Écloserie de la Riviere Puntledge - Courtenay, British Columbia

Zack Clark

Amazing experience on chinook salmon egg take day! Our kids got a special hands on experience with the egg removal process. They got to assist in blocking the sun, as to not allow the eggs to spoil. The workers explained the whole process, the importance and everything as they worked. The kids left in awe, and talked for the rest of the day about the experience. Very educational, learning process for them. My daughter is now inspired by them and is now interested in working with the fish.

Big thank you to the workers at the Fish Hatchery, especially the lady doing the egg removal (we never got your name!) You've made a couple of kids very happy, and taught them lessons they will never forget.

Henk van der Zand

Uitstekende manier om kennis te maken met het terug brengen van de diverse zalm soorten op Vancouver Island BC

Lokesh Tanna

The reason to go here is for the tubing. What a blast. Enter at the fish hatchery (nothing exciting here). Once in the water, the ride is divided in three parts. Part 1 is pretty fast and loads of fun, ends at Puntledge Park where the beach is (on the right). Part 2 is a bit tamer and people who are scared could enter here for a somewhat softer ride. Part 2 ends at Condensory Road (look for an overhead bridge where kids may be jumping). Part 3 is from here to Lewis Park where you exit just before the bridge. This part is painfully slow and may be boring for some. Exit the water on your left before you get to the bridge. If you want to skip this part, just get off at Condensory Road on your right. Have fun!

Sorin Mountan

We absolutely loved viewing the fish! As an experienced aquaculture Tech who raised salmon at sea a few years back, it was so nice to share these amazing creatures with my children up close

John O'Carroll

This is a really neat place to visit at this time of year. It was my 2nd visit here, with the prior one being in 1991. Anyway, it is just as wonderous to see now as it was back then. That said, it looks stressful for the fish and they tend to congregate together at either one end of the viewing tank or the other. The photos make it look like they are populous, and they are, it is just that they seem to enjoy swimming around each other and looking at us, looking at them.

Outside the fish hatchery, in the actual Puntledge River, many Salmon who were hatched here returned here after four years in the sea. They come back to spawn and die naturally, it seems, guided by some sense of magnetic attraction to home.

Anyway, personally, I love this place. One is allowed to have a well-behaved dog on a leash and a baby here. It is a very cool Autumn Experience. It is almost like seeing the Annual Salmon Run at Goldstream Park as a school kid. But, a little less pungent.

Definitely go. Otherwise, in the summertime, Puntledge Fish Hatchery is the place from which to launch off on an inner-tube journey down to where the river meets the sea.

The Comox Valley has a lot to offer.

Michael Brace

Had the chance to swim with a couple hundred salmon, so that was pretty cool.

Jordan Weitman-Soet

Great informative place to check out the salmon! Great to visit now in the fall to see all the salmon coming back, and they said it's also interesting in the spring when they have all the little newly hatched salmon.

It's free to visit, there's visitor parking and then you can just walk in, there's a little video tour thing on a touch screen tv and then you follow a little path along the facility. The staff seem to be very open to questions and are happy to educate! Great place to bring the kids!

Judy Goddard

So nice to be able to view the fish coming up the river. Great to see the fish behind the glass wall and learn about the process of pawning. Huge fish.
What A nice setup.