Easter is almost here!

We’ve been crafting up our Easter Bunny Bowls and filling them with Truffles, Crispy Bunnies, Easter Eggs and some of our favourite hand-made Chocolates. They’re as fresh as ever and are available all week up until Easter.

We’ve also got Solid Bunnies in Milk or Dark Chocolate.
Hop on in! We’ve got something for everyone!

With the 27th Annual Pacific Rim Whale Festival just around the corner, March 16-24, we’ve decided to bring back our chocolate whales for the month of March!

This month, buy a Chocolate Whale in either Milk or Dark Chocolate and $2 from the purchase will go directly to whale conservation. Single color whales are available for $4 each and two color whales are $6.

At Chocolate Tofino, we love the whales, so eat a chocolate whale to save the whales!

2012: Kim & Sea Shepherd Captain Lockhart MacLean

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“It was a pleasure meeting you and I felt inspired to see how you
decided to utilize your skills and resources to support our mission at sea. Thank you for helping to keep our ships out at sea!”
- Captain Peter Hammarstedt, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society

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It’s official!  We’ve been selling fine chocolates to fine folks for 10 years.  And it’s all thanks to you, our friends and customers!

On Saturday, February 9th, stop by and help us celebrate! We’ll be having specials all day! Everyone in will receive a Free Chocolate and a Free Hot Chocolate Elixir. There will also be special treats for the First Ten People at 10 a.m. that you won’t want to miss. We’ll have fresh Chocolate Dipped Strawberries, plus 10% off all our products. Other specials like great $10 Deals will also be rolled out throughout the day! You don’t want to miss this celebration!

Plus, enter a draw for a Chocolate Lover’s Valentine’s Heart filled with fresh handcrafted chocolates and truffles. For every ten names we have in the draw, we’ll draw a winning name.

We can’t wait to see you all and celebrate 10 Years of Chocolate Tofino!

Chocolate Lover’s Hearts are the ultimate treat for your Love this Valentine’s Day. Each Chocolate Heart is bursting with an assortment of fresh Truffles, filled Chocolates and a delicious Tortuga or Bear Claw. In addition to your regular Chocolate Tofino favorites, we’ve brought back
our Love at First Bite Caramels.

There’s nothing more sultry than a creamy Love at First Bite Caramel. Using fine Mexican Vanilla, we’ve put together a little number that will surely impress  this Valentine’s Day. Available in Milk & Dark Chocolate, these Caramels are perfect for the Sweetness in your life.

We’ve also done up our Organic Lavender Truffles in a Heart shape for the special day and garnished each one with a few lavender florets. It’s a special touch on a classic favorite!

The Chocolate Lover’s Heart is $29.95 and is available in milk or dark chocolate. Give us a call to pre-order your Chocolate Lover’s Heart. Valentine’s Day gets a little crazy and we don’t want you to miss out! :)  We’re open Monday – Saturday from 10am – 6pm (Give us a call! 250-725-2526)

This Friday, come by Chocolate Tofino and enjoy a special Mayan Inspired Blend of our famous Chocolate Elixir. Then pair it with a fresh cone of homemade Gelato.

And, we've decided that since it could be the End of the World, you could have them for only $2 each all day long.

July 18th at 8:30 a.m., as the morning fog cover was lifting, a local surfer had a close encounter with a California Grey Whale. The whale surfaced at local surf break, Cox Bay and approached surfer and chocolatier Cam Shaw.

Cam initially thought it was a seal lion head popping up as all he could see was a undefined dark object.

“I was pretty far outside in the lineup. The waves were over head high today, so I was sitting deep as to not be caught off guard by an unexpectedly large wave.

I thought I saw a sea lion at first. It was just a dark shape on the surface of the water. It’s not uncommon to surf with sea lions in these chilly waters. I kept an eye on what I had seen, waiting for it to check me out even closer.”

He soon heard one of the girls surfing near by, yell, “Albert. Whale!”

