The Inside Passage is a water route that runs along the Pacific coast from Washington to Alaska. Inside because for the most part the passage threads the many coastal islands and is thus protected from the rough seas that sometimes afflict coastal waters exposed to open ocean.

Thousands of watercraft travel the Inside Passage every year. Cruise passengers who partake exclusively of the blandishments aboard miss out on the sublime scenery outside: a realm of misty forests, snow-topped mountains, and restless seas inhabited by eagles, grizzly bears, salmon, humpback whales, and orcas.

The northbound journey begins as the Queen of the North pulls out of the terminal at Bear Cove, across Hardy Bay from downtown Port Hardy. An hour out you will see the flash of the lighthouse on Pine Island, which marks the entrance to the Inside Passage. This islet is one of only a few known nesting sites in the region of the rhinoceros auklet, a pigeon-size seabird.