Your tent, the Pacific and a raccoon with plans.

At the western edge of Vancouver Island, past the mountains and the logging roads and the last sensible place to buy groceries, the land gives up and the Pacific takes over. Right there, on a bluff above sixteen kilometres of beach, is a campground. You can sleep there. You should.

Green Point Campground sits above Long Beach in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, between Tofino and Ucluelet. The surf booms all night. The rainforest drips all day. The fog comes and goes like it’s checking on you. And every evening, if the clouds allow, the sun drops into the ocean in front of a long row of people in rain jackets holding mugs of something hot and saying nothing at all.

It is one of the most sought-after campgrounds in Canada, and it is not easy to get into. Here’s how to get in, and how to stay dry, fed and out of trouble with the wildlife and the ocean, both of which are bigger than you.

Bring two rain jackets. You’ll understand by day two.

Getting a site without losing your mind.

Reservations go through the Parks Canada Reservation Service. Bookings for the season open in winter, and for summer dates they disappear quickly, sometimes within hours. Have your dates, site preferences and a backup plan ready before the launch time. Set an alarm. You’re not being dramatic.

The maximum stay is seven nights in a row. Prefer a roof? The oTENTiks, a cross between a tent and a cabin, book through the same system and are excellent for families or anyone whose relationship with rain is complicated.

Wet-weather tip

Cancellations happen, especially in the weeks before a stay. If your dates are sold out, check the reservation system again, often. Persistence gets more people into Green Point than luck does.

You also need a valid Parks Canada pass to stop in the park reserve. Buy a daily pass or a Discovery Pass if you’re visiting other parks this year.

No site? Tofino and Ucluelet have private campgrounds and RV parks, which also book up early in summer. Some people base themselves further back along Highway 4 and drive in for the day. What you can’t do is sleep in a pullout or a parking lot. Camping in the park reserve is only allowed in designated campgrounds, and the rule is enforced.

Why everybody wants this campground.

Location, mostly. Green Point puts you a short walk from Long Beach and right in the middle of the park’s trails, with Tofino and Ucluelet each a short drive away. You can surf in the morning, walk through old-growth rainforest at lunch and watch storms roll in at dinner without moving your tent.

It also comes with Parks Canada’s rules, which is a good thing: patrolled sites, food lockers, real washrooms and staff who know what the tide and the wildlife are doing.

Timing matters. July and August bring the most sunshine and the biggest crowds. May, June and September are quieter and cooler, often just as beautiful, and your odds of getting a site improve. Summer mornings often start in fog that burns off by lunch. Sometimes it doesn’t, and you get a moody, silver day that looks great in photographs and less great on wet socks.

This is the traditional territory of Nuu-chah-nulth nations, including the Tla-o-qui-aht and the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ. In Tofino you may see a Tribal Parks Allies fee on your bill at some businesses. It supports Tla-o-qui-aht Tribal Parks stewardship of the land you’re enjoying. Pay it gladly.

What’s within reach of your tent.

You won’t need to drive far. That’s the point.

Wet-weather tip

Tofino gets roughly three metres of rain in an average year, most of it outside summer. Rig your tarp before you unpack anything else, and keep one set of clothes in a dry bag that never comes out in the rain.

Wildlife, waves and the earthquake plan.

The two things that will hurt you here are the wildlife you attract and the ocean you underestimate.

• Store every attractant in a hard-sided vehicle or a campground food locker: food, coolers (even empty ones), dishes, garbage, toiletries. Never in your tent. Never in a soft-sided trailer. Staff patrol for this, and so do the bears.
• Black bears, wolves and cougars live here. Keep dogs leashed and close, keep children within sight and never feed any wildlife, including the very confident raccoons.
• Respect the surf. Rip currents, cold water and logs tossed by waves are real dangers. Swim and surf only within your ability, and take a lesson if you’re new.
• Check a tide table before walking the beach or around headlands, so the incoming tide doesn’t cut you off.
• This is a tsunami zone. If you feel a strong or long earthquake, or see the sea suddenly pull back, go to high ground immediately and follow the tsunami route signs. Don’t wait for an official warning.

Getting to the end of the road.

Highway 4 crosses Vancouver Island from the east coast through Port Alberni and over the mountains to the Pacific Rim junction, where you turn north for Green Point and Tofino or south for Ucluelet. It’s narrow, winding and spectacular, with slow traffic and few places to pass. Check DriveBC for construction or closures before you go.

Fill up on fuel and groceries in Port Alberni or Tofino. Campground check-in has set hours. If you’re going to arrive late, know the rules in advance.

No car? The airport near Tofino has scheduled flights from Vancouver, and buses cross the island in season. Without a vehicle, the campground food lockers become your pantry, so plan small, regular grocery runs.

Cooking in the rain.

Cooking in the rain is a skill. Learn it once and every camping trip gets better.

• Rig a tarp over your picnic table on day one, before it rains. Because it will.
• One-pot dinners rule: chowder, curry, chili. Fewer dishes, less time in the wet, more time with a mug by the fire.
• Buy seafood in Tofino or Ucluelet from people who sell what was caught here, and cook it the night you buy it.
• Wash up immediately, pack it all into the car or locker, and leave nothing on the table. Nothing.
• Keep dry kindling and a lighter in a zip bag. The firewood is local and it’s been here, in the rain, the whole time.

Wet-weather tip

Pitch your tarp with one corner lower than the rest. The rain drains off in one place instead of dumping on whoever stands up first. Point that corner away from the stove.

Three days on the coast.

The weather will rewrite this plan. Let it.

Lessons, boats and people who know the water.

Tofino has surf schools, whale-watching companies and boat and floatplane tours to places you can’t drive to, including Hot Springs Cove. Book with licensed, established operators, ask about weather cancellations and dress warmer than you think. The Pacific is not tropical, whatever the surf posters suggest.

When the campground closes for the season, the coast doesn’t. Winter is storm-watching season, when big Pacific swells hit the rocks and the beaches belong to locals and people in very good rain gear. Come back then, stay somewhere with a roof and a window, and watch the ocean show off.

Stuff that stays dry.

Coastal rules.

1. Book the minute reservations open.
2. Nothing edible in the tent. Ever.
3. Check the tide before the walk.
4. Feel a big quake, go uphill. Now.
5. Rig the tarp before you need it.
6. Be on the beach at sunset.

A bluff above the Pacific, a tent that smells like woodsmoke, a raccoon that won’t get your dinner and a sunset you’ll describe badly to everyone at home. Stay mostly dry.

Booking and planning.

Details checked in October 2026 against Parks Canada. Seasons, booking dates, fees, fire rules and trail status change, so confirm with Parks Canada before you go. The opening photograph is by Aditya Chinchure on Unsplash.