• Single w/shared bathroom* – CAD $2,147.50
  • Couple w/ensuite Oceanfront* – CAD $4,130.00
  • Couple w/ensuite* – CAD $3,735.00
  • Couple w/shared bathroom* – CAD $3,340.00
  • Twin w/ensuite oceanfront* – CAD $2,067.50
  • Twin w/ensuite* – CAD $1,867.50
  • Twin w/shared bathroom* – CAD $1,667.50
  • Three-share w/shared bathroom* – CAD $1,462.50
  • Women Dorm – CAD $1,217.50
  • Women Dorm - Upper Bunk – CAD $1,217.50
  • Mixed Dorm – CAD $1,217.50
  • Mixed Dorm - Upper Bunk – CAD $1,217.50
  • Tent Site Single – CAD $1,192.50
  • Tent Site Couple – CAD $2,135.00
  • Glamping – CAD $1,117.50
  • Commuter – CAD $1,017.50
  • (All prices include CAD $892.50 base amount)

Date & Time Details:
Starts with dinner on July 3
Ends with lunch on July 8

Location: Cortes Island

Tuition: $525

Package Price: $1,080 - $1,840 / 5 nights. Includes tuition, room, all meals, and Hollyhock activities (depends on accommodation choice). Excludes Taxes and fees. A $395 deposit is required at registration, with the balance due on your departure day.

Scholarships: Full and partial scholarships are available based on financial need. We prioritize Indigenous people, people of colour, people who identify as LGBTQ2IA+, youth, elders, and those who can articulate how their Hollyhock experience will support positive impact in their life and communities. A $195 refundable deposit is required, please apply within your registration form.

Email us about program

Discover Cortes: Nature Adventures

With Bill Ophoff

July 3 - 8, 2020

This program has been cancelled. You may be interested in another session of Discover Cortes: Nature Adventures with Bill Ophoff on August 17 – 22, 2020.

Find details on Hollyhock’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic here.


The natural world is your classroom as you hike, kayak and sail amid the wild beauty of Cortes Island. Discover the flora and fauna of both land and sea along with local history and geological phenomena as you adventure forth with Hollyhock’s knowledgeable, fun-loving naturalist. Explore ancient forests, sandy beaches, colourful tide pools, windswept bluffs, and a mysterious bog. Our lush temperate rain forest is home to a variety of wildlife including deer, raven, and eagles.

Discover the magic of this island jewel as you:

  • Board 43-foot schooner Misty Isles for a half-day sail. Watch for orcas, humpback whales, seals, sea lions, porpoises, and dolphins while learning about the area’s history. Land on awe-inspiring Mitlenatch Island, home of the largest seabird colony in the Salish Sea and known by naturalists as “the Galapagos of the Georgia Strait.” Follow trails through the early-summer wildflowers to the wildlife blinds, an opportunity to watch the nesting birds up close.
  • Kayak into the sunset with bald eagles and seals or paddle under the stars amidst the ‘fairydust’ of bioluminescence.
  • Join in Hollyhock’s famous oyster barbecue on the beach.

All levels of fitness and experience welcome. Just bring your spirit of adventure!

This program is limited to 12 participants.

Bill has exceptional knowledge and I would love to take the class again sometime in the future. He managed to relay the information in a way to help us start looking at the natural world with a more open mind and use our observation skills to take in all the diversity in the forest, on the rocks and in the water. – Past participant, 2019

This program will also be offered August 17-22, 2020.

Presenter

Bill Ophoff
Bill Ophoff has a background in geography and biology, is a naturalist world traveler, and has been Hollyhock’s resident naturalist for 25 years. Hollyhock guests often rave about our naturalist excursions, and more often than not, they are talking about Bill and his quirky sense of humour. Bill landed on Cortes…
Learn more about Bill Ophoff