Vancouver: Stanley Park Walking Tour & Deadman’s Island Stories

4.97

(208 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I remember is the hush under those old cedar trees in Stanley Park — you know that greenish light that makes everything feel a bit softer? We met our guide right outside the Vancouver Aquarium (I was ten minutes early, still managed to spill coffee on myself). There were maybe eight of us, swapping awkward nods. Our guide, Jamie, had this way of telling stories that made you lean in without realizing. He pointed out a crow picking at something shiny near the path and joked about buried treasure — apparently not all the legends are just for tourists.

I didn’t expect Deadman’s Island to feel so close. Jamie stopped us at a spot where you could see it through the branches — he talked about hidden cemeteries and smallpox outbreaks like he’d lived it himself. It got quiet for a second. Someone asked if the island was really haunted and Jamie just grinned and said, “You’ll have to decide.” The air smelled kind of mossy, mixed with distant salt from the water. My shoes were damp from last night’s rain but honestly, I barely noticed after a while.

We wandered past those famous totem poles (I tried pronouncing one of the names — Li laughed when I butchered it), and Jamie explained what used to stand there before they were moved in. There was this moment on the seawall promenade where everything opened up — city skyline on one side, ocean on the other. I still think about that view sometimes; it felt bigger than any photo could show. The tour wrapped back near where we started but I kept walking a bit longer, just listening to gulls and thinking about all those stories layered under my feet.