from $2,225* per person	6 Days	April, October
Comfort accommodations		Exertion level: 3
Operator: Maple Leaf Adventures		12 people max

Some people who visit the Gulf Islands, B.C., think they've stumbled into Paradise. This group of hundreds of semi-mediterranean Islands in a protected sea has drawn people for millennia, with its green and gold slopes, blue ocean and ring of snow-capped peaks.

Although Salt Spring Island is the most well-known, a trip on the schooner Maple Leaf takes you to scores of beautiful islets most people will never have a chance to see.

Islands in the Salish Sea
Step aboard and enter a world where the most important decision is which place to explore next. With 200+ islands and islets, some with "dry rainforests", some with white shell beaches, some with colonies of animals, the options are many. Maple Leaf's crew knows the area well and while you'll visit some of the larger, well-known islands (e.g. Salt Spring, Saturna), you'll also be guided to little-known havens to which most people will never have access. (Ever heard of Cabbage Island? How about Mandarte, Prevost and Wallace?)

Gulf Islands, B.C., view from spectacular lookout B.C.'s Gulf Islands offer a combination of unique wilderness and eclectic communities. On land, Garry oaks and Douglas fir forests, wildflower meadows and Arbutus (madrone) trees flourish. You'll explore rocky beaches, quiet lagoons and spectacular passages. The islands lie in a rain shadow, so some even support small cacti. Our onboard naturalist unlocks the wonder of even the smallest shells you may find.