There were approximately 5 other surfers in the lineup, including Albert Shepherd.
Albert is a whale expert from Friday Harbor that specializes in piecing together whale bones for museum exhibits.

“The whale did a mini spy hop and sunk straight back down into the water.” comments Cam. “It didn’t appear to be acting like a sea lion which I encounter frequently at local surf breaks. The next thing I saw was what I thought was a large dark fin. It came up, a few feet out of the water and then sunk back down. It turns out what I saw a fin was actually a tail fluke on it’s side. The whale kept coming closer until I could positively identify it. It gave a big blow and dove back down. The footprint continued to move towards me in the water and it came right up to me. It rolled over. I was within 4-6 feet of the whale. It was supremely magical. I’m a whale guy, I have the deepest appreciation of whales and I just about melted when he did a little pectoral wave above the surface of the water.”

“That’s the whale sighting of the year. ” said Albert Shepard

Grey Whales were just removed from the endangered species list in 1994 and are now plentiful in Clayoquot Sound. Many visitors come from all over the world for world class whale watching. This is interaction is a supremely unusual occurrence. The encounter lasted about 3 -4 minutes before the whale headed north towards Sunset Point.

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CBC Radio One Interview – Afternoon Edition :: July 19, 2012
Surfing in Tofino

Times Colonist Story :: July 19, 2012
Surfer unaided by glasses spotted a Sea Lion that was clearly a whale

CBC Radio Interview – On the Coast :: July 20, 2012
Surfer’s Whale Tale

CBC Radio One Interview – All Points West :: July 20, 2012
Baleen Breakers

Westerly News Story :: July 26, 2012
Close Encounters of the Whale Kind

Summer will soon be under way and to celebrate, we’ve brought back our famous Sundaes.

Choose from a Berry Patch Sundae with big ol’ chocolate covered strawberry or a Caramel Nut Sundae with homemade butterscotch and crispy house-toasted pecans.

It’s homemade Vanilla Bean Gelato in a freshly baked Waffle Bowl brushed with Chocolate and topped with your choice of a Chocolate Dipped Strawberry with Berry Sauce or Homemade Caramel with Toasted Nuts. Amazing.

Get them while you can!

In May 2010, the cast and crew of The Big Year descended on the small Canadian surfing community of Tofino. The place was buzzing and many locals turned out for the casting call seeking Extras. Jack Black and Owen Wilson were spotted at the Long Beach Golf Course. Steve Martin and others were being served in local high-end restaurants. Signs and buildings were discreetly changed to better play the part in the upcoming motion picture. It was a fun time.

While The Big Year had many filming locations scattered across North America, such as Osoyoos, Atlanta, the Yukon, and the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Gardens in Vancouver, Tofino played a starring role as Oregon and other times it doubled as Alaska, California and Maine.

Watch the Official Trailer on IMDB.

Official Tofino Film Locations

The Fourth Street Dock – Where Fourth Street meets Main Street
Playing the part of Coos Bay, Oregon, the Fourth Street Dock makes a couple of appearances in the movie. When the birders board the Auklet Tour Boat, the boat is moored at the “B” Finger of the Fourth Street Dock. The second sighting occurs when the characters return during Thanksgiving. Although Tofino gets more than its fair share of precipitation, the film makers set up large rainmakers on a bright sunny day to film. Steve and Jack rush down the Dock in rain gear to get on an Auklet Tour, only to look at the bulletin board and realize that Annie is not running trips due to the holiday.

Storm Light Outfitters – 390 Main Street – www.stormlightoutfitters.com
After popping in for a quick take-out coffee, Owen Wilson and his birding companion get in their car outside of the store. Storm Light’s exterior is clearly shown and the camera gets a nice shot all the way down the length of Main Street.

