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Dominated by big-time copper mining, a large fishing fleet and the usual logging concerns, PORT HARDY , a total of 485km from Victoria and 230km from Campbell River, is best known among travellers as the departure point for ships plying one of the more spectacular stretches of the famous Inside Passage to Prince Rupert (and thence to Alaska) and the newly introduced Discovery Coast Passage . If you have time to kill waiting for the boat you could drop into the occasionally open town museum at 7110 Market St or visit the Quatse River Salmon Hatchery on Hardy Bay Road, just off Hwy 19 across from the Pioneer Inn . If possible, though, time your arrival to coincide with one of the Inside Passage sailings , which leave every other day in summer and twice-weekly in winter. Bus services aren't really scheduled to do this for you, with a Laidlaw bus meeting each incoming sailing from Prince Rupert. A Laidlaw bus (tel 949-7532 in Port Hardy, tel 385-4411 or 388-5248 in Victoria) also leaves Victoria daily (currently 11.45am), sometimes with a change in Nanaimo, arriving at the Port Hardy ferry terminal in the evening (currently 9.50pm) to connect with the ferry next morning; in summer an extra service departs from Victoria on the morning before ferry sailings. Maverick Coach Lines (tel 250/753-4371 in Nanaimo, tel 604/662-8051 in Vancouver) runs an early-morning bus from Vancouver to Nanaimo (inclusive of ferry), connecting with the daily Laidlaw bus to Port Hardy. You can fly from Vancouver International Airport to Port Hardy or with Air BC (tel 1-800/663-3721 in BC, 1-800/776-3000 in the States, 604/688-5515 in Vancouver, 250/360-9074 in Victoria). The Port Hardy ferry terminal is visible from town but is actually 8km away at Bear Cove, where buses stop before carrying on to terminate opposite the infocentre , 7250 Market St (year-round Mon-Fri 9am-5pm; to early June to late Sept 8am-8pm; tel 949-7622, chamber@capescott.bc.ca ). The infocentre can give you all the details about Port Hardy's tiny but free museum , and the immense wilderness of Cape Scott Provincial Park , whose interior is accessible only by foot and which is supposed to have some of the most consistently bad weather in the world. As a short taster you could follow the forty-minute hike from the small campsite and trailhead at San Josef River to some sandy beaches. Increasingly popular, but demanding (allow eight hours plus), is the historic Cape Scott Trail , part of a complex web of trails hacked from the forest by early Danish pioneers. Around 28km has been reclaimed from the forest, opening a trail to the cape itself. If you stay in town overnight, leave plenty of time to reach the ferry terminal - sailings in summer are usually around 7.30am. North Island Transportation provides a shuttle-bus service between the ferry and the town's airport, main hotels and the bus station at Market Street, whence it departs ninety minutes before each sailing (tel 949-6300 for information or to arrange a pick-up from hotel or campsite); otherwise call a taxi (tel 949-8000). Many travellers to Port Hardy are in RVs, but there's still a huge amount of pressure on hotel accommodation in summer, and it's absolutely vital to call ahead if you're not camping or haven't worked your arrival to coincide with one of the ferry sailings. Note that the ferry from Prince Rupert docks around 10.30pm, so you don't want to be hunting out rooms late at night with dozens of others. There are rooms out of town at the Airport Inn , 4030 Byng Rd (tel 949-9424, www.airportinn-porthardy.com ; $100-125), but you'd be better off in one of the slightly more upmarket central choices like the North Shore Inn , 7370 Market St (tel 949-8500; $80-100), at the end of Hwy 19, where all units have ocean views, or the Thunderbird Inn , 7050 Rupert St and Granville (tel 949-7767, tbirdinn@island.net ; $80-100). The former has nice views of the harbour but sometimes has noisy live music. Five minutes south of town at 4965 Byng Rd, in a park-like setting near the river, is the Pioneer Inn (tel 949-7271 or 1-800/663-8744, pioneer@island.net ; $100-125), which has rooms, RV sites and a campsite ($20). Other hotels are the Glen Lyon Inn by the marina at 6435 Hardy Bay Rd (tel 949-7115, www.glenlyoninn.com ; $80-100), and the large 40-room Quarterdeck Inn , 6555 Hardy Bay Rd (tel 902-0455, quarterdk@capescott.net ; $125-175), the town's newest hotel - it opened in late 1999: otherwise contact the infocentre for details of the town's five or so B&B options. The Wildwoods campsite (tel 949-6753; $5-15; May-Oct) is a good option, being within walking distance (3km) of the ferry, though it's not too comfy for tenting - or try the Quatse River Campground at 5050 Hardy Rd (tel 949-2395, quatse@island.net ; $14-18), with 62 spruce-shaded sites opposite the Pioneer Inn , 5km from the ferry dock. Or go for the larger 80-site Sunny Sanctuary Campground 1km north of Ferry Junction and Hwy 19 at 8080 Goodspeed Rd (tel 949-8111, sunnycam@capescott.net ; $15-20). Food here is nothing special, but there's a bevy of budget outlets, so you should be able to fill up for well under $10. Granville and Market streets have the main restaurant concentrations: try Snuggles , next to the Pioneer Inn , which aims at a cosy English pub atmosphere with live music, theatre (Friday nights) and steaks, salads and salmon grilled over an open fire. The cafeteria-coffee shop in the Pioneer does filling breakfasts and other snacks.
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