Port Hardy Vancouver Island is the largest community on the North Island. The first settlers came to the Port Hardy area at the turn of the century, Alec Lyon and his wife Sarah opened a store and post office on the east side of Hardy Bay in 1904, not far from the existing settlement of Fort Rupert on the shores of nearby Beaver Harbor.
The total isolation of the area discouraged further settlement, but in 1912, after a shady land deal by the hardy bay land company, more settlers began to arrive. Posters promised settlers a well-established town with roads, railways, grain elevators, and wharves. Many came from the States and some from as far as the U.K., as they arrived, they found none of these amenities and found only thick forests and rocky land. A place at the end of the world.
Many packed up and left, but others had invested everything they had to make the move were forced to remain and by 1914, 12 families had settled and built a school, church, sawmill, and a hotel. By 1916, a rugged trail was built from Port Hardy Vancouver Island to Coal Harbor and the community was on its way to becoming the central North Island supply center it is today.
There is lots of wildlife in and around the Port Hardy area, there are so many eagles here that you can see one any time you like. The other birds here are just as plentiful, birds like northern shrikes and puffins. Killer whales run up and down the coasts of Johnstone Strait and Blackfish Sound. Take a trip on one of the tour boats from late June to late Oct, and you’ll see and hear these majestic mammals along with humpback, grey, and Mink whales, dolphins, porpoises, seals, sea lions, and sea otters.
Not only is there plenty of wildlife above the waters, but beneath the waves, just north of Port Hardy is the Gods Pocket Marine Park, here you will find Brownings Wall, a world-renowned dive destination. Jacques Cousteau called it one of the best dive locations in the world. Scuba BC has great underwater videos of this area, here is one of them.
Watch for black bears along the highway in spring and summer where they are feeding on the fresh grass Look to the rivers where you might see bears along riverbanks during the salmon run in the fall. Grizzly bear viewing excursions will take you by boat to nearby mainland inlet shores from July through September for some incredible bear viewings.