Guides

Spirit Bear Adventures Guides take Guests on an Authentic Eco-Cultural Journey

As a community owned and operated eco-cultural tourism business on BC's beautiful central coast, Spirit Bear Adventures mandate is to provide economic benefits and sustainable local employment to residents of Klemtu.

Our guides, boat operators, cooks and housekeeping staff are all year round residents in Klemtu and are proud to be providing unforgettable experiences to guests from around the world. Guests who travel to ancestral lands of the Kitasoo/Xai'xais in search of an authentic, aboriginal tourism in the heart of the Great Bear Rainforest will be welcomed with the warm hospitality of not only our staff, but also the residents of this remote village on BC's Inside Passage. All of our guides are certified in marine and wilderness first aid.

Doug Neasloss

Douglas Neasloss is lead guide and cultural interpreter for Spirit Bear Adventures in Klemtu, BC. Douglas is of Kitasoo ancestry and Klemtu is his home and he has grown up on the waters and forests that surround it.

He has spent much of his young lifetime learning its history and the traditional cultures of the Kitasoo/Xaixais people, and he enjoys sharing it with guests. Doug has been working with Spirit Bear Adventures for the past ten years and has had the opportunity to work with some of the most notable scientists, naturalists, and cultural and ethno-geographers.

He has become one of the most knowledgeable and experienced tour guides on the Central Coast and is sought after by many tour operators when not busy with Spirit Bear Adventures. Doug is a qualified bear-viewing guide with the Commercial Bear Viewing Association and holds other industry certification including wilderness first aid. Doug is also an excellent photographer and his work is featured in the Spirit Bear Lodge as well as on the company’s website. To purchase Doug's prints, please go to his website.

Doug was honoured at the 2006 Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC Awards, receiving the Aboriginal Business Canada's Young Adult Achievement Award. He has been the lead guide and spokesperson for media productions such as Discovery Channel and APTN, to name a few.

For the last 5 years, Doug has been gathering the stories of his ancestors by speaking with village elders and formatting into digital, ensuring that their history will live on. It is this intimate connection with his people history that gives Doug’s tours their authentic culture feel.

Doug enjoys fishing and basketball in his free time and is one of the key players on the Klemtu basketball team, who recently traveled to the 50th Anniversary All Native Basketball Tournament in Prince Rupert, BC in 2009.

Vern Brown

Vernon Brown is a Spirit Bear Adventures guide and cultural interpreter. Vernon is of Kitasoo ancestry and has spent much of his life in Klemtu. Vernon has been working with Spirit Bear Adventures for the past five years and has also worked with some of the most notable scientists, naturalists, and cultural and ethno geographers. He is a knowledgeable and experienced tour guide and he enjoys sharing knowledge with guests. Vernon is a qualified bear-viewing guide with the Commercial Bear Viewing Association and holds other industry certifications including wilderness first aid.

Ann Brown

Ann Brown is Spirit Bear Adventures Tourism Services lead hand and also works as an assistant guide with Doug and Vern. Ann, a local Kitasoo, has worked at our tourism office for the last 2 years, Ann has become an integral part of the Spirit Bear Adventures team. Whether greeting guests at the tourist/fuel dock or organizing Big House Tours for day visitors, Ann ensures all your questions are answered regarding tourism in Klemtu. She also oversees the summer students who work with Spirit Bear Adventures in the summer.

Charlie Mason

Charlie has been working with Spirit Bear Adventures since 1999 and is a hereditary chief of the Xai’xais First Nation. Charlie is our tourism boat operator, guide and amazing storyteller of his people’s history. Charlie’s quiet confidence is apparent in all of his interactions with guest, who listen attentively to his stories as they travel throughout the vast traditional territory of his people.

Charlie, who has lived in Klemtu his entire life, is the head of the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Spirit Bear Song and Dance Group, who perform in the Klemtu Big House, as well as at cultural events throughout the province of British Columbia .

Along with his role in tourism in the summer season, Charlie manages the Robinson/Mason grocery store throughout the year. He holds Small Vessel Operators Proficiency certificate and marine advanced first aid certificate.

Sean Kerrigan

Sean Kerrigan is the marketing manager and logisitcs coordinator for Spirit Bear Adventures in Klemtu, BC. Sean has over 17 years of tourism experience and has worked around the world in various capacities.

Sean first became involved with tourism in Klemtu in 2000 when he and five fellow university students traveled to the area to help gather data for a tourism strategy for the Kitasoo/Xai’xais First Nation. The beauty and uniqueness of the territory, along with the friendly people he met, made a lasting impression on Sean.

Sean graduated in 2001 from Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops, BC in Adventure Travel Guiding. He went on to work in the mountains of Switzerland and Canada until 2007 as a guide, leadership program developer and mountain safety technician.

In 2008, Sean reconnected with the small coastal village of Klemtu and its tourism operation, Spirit Bear Adventures. The operation was looking to develop an updated tourism strategy as well as create a new brand and website. Sean was hired to develop and oversee the implementation of this initiative as well as spearhead new marketing campaigns.

Working with Spirit Bear Adventures is very rewarding for Sean. As a community orientated operation with a social mandate, all strategies and plans intend to create employment and new economic opportunity through tourism development for the band members: this is the driving force behind all decisions.

Sean lives on Northern Vancouver Island and is an avid skier, climber and mountain biker.