Home > Youth Leadership Programs > BC Explorer: Ocean Canoeing (5–9 day)
BC Explorer 2027
A uniquely Canadian introduction to outdoor youth leadership and ocean paddle expeditions
Located on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, youth have the opportunity to participate in an introductory outdoor leadership and ocean paddling expedition. For some, it’s their first big leap into a teen overnight camp experience. For others who haven’t been to camp in years, it’s a warm “welcome back”. No matter who you are, BC Explorer is the perfect launch pad to bigger, bolder experiences in the Yukon, Japan, Ecuador, Fiji, and more!
BC Explorer Introductory: 5-day/4-night introductory canoe expeditions.
BC Explorer Classic (most popular): 9-day/8-night outdoor leadership adventures.
No matter which BC Explorer you choose, we will venture out onto the calm waters of the Sunshine Coast’s Sechelt Inlet. Surrounded by the glittering ocean and forested mountains, we’ll practice our canoeing, outdoor, and leadership skills while staying at some amazing campsites. If we’re lucky, we’ll even spot some seals, orcas, or otters! In this world of late-night stargazing, sunset canoe journeys, secret waterfalls, and meaningful friendships, everyone has their own place and leadership journey. You never know what adventures you’ll find on BC’s amazing Sunshine Coast!
Group composition: co-ed, 8–12 participants/group
2027 DATES: BC Explorer Introductory (5-day)
Jun 26 – June 30 (14 - 17 year olds)
Jul 01 – 05 (10 - 13 year olds)
Jul 05 – 09 (10 - 13 year olds)
Jul 05 – 09 (14 - 17 year olds)
Jul 11 – 15 (10 - 13 year olds)
Jul 18 – 22 (10 - 13 year olds)
Jul 25 – 29 (10 - 13 year olds)
Aug 08 – 12 (10 - 13 year olds)
Aug 15 – 19 (10 - 13 year olds)
Aug 22 – 26 (10 - 13 year olds)
2027 DATES: BC Explorer Classic (9-day)
Jun 26 – Jul 04 (14 - 17 year olds)
Jul 07 – 15 (14 - 17 year olds)
Jul 18 – 26 (14 - 17 year olds)
Aug 08 – 16 (14 - 17 year olds)
STANDARD PRICES*
5-day: $989 + GST (CAD)
9-day: $1,799 + GST (CAD)
* Earlybird Special $200.00 off your registration if you register before November 15, 2026.
*Non-refundable $400 + GST deposit (all trips)
Drop-off: at 8:30am at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal
Pick-up: at 2:00pm at Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal
Group size: 8-12 with 2 instructors
Location: Sechelt Inlet, Porpoise Bay Provincial Park
Includes: Pre-course video check-in, 24-7 supervision by outdoor instructors, outdoor and leadership skills instruction, one night at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park, one Talking Tree session with Talaysay Tours, land and ferry transportation (ferry tickets included), tent accommodation, all meals (except for return ferry lunch), group outdoor gear, and more!
Contact us for more info: office@firesideadventures.ca
What you’ll learn
While summer fun is always a big part of what we do, BC Explorer is more than just a holiday. BC Explorer is designed to be an educational, transformational, and challenging experience that creates independent, self-motivated, and confident youths. Here are a few of the ways we do this:
Outdoor skills: Challenge yourself with wild camping, canoe manoeuvres, risk management, and wildlife safety. These experiences develop universal life skills like perseverance and problem-solving, not to mention a love for nature.
Social-emotional learning & resilience: Spending time in nature brings challenges but also opportunities for peace, reflection, and connection. This is the unbroken space and time you need to build relationships, trust, and personal transformation through a mix of one-on-one coaching, daily journaling, and group dialogues.
Increase self-knowledge: Over four/nine days, become introduced to some of our personal values, strengthen your decision-making skills, and learn how to set and achieve short-term goals.
Introductory leadership training: Guided by our pillars (Independence, Community, Knowledge, Experience, and Vision), define what leadership means to you and hold yourself accountable.
You won’t want to miss these experiences:
Reconnect with yourself and nature during a digital detox with no technology or external distractions. During the expedition, our focus is on the people we are sharing the journey with. As long as you’re with Fireside, it’s just the group, the smell of the cedars, and the distant crashing of waves against the shore.
Bond with experienced and inspiring instructors who will be there for you 24-7. They teach you knot-tying, paddle strokes, and so much more!
Spend time with other youth who are as excited about spending time in the outdoors as you are!
Meet face-to-face with a playful otter, or marvel at bioluminescence on midnight shorelines.
Work as a team to plan the coming adventure with your fellow adventurers to learn the ins and outs of outdoor leadership.
After a long day of exploration, there’s nothing better than frying bannock around the campfire with your new friends. Enjoy fresh, nutritious meals that you probably made yourself!
“There exists within everyone a grand passion, an outlandish thirst for adventure, a desire to live boldly and vividly through the journey of life.”
— Kurt Hahn, outdoor education pioneer
The photos below were captured by camper Tsz Chin Wong, Sechelt Inlet 2026
Digital Detox and Screen Offsets
This year in Canada, the average youth will spend over 3 months of combined time staring at a screen.
Yes, Fireside is a digital detox. All Fireside child and youth programs are mobile-phone and screen-free. But we want to take it further… this is your “screen offset”; a meaningful step toward protecting the wholesomeness in your kid’s hours, days, months, years and life. This year, we want to help kids spend at least one day outside & unplugged for every day they spend online.
Don’t worry… staff will take photos and videos to share with parents and youth. And your kid can bring an old-fashioned camera.
Put the phone away. Get the experience back.
Earn the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award on this trip and add it to your resume and university application
The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is the world’s largest youth leadership award. It helps young people turn the things they already do: sports, music, volunteering, outdoor adventures… into internationally recognized credentials that support school, university, and future employment.
The hardest part of earning the Award? Going on a trip (known as an “Adventurous Journey”. The good news? You can earn your Duke of Edinburgh’s Award on Yukon Explorer along with the other skills, physical activity and voluntary service components of the award.
Orcas spotted by a 2024 canoe group!
Example of our canoe and camping route (9-dayb
Landscapes and waterways we’ll explore together
Sunshine Coast: The Sunshine Coast is one of the most beautiful, biodiverse, and safe areas in BC for outdoor experiences. It’s the perfect location to build outdoor and canoe skills for youth, and we have used this region as the launchpad for hundreds of budding adventurers. While canoeing in this region, we have seen everything from porpoises, seals, and orcas to bioluminescence and the aurora borealis! Beyond canoeing, the Sunshine Coast is also home to many incredible hiking opportunities.
Porpoise Bay Campground: Tucked in the trees right on the waters of the Sechelt Inlet, this comfortable and well-established campground is a great place to begin and end our adventure. With private campsites, forest hiking trails, sandy beaches, and potable water, there’s not much more you could ask from a campground. It is also a quick, 5-minute drive from the town of Sechelt.
Sechelt: A quiet, quaint town in one of BC’s most stunning regions, Sechelt has the amenities to make our expeditions safe and well-supported. Amenities include a regional hospital, grocery stores, and emergency response. No matter where we are in the inlet, we’re never too far from safety.
Sechelt Inlet: One of BC’s most stunning paddling locations with unparalleled ocean vistas. This main inlet branches into the Salmon Inlet and Narrows Inlet, offering numerous shorelines and campgrounds to explore. Experience the incredible biodiversity of this region as you journey along the shorelines with incredible alpine views, passing through our ocean to the mountains of the Sunshine Coast. It is a truly majestic and humbling outdoor leadership experience with endless possibilities for exploration.
Traditional Territory: Shíshálh
