Tofino Time Magazine
Readers' Choice Awards
March 2004

Thanks to everyone that took the time
to enter their ballots and congratulations
to all the winners.

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Favourite event of 2003
The Oyster Festival was voted in as the favourite event of the year with Halloween coming in as a close second.

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Favourite activity done while skipping work
There was an even tie here between surfing and lounging on the beach with getting inebriated on various substances coming in a strong second.

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Favourite spot to watch the sunset
Far and above the rest Chesterman’s Beach is our favourite, with being out in the surf as the runner up.

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Favourite place for a drink
The “Great Room” at the Long Beach Lodge was Tofino’s choice for a cocktail with Shelter showing a strong second.

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Favourite place to be at 4:20
This was a bit of a loaded category… Our location of choice when 4:20 was pronounced was definitely the beach or secondly any where but work.

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Favourite spot for people watching
The downtown core seems to be our location of choice for this sporting activity with First & Campbell being the top choice and the Common Loaf second.

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Favourite sporting activity
Well surprise, surprise, surprise the number one sporting activity in Tofino is surfing. Its closest rival was hiking.

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Favourite place to relax
I’m starting to see a bit of a trend, it seems that we are definitely a beach culture, it is our favourite spot for relaxing with home as its runner up. Honourable mention goes to hot springs cove, which for many is the best place to truly unwind.

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Favourite spa experience
The Ancient Cedar Spa at the Wickaninnish Inn took this category with ease, followed closely by Sacred Stone and Thërese Bouchard.

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Favourite place to get in the water
Florencia Bay was Tofino’s choice for some time in the pacific, with a dip in Kennedy lake as our second choice.

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Favourite place for coffee
Tofino’s choice for a good jolt of the liquid life was Caffe Vincente. The Lounge Collection came in as a pronounced runner up.

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Favourite place for breakfast
The Schooner was our readers’ choice as the best place to have breakfast, with Caffe Vincente in second.

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Favourite place for lunch
Well the masses spoke with one voice SoBo! SoBo! SoBo! In all the categories there was nothing as definitive as Tofino’s choice of SoBo for lunch. The Schooner was our second choice, for those rare moments when a fish taco just didn’t seem right.

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Favourite place for dinner
We counted the ballots and counted them again. It was an even tie in Tofino’s mind between the Schooner and the Raincoast Café. Second place was taken by Tough City Sushi.

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Favourite place for dessert
Gord Austin’s Chocolate Tofino was your location of choice for a sweet treat, with The Pointe at the Wickaninnish Inn as his closest rival.

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Favourite wine
This category was a real mixed basket of opinions but there were some definite leanings. Tofino’s favourite wines were The Yellow Tail Shiraz by Casella Winery’s in Australia and homemade blackberry wine from Clayoquot Sound. Tofino’s other favourite ‘whine’ it seems is “when are they going to fix those potholes at Beaches” which was mentioned in this category more than once.

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Favourite wine list
The Pointe Restaurant at the Wickininnish Inn came in as Tofino’s preferred place for choosing a bottle, with the Schooner following as a close second.

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Favourite place for food on the go
There really wasn’t much of a question here, SoBo started off to an early lead and never looked back. The little purple truck took nearly all the votes in this field. The next closest source for a bite on the run was from Beaches Grocery.

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Favourite place to stay
Tofino voted on this one with adventure and romance in mind. The place of choice for a night elsewhere was in hot springs cove on The Innchanter. Our next choice was Middle Beach Lodge.

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Favourite charter company
Jamie’s Whaling Station was voted as your favourite with Talook Cultural Adventures as a strong second place.

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Favourite surf company
All of Tofino’s surf companies were supported strongly by the public with Storm being the most voted for and the Bruhwiler’s Surf School a popular second.

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Favourite gallery
Square footage was definitely not a deciding factor on this one with the tiny Lounge Collection being your choice for art. The runner up here was the stunning Eagle Aerie Gallery of Roy Henry Vickers.

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Favourite boutique
The sexy slinky Plush was voted as your favourite boutique
followed closely by The Lounge Collection.

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Favourite new business 2003
Once again Tofino spoke with nearly one voice on this one SoBo! SoBo! SoBo! Artie and Lisa have sure created a great love affair between that truck and us. The runner up is one of my favourite new additions to Tofino: it’s the Long Beach Surf Shop.