Fancy sleeping on a Tug Boat!? The Swept Away Inn is a fun, quirky place to stay in Port Aberni, on Vancouver Island. We stopped here on our road trip to Tofino and I am so glad we did! The Inn is located on a cute tug boat that was lovingly restored by the owners Daniel and Bouchra. They have managed to squish in en-suite(ish) bathrooms for each room, as well as a dining area where they serve fantastic Moroccan food with a pretty extensive bar.

I should probably mention, I don’t normally post about hotels, and this post was not sponsored. I just like staying in independently owned, quirky accommodation… so I thought it would be good to share.

Port Alberni

Port Alberni is a lovely city located at the head of Vancouver Island’s Longest Inlet in British Columbia, Canada. It is a bit less than half way if you’re taking a road trip from Nanaimo to Tofino; So it’s a perfect place to stop-off. The tug boat is located on Alberni Harbour Quay, right in the middle of gorgeous mountain and sea views. The water is deep enough to allow occasional visits from pods of orcas, if you’re very lucky!

Port Alberni Land Acknowledgement

The City of Port Alberni lies within the traditional unceded territories of the Hupacasath and Tseshaht First Nations. These are two of the fourteen nations of the Nuu-chah-nulth people who reside on the west side of Vancouver Island. If you’re interested, there’s a interactive map of first nations here. To learn more visit the Alberni Valley Museum, where they have artifacts of local Nuu-chah-nulth arts and culture.

When you visit Alberni Harbour Quay, climb up the Wolf Tower to see depictions of the wolf ritual by Tseshaht artist Willard Gallic Jr. Read about the unveiling of the art (and the wolf ritual) here.

Swept Away Inn – M.V. Songhee

This is the fabulous tug boat, M.V. Songhee. Most of the bedrooms are upstairs, then the lower deck is where the bar, dining room and kitchen are located. You can book via booking.com, airbnb or directly here.

This will give you a idea about the rooms. Marc and I booked a room with a bunk bed, but there are rooms with double beds too. Each room has a bathroom with a small shower and a loo. The views are fantastic from all directions.

Fabulous Food

Once you have booked your stay, remember to request dinner as well! It’ll cost between $40-$60 and you’ll sit with other guests between 7pm -10pm for multiple courses of delicious Moroccan food made by Bouchra.

Really tasty breakfast is included in the price of the room, so you have that to look forward to.

While we visited there was a music festival happening on the quay. It was really sweet. Locals turned up with camping chairs and their own picnics, then got dancing when the music started. We spent time relaxing on the tug boat listening to the music.

If you fancy a little walk (or a run) there are a few trails nearby, especially if you don’t mind hiking up the surrounding hills.

Port Alberni Lighthouse

The easiest sight to visit near the Alberni Harbour Quay is the Lighthouse. This doubles as the Port Alberni Maritime Discovery Centre so has really interesting information panels with history about the area (including the tsunami of 1964.) The local heritage society has also preserved a Victorian steamboat, the Swan, that was underwater for 40 years. As well as a boom boat, Tatoosh, that used to move lumber in these waters. The lighthouse itself was re-built in the 1990s, but the lantern is over 100 years old from Chrome Island Lighthouse.

Sproat Lake

The closest freshwater lake to Port Alberni is the gorgeous Sproat Lake. It is a great spot for watersports, picnics or even camping. It’s also the location of some of Vancouver Island’s most impressive pertoglyphs, K’ak’awin.

Waterfall wonderland

If you like chasing waterfalls, there are some gooorgeous ones near Port Alberni too. The most obvious 4 are:

• The Hole in the Wall – this one isn’t natural, but it’s an easy hike to this unique view.
• Weiner Falls – Climb down a rope to reach this stunning (more adventurous) waterfall.
• Stamp Falls – Another easy walk where you can see salmon jump in late summer.
• China Creek Falls – My friends limited me to 3 waterfalls a day, so I didn’t visit BUT here is a great blog with details if you’d like to.

As Canadian Road trips go, the drive between Nanaimo and Tofino is not long, about 3 hours. However if you like travelling slowly and with plenty of hikes and sights along the way, staying in Port Alberni is a great idea. This way you can really appreciate the Alberni Valley, rather than driving straight through. And if you are staying in Port Alberni, I highly recommend staying in the tug boat at the Swept Away Inn! Click on the pins below to save them.