A Tofino tourism website has launched a webcam service that allows users to view not only the natural beauty of local beaches but also the weather conditions for marine travel.
Tofino TV is a live Webcam network, a radio station, a provider of video content, and aims to be a direct window into Clayoquot Sound. It is the brainchild of Cameron Dennison from Tuff City Radio in Tofino, BC. When asked about the project, he told Ha-Shilth-Sa, “It’s been about a year in the making, but TofinoTV itself has only been up and running for about two months.”
The live cams on TofinoTV.com offer a view of ‘Tofino from every angle’. On the website you can choose from an array of eighteen different webcams that offer views of Tofino, Ucluelet, Clayoquot Sound, Cox Bay, Chesterman Beach, the Amphitrite lighthouse, and more.
The marine views are invaluable to those that live and work in the offshore communities of Clayoquot and Barclay Sounds.
Al Titian, crew boat operator for Cermaq Canada in Tofino, first noticed the cameras at a marine fuel station. “When my radar was down, I just Googled up the webcams from land base and I can see in real time if there is fog in Tofino Harbour,” he said.
As awareness of the TofinoTV cam network grows, it will become an increasingly important tool for Indigenous locals whose livelihoods are heavily dependant on knowing up to the second weather patterns.
The webcams over Tofino Harbour provide an accurate map of boat movement around the harbour as well as immediate weather conditions – giving much more accurate information than forecast predictions. Fog, rain, and wind patterns can shift rapidly, and with storm season approaching, residents in the offshore communities of Ahousaht and Hot Springs Cove/Hesquiaht can now see conditions in real time from wherever they are and make informed travel decisions from there.
The TofinoTV.com website offers real-time underwater views from Barclay Sound along with tide and weather information, but it also hosts short films, documentary series, and V-Log series to watch, all with a heavy focus on island life and Indigenous themes. The plan is to drive viewership of the cams with the media content, and vice-versa.
The cost of operating the cameras is covered through sponsorship programs. Local businesses all across Vancouver Island can pay to sponsor a camera in return for advertising exposure. According to Cameron, “People are enthusiastic about the project. I’m very happy to say that our first program has over 40 thousand views so far- not on YouTube, but on Instagram, Tiktok, and [other social media platforms], and those views are then driving our YouTube numbers up- so I’m quite confident in the overall success of the project.”
As viewership of the TofinoTV series grows, so too will use of the cams, which in turn will lead to expansion of the number of camera channels for locals to use.
“I modelled TofinoTV after some European stations,” said Cameron. “So people tune in, check the surf conditions. People that want to come visit Vancouver Island can also check weather conditions in order to help book their trip. So, it was very intentional to create the network as both a tool for locals as well as something to help draw tourism to the economy- and to complement the content we’re creating for TofinoTV.”
There are live cameras overlooking Tofino Harbour and others at Crystal Cove Resort, Ocean Village Resort, Long Beach Lodge and two other cameras at Cox Bay. In Ucluelet there are camera views from Black Rock Resort and the Ucluelet Harbour. Plans are in motion to expand this in the near future.
“We are beginning a pretty aggressive expansion all over Vancouver island” said Cameron. “The goal is to drive viewership with the information of weather, storm watching, and surf conditions to support Indigenous content. I have a personal goal of being very supportive of the Nuu-chah-nulth language and keeping it alive as possible.”
Businesses interested in sponsorship of a Webcam featured on the TofinoTV network can find more information about the different advertising tiers in the ‘about’ section of tofinotv.com.
