We started when she was 10. She is 15 now and still says yes. Here is the active Father's Day I would line up this Sunday.
We moved to South Vancouver Island when my daughter was 10, still at the age where doing things with dad was the best part of her week. So we went looking for the active stuff this corner of the island does better than anywhere.
She is 15 now and still says yes, which I do not take for granted. There are a hundred ways to spend Father’s Day here, beaches, hikes, a slow morning with good coffee.
These are the active ones, the days we still talk about, for the dad who would rather do something than sit still.
One of the first things we did when we moved here was the guided canopy tour at Adrenaline in Sooke.
An open-air truck hauls you to the top of the coastal temperate rainforest, then you spend about two hours working back down through the trees on eight zip lines and a 100-foot suspension bridge while the guides handle the gear.
It is more about the height and the forest than the speed, and it is still one of my daughter’s favourites.
The Big Zip at the same place is a different ride. Two of you launch side by side off a deck above the Sooke Basin and race down a single 2,400-foot line at up to 70 km/h, sitting back in a harness that feels more like hang gliding than dropping. I have done it, just not with my daughter yet, and it is the kind of dare she would love.
For a limited time, use VIBL5ZIP for 5% off the Big Zip Experience.
We also spent a lot of those early days on paddle boards, drifting along calm shorelines looking for sea life and reaching little beaches you cannot get to any other way.
If you want that without owning a board, Pacifica Paddle Sports offers a two-hour guided kayak tour at Brentwood Bay which is the easy way in. You paddle the sheltered water of Tod Inlet past seals, otters, and eagles, and the inlet is known for the moon jellies drifting under your boat.
Use VIBL5KAYAK for 5% off any tour.
If you want to explore on your own, rent a kayak, paddleboard or canoe for 2 or 3 hours.
Use Father10 to get 10% off rentals for June 20 and 21 only.
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Back on dry land, the one we keep going back to is the WildPlay obstacle course, about 15 minutes from downtown Victoria in Colwood. You cross a bridge that wobbles and drops out from under your feet so you fight for balance, swing across an open gap on a rope, and step from tree to tree high in the branches. It is the kind of thing you usually only watch the hero pull off in a movie.
Here is the honest part. I am not an athletic guy, and I am pretty tame when it comes to an adrenaline rush. My daughter is nervous about heights. WildPlay is how the two of us get that feeling and still stay safe. It is not a race. You are clipped to a continuous safety line the whole way, one person at a time, so you move at your own pace, and you can level up as your confidence grows.
The Classic course runs three levels, and the top one tops out around 60 feet. We have done it a few times, and each visit she climbs a little higher than the last.
WildPlay is also running a Father’s Day deal this year, 15% off all WildPlay activities (excluding Bungy Jump and Primal Swing ) at their BC parks on June 20 and 21 when you pre-book with the code LOVEYOUDAD.
If your dad wants a real jolt and you are up-island, WildPlay in Nanaimo has the Primal Swing, a tandem swing that drops off a 150-foot bridge and arcs across the Nanaimo River canyon at around 140 km/h. I have not strapped into that one myself, but it is the obvious step up.
Something else I love about living here is how many ways there are to experience the same place. A beach is a different trip depending on the tide and the time of year. You can go back to the same spot three times and get three different days out of it. Victoria is the same.
One day we rented a street-legal golf cart from the View Street Parkade and used it to run our own half-day driving tour down Dallas Road and out through Oak Bay. It tops out at 40 km/h, so you are in no rush. You could do the same loop in your car, but being in an open-air cart took the day from an 8 to a 10. It put the fun back into just getting around.
And if you would rather be on the water, whale watching is an easy win. I have only been out of Sooke with Jen, no kids along that day. It is a small boat, twelve people at most, three hours out on the Juan de Fuca past Race Rocks. Neptune Wildlife Tours offers a great Sooke whale-watching experience.
There are always families aboard, and it is the kind of thing a kid still talks about as an adult. You can also catch a faster Zodiac or a covered boat right from Victoria’s Inner Harbour if that is closer.
I will be straight with you about one thing. The businesses I have linked here support Vancouver Island Bucket List, and that backing is part of what keeps the site going. It does not change what I recommend. I have taken my own kid to these places, I love them, and I would point you to them either way. To the businesses that are part of VIBL, thank you.
Whatever you pick, book it before the weekend fills up. Here is what I did not expect when we started. Every time we do one of these, I watch her push a little further than the time before. She gets past a fear, she gets louder and more excited, and she walks out with more confidence than she walked in with. She was 10 when we started. She is 15 now and still climbs in beside me. That is the gift I would not trade.
The deals, in one place
If you want to book any of these for Father’s Day, here are the codes:
- WildPlay: 15% off at the BC parks on June 20 and 21 when you pre-book, with code LOVEYOUDAD. Excludes the Bungy Jump and Primal Swing. Book >
- Big Zip at Adrenaline: 5% off the Big Zip Experience with code VIBL5ZIP. Book >
- Brentwood Bay kayak tour: 5% off any tour with code VIBL5KAYAK. Book >
- Brentwood Bay rentals: 10% off rentals for June 20 and 21 with code Father10. Book>
More ways to spend the day:
