National Post - In our element: Tofino's seaweed-bathing and tree-hunting adventure
A pilgrimage of land and sea through the so-called Tuff City on the west of Vancouver Island
By Lucy Hyslop
After opening the boat’s throttle and whizzing up Lemmens Inlet, part of the UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, we whoop with delight at first glimpse of the magnificent new Moon Jelly Bathhouse. Sitting next to a rustic cabin on the water, it’s a floating haven of cedar-and-aluminum tubs, sky hammock over the ocean and benches around a fire – surrounded only by a horseshoe of Meares Island forest that wafts and creaks in the sun.
So much old growth makes you feel utterly grounded, but this afternoon’s ‘thalassotherapy’ – lolling in seaweed in a hot tub in the middle of Clayoquot Sound – quickly leaves us feeling almost spacey. The wood-fired steamy water soothes with such minerals as zinc, magnesium and potassium from kelp and dulse that turns luminous and tactile from brown when harvested.
And naming it after the moon jelly, the non-stinging species that bloom around the B.C. coast? Well, it’s as close to describing the ‘cushioning’ feeling you get from bathing in seaweed, explains Kaeli Robinsong, who is one of the original owners of Tacofino and set up this new venture with her business partner Mike Mavis.
Our skin softens, brains’ recalibrate, and souls reconnect with nature as the stress of our daily lives (and five hours of ferry and road travel) evaporates in the heat.
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