Outer Discovery Islands Read Island, Rendezvous Islands, Stuart Island, Sonora Island, Redonda & Thurlow Islands
Quadra and Cortes Islands may bask in the highlight of regular ferry service but there are numerous other islands and islets that surround them. Read, Maurelle, Sonora, Stuart, East & West Redonda, East & West Thurlow and the Rendezvous Islands are the most significant of the Outer Islands. These islands and the intricate waterways that weave between them are home to resourceful and hardy people. Fish farms, fishing and kayak lodges, homesteaders and logging camps are dotted throughout them.
With snowcapped mountains and deep inlets fed by tumbing glaciers as a backdrop, the scenery to be found in the Outer Islands is arguably some of the most impressive on the BC coast. The recreation possibilities here are endless and of an unrivalled calibre;
Sportfishing with sleak silver fish slicing through the emerald waters; sea kayking among calm protected channels and exquisite islets, with boiling tidal rapids for the more adventureous; hiking and climbing on the Outer Islands themselves or on the mainland in the Coast Range where, among many others, BC's highest peak Mt Waddington lurks at the head of Bute Inlet.
The Outer Islands are still on the frontier, caught between the luxury of paved roads and reliable telephone service and one of the last great wilderness areas of the world. Boat charters, sea kayak tours and flights into these islands are all available locally.
