a common enemy in the Covid-19 virus. Crazy times indeed! As Chris said " We are truly experiencing a historic event". Both of us are doing as instructed by health officials and hunkering down and keeping trips away from the house to an absolute minimum. On the bright side (and there's always a bright side) I am ca...tching up on some household chores I have been putting off for a while. As far as Della Falls Water Taxi goes we are unsure what the future holds. At the moment BC Parks has closed all provincial parks to any overnight camping. This is effective until April 30/2020 when they will reassess the situation and decide if camping will be opened or the closure will be extended. Obviously the best case scenario is we are over the worst of the crisis by May 1st and BC Parks and Parks Canada will reopen to camping. Personally we think this is a bit optimistic. Although we hope not, it could take half or all of the summer to reach that point. As with everyone else, we just don't know. If you are considering a trip to Della Falls we encourage you to call or email and we can block your times, however we will not be accepting deposits at this time. When BC Parks gives the all clear to camp we will then accept deposits for trips booked. We would like to say a special thanks to all health care workers and first responders who once again put their lives on the line to help the rest rest of us when we need it most and this time it's something they have not seen before! Thank You! Hopefully the folks working behind the scenes in the research facilities around the world can come up with something that can get us through this. In the meantime we'll continue to stay low and try to keep this virus from spreading as much as we can. Back to trimming blackberries. Hike on!

Hello from Doug and Chris, Wow! Mid October of 2019 and the summer has gone. We can really tell it's over by the spectacular colors of the leaves around Great C...entral and the Port Alberni area. Hard to believe how fast that went by. It seemed we were just getting rolling and then boom, fall is here! We took 468 adults and 30 kids to the Della Falls trailhead this year for a total of 498. That's up about 30 people from last year. We would like to give a huge shout of THANKS to everyone who used our services this past summer making 2019 one of our most successful so far! A very special thanks to those of you who took the time to share some photos with us. We love looking back at the pictures as much as you do! There was a very diverse crowd this summer with about 75% of our people coming from BC. There were quite a few from Vancouver and Vancouver Island. Around 10% from the USA and the rest being from scattered places around Europe. This is the best part about this gig is all of the different people we meet and all the hiking stories we hear from everywhere! There are some fascinating trips people have been on and we love hearing about them and sharing while on the boat ride up and down the lake. One of the best improvements over last year was NO SMOKE! The fire season did not have the impact it had in 2018 making all of our customers and us very thankful. Remember, there are NO fires permitted in Strathcona Park at any time of year. We would also like to say a word of thanks to the BC Parks service (specifically Jamie and Harry) did some great brushing and trail work along the entire length of the trail. This work was noticed and commented on by many people after their hike. Also, near the end of the season, the cable car crossing had a major rework. Yay!!!! New pulley wheels and a new pull rope and serviced and ready to go for the spring of 2020. Harry had sent us a short video showing the cable car gliding effortlessly after a slight push. Wow! What a difference. Thank you from everyone. We would also like to say thanks to Mark and Danielle Marley, owners of the Great Central Marina and RV Park. Our taxi service to Della Falls operates so seamlessly in part because of the co-operation and efforts of Danielle and Mark. They are tireless workers who always have the best interests of all visitors as their first priority. They did a whole lot of dock improvements and expanding this year on top of all the regular maintenance that keeps the place looking so great. Danielle, your flowers looked awesome! The Girl Guide troop from Saskatchewan wanted to say thanks also for setting them up with showers after their hike and they were camping one more night before their early morning flight out. Above and beyond! Thank you! We are looking forward to a little down time before winter sets in for real. Have a great winter season everyone! Bye for now and see you in 2020! Hike on! See more