The Pacific Breeze Motel – 750 Campbell Street
As you head away from the downtown core, you come across the Pacific Breeze Hotel and the Fisherman’s Net Restaurant. In the Theatrical Version of the film, it appears that Steve is staying here while trapped in Alaska after missing his flight and it shows the exterior of the Motel and the signage out front reading Alaska Breeze Motel. For the filming, they added a rusty Internet Sign. In the Extended Version of the film it’s shown with the real signage displaying the Pacific Breeze Motel as itself and has Jack (instead of Steve) staying in one of the rooms.

The Campbell House – 430 Campbell Street
This is the most minor of shots in the film, however it shows some of Tofino’s favorites. In a quick pan, it shows Breakers Deli, Habit Clothing, Pacific Surf School and in the background, Storm Surf Shop. If you look closely, you can also see Tofino Vacation Rentals on the signage.

The Arnet House – 336 Main Street
This waterfront heritage home, built in 1931, was the perfect location for Annie Auklet (Angelica Huston) to reside. The home can be seen in the scene where Steve Martin and Jack Black rush to her door on Thanksgiving. In the background behind Steve and Jack you can see the dark blue Tofino Legion building on the right of the screen. As well, the interior of the historical house is shown while Jack is on the phone with his dad and again in the film’s bonus features during the Thanksgiving Dinner celebration. (Off camera, this house is a personal residence so please respect their privacy.)

Cox Bay Beach – Maltby Road Public Access
Cox Bay was used briefly near the end of the film when Kenny Bostick and his buddy are shown with binoculars on a large beach labeled as Monterey, California. The defining detail in the film is the small but visible Pacific Rim National Park Boundary sign in the background amidst the large driftwood logs. This is a beautiful beach, has great surf and has hosted many surf contests including the O’Neill Cold Water Classic, the Rip Curl Pro, the Roxy Surf Jam and the Queen of the Peak. Leave your car at the Maltby Road public parking lot and walk down the 5 minute trail to the beach. Once on the beach, turn to your left and head down the beach to the National Park Boundary signage.

Rosie Bay
At the end of the film Jack and his new girlfriend travel to the East Coast for some more birding. The rocky headlands of Rosie Bay simulate the coast of Maine (as noted in the Extended Version of the film) however in the distance you can see the historical red and white Lennard Island Lighthouse which has marked the entrance to the Tofino Harbour since 1904. Rosie Bay is private property but is visible from the Sunset Trail on the North side of Cox Bay.

Outakes and Deleted  Scenes from the Special Features

The Schooner Restaurant – 331 Campbell Street – www.schoonerrestaurant.ca
Although relegated to the Bonus Features of the Film, this was one one of the more centralized and fun-to-watch filming locations. Steve Martin is seen in the second window of the upper dining room, watching Jack Black exit a convenience store across the street. If you’re a fan, ask for Steve Martin’s table-for-two when you make dinner reservations at The Schooner.

Co-op Family Fashions – 346 Campbell Street – www.tofinocoop.com
A lot of work went into converting the Co-op clothing store into Dunlin’s Mini-Mart only to have the footage end up on the cutting room floor. Co-op Family Fashions was replaced by a back-lit sign and the windows were set up with intricate food displays and fishing gear. Outside the store a USA Today newspaper box, a USPS mailbox and flashy drink merchandiserswere set in place to complete the look. In the deleted scene, Jack exits the Mini-Mart eating a bag of pretzels and peanut butter while Steve Martin watches from the Schooner Restaurant across the street.

Click on the Map to view it larger or download a PDF Map.

FEAST! Surf ‘n Turf Rental Deal:

As part of Feast!, Chocolate Tofino will be partnering with neighboring surf shop, Live to Surf. Buy $10 worth of product at Chocolate Tofino then rent some surf gear at Live to Surf and receive a free Live to Surf Tee Shirt! Offer only valid during FEAST!, May 18th – June 2nd, 2012.

Details are available at Live to Surf and some restrictions may apply!

For the month of May, buy a Chocolate Tofino Bear filled with tiny
Chocolate Fish and one dollar from your purchase will support local
Bear Aware efforts. Great as a gift or a token of appreciation.
Available in Milk or Dark Chocolate.