Vancouver Island North, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada

Port Alice is the quintessential Vancouver Island North community, serving as a gateway to extraordinary outdoor recreation and adventure. Along with canoeing, fishing and hiking in Neroutsos Inlet, and at nearby Alice and Victoria lakes, visitors can discover the sport of caving (formerly known as spelunking) among the extraordinary karst formations in the surrounding area. Most of the 1000-plus karst formations and cave systems on Vancouver Island are found in the Quatsino Formation limestone deposits. Best to ask for directions, a map and hiking conditions from the Port Alice Visitor’s Centre before setting off, as this journey requires a trip down the backroads – and along occasionally slippery paths. The pay-off is a chance to explore ancient limestone formations like Devil’s Bath, a dramatic sink hole fed by an underground stream and the Eternal Foundation, where a thundering waterfall marks the opening of a cave and mysterious twisting tunnels. www.portalice.ca; www.quatsinosound.com; www.cancaver.ca/bc/viceg