Qualicum Bay Resort Review

Last week I returned from my vacation with my friends. Since many of them are leaving for other provinces to attend university next year, this was the last time we would be seeing each other for some time, so we wanted to make it memorable. After a lot of searching using the Tourism BC website, I narrowed it down to a few cabins. The only problem was that they were all booked up for the summer, except Qualicum Bay Resort. The prices were reasonable, so we decided to book a Deluxe Camper Cabin online to fit us all in. The online booking system is great. It shows you the availability of all cabins for any specified time in a graphic format, is professionally designed, and does the booking without any intervention from the Qualicum Bay staff.The next step was booking transportation. Since most of us didn’t have a car, we had to take a bus. However Greyhound does not go anywhere near the location, nor is there a local bus service. After a bit of research, a friend of mine found the AC Shuttle service. This is a taxi like service that offers transportation from the BC Ferry terminals in Nanaimo to any close cities. They were happy to drive us to Qualicum Bay, and the price was reasonable too. A one way trip cost around $85 for 6 people, which was cheaper than buying Grayhound tickets to the nearest town.

Now that I have returned from the trip, I have a few good and bad things to say about the resort

The Good

• The prices are extremely good. The newly renovated Deluxe Camper Cabin comfortable fits 8 people, and costs only $50 per night. In the cabin, you get several beds, fridge, and a electric stove, so it’s like living on the road. Also I’ve talked with one of the other campers there, and according to him a close by resort offers the same services for twice the price.
• The campground offers free wireless internet. Just connect your laptop to their network, and you are done. If you do not have a laptop, you can also use a computer in their office lobby.
• There is a game room for all visitors with a pool table, table football, a cable tv, and movie nights every Thursday and Tuesday.
• The fire wood is comparable cheap, you get a tub of wood for only $5. This tub lasted us for all 4 nights that we were there.
• There is a ice cream store on the plot. The store sells several flavors of ice cream for a reasonable price. Also it has some camping supplies, but their quantity is limited.
• The playground has two trampolines. 🙂

The Bad

• You have to pay for hot water in the showers. The rate is $1/5 minutes.
• If you do not have a car, you will be quite limited. The closest grocery store is a 5 minute drive away, but this results in a 2 hour walk (yes, I tried). Also the kayaking rentals advertised on their website are a 25 minute drive.

There are many more locations in the world that one can visit. Why don’t you check out the VLBO website for more vacation rentals.