For these returning guests, their love for Tofino goes hand-in-hand with their love for one another.
At Long Beach Lodge, we have a lot in common with our guests. And the one thing that binds us all together is an unconditional love for this incredible place at the end of the road. This is true with everyone who stays with us, but there’s one couple whose Tofino love story is so special, we decided to sit down with them and find out why.
On a sunny day in January, we sat in the Great Room with longtime guests Kimberley and Murray, poured a couple glasses of sparkling wine and chatted about what drew them out here in the first place. The two of them reside in Calgary now, but they got married in Edmonton in 1987. Their honeymoon took them to Qualicum Beach, on the east side of Vancouver Island.
“While we were there we thought ‘let’s go over to the other side of the island to Long Beach, Pacific Rim National Park,’” says Murray. “So with nothing but blind faith, zero dollars and a full tank of gas, we drove across the island and walked the beach in Tofino.”
“That was the first time I’d been here and couldn’t even begin to describe the difference… for a prairie boy who grew up in Edmonton and seeing this. I’d never seen anything like it before. I never wanted to leave.”
After that trip, the couple has made every effort to come back to “their favourite place on earth.” They’ve stayed with us at the Lodge around 10 times. And in 2019, they renewed their vows on the beach in front of the resort and had their reception in the Great Room, continuing their Tofino love story.
“And we brought our whole family with us,” says Kimberley.
“I organized the first wedding”, she adds. “I made him do the second one…I said I’ll be there. I have a dress. Bring a ring.”
It was up to Murray to plan the logistics of the renewal, which he did with our wedding coordinator Maxeen Cameron who—seven years later—is still at the lodge turning everyone’s wedding dreams into reality.
So on a sunny October day, Kimberley and Murray surrounded themselves with family, stood with their feet in the sands of Cox bay and renewed their vows.
If the weather hadn’t cooperated, the lodge offers a few indoor back-up plans. But Kimberley’s and Murray’s family is a hearty crew.
“It would’ve had to have been pretty bad for us not to go out there,” says Murray.
One of the reasons they chose to renew their vows in October is because the two of them like to come out here in the fall and winter months, during stormwatching season.
“To watch the storms and watch the waves is at least as much fun as a sunny day for us,” says Murray.
“That’s one of the nice things about coming during the winter too is that the people are like-minded and it just keeps it very cozy and intimate,” says Kimberley. “And that is exactly the atmosphere you get at the lodge. It’s just that intimacy.”
Their first wedding was over the August Long weekend in 1987, so now they have two occasions to celebrate every year.
“We have two anniversaries, which is even better,” says Kimberley.
Murray and Kimberley generally fly into Comox, rent a car and drive across island to the Westcoast.
“I keep telling Kimberley I have to make this drive sound worse than it is because if too many people know that it’s really not that bad, they’ll come to Tofino and ruin it,” says Murray.
There were a few times over the course of our conversation where Kim and Murray mentioned that they almost don’t want to tell anyone how amazing it is in Tofino because they’re afraid it will lose its magic. But they were happy to share a few of the reasons this place is so special to them.
“I find it a place to connect easily. It’s very meditative here,” says Kimberley. “The rhythm of the waves just automatically takes you to that different place without having to work at it. You can just watch the waves forever.”