Bella Bella

Bella Bella is the main Heiltsuk community within Heiltsuk traditional territory.

Hudson's Bay Company operated Fort McLoughlin between 1832 and 1842. A community of Heiltsuk people developed at McLoughlin Bay, south of the current location. When the fort was closed, the village remained.

The village moved between 1898 and the early 20th century to the present site. Heiltsuk oral history tells of a dispute with the store owner at the original town. The store owner had acquired the land that had been the old Hudson's Bay Company fort and would not allow the community to expand on 'his' land – prompting the entire community to abandon the site and move to a larger site – the present location of the village.

This village was called "New Bella Bella", and later just "Bella Bella". Bella Bella was composed of relatively new European-style houses and a boardwalk. By 1903 the new town was fairly well established. The mission was complete with a hospital, mission house and school which doubled as a church.

In 1993 the Heiltsuk hosted an ocean-going canoe festival at Bella Bella. Called 'Qatuwas – the event was an important milestone in the ongoing renaissance in Northwest Coast Ocean-going canoes. Some 25 canoes from First Nations up and down the coast paddled to Bella Bella for a week-long cultural sharing event. A second 'Qatuwas festival was held in Bella Bella in 2014.

In 2015, a crisis erupted over a long-simmering dispute between the Heiltsuk and the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) over the crucial herring stocks. Citing concern for the stocks and Heiltsuk rights, as well as taking issue with DFO predictive models, the Heiltsuk occupied the local DFO office for 4 days. The crisis abated when the remainder of the commercial herring fleet departed and the Heiltsuk and DFO agreed to discuss the next season's management.

The vast majority of people fly in because of the time saved. However, a round trip is expensive costing at least $550 from Vancouver.

• 🌍 Bella Bella (Campbell Island) Airport (ZEL  ^IATA). 

• Pacific Coastal Airlines, ☏ +1-604-273-8666, toll-free: +1-800-663-2872, reserve@pacificcoastal.com. Operates flights primarily in the south coast area of British Columbia with its hub in Vancouver. (updated Apr 2022) Operates flights from Port Hardy (with connections from Vancouver) once daily in the winter and twice daily in the summer. From Vancouver the total journey (with the stop in Port Hardy) is about 1 hour 40 minutes or 1 hour 20 minutes if flying direct from Vancouver.

The Shearwater Resort also operates a private plane for bringing its guests up.

• BC Ferries, toll-free: +1-888-223-3779. Operates ferries connecting coastal communities. (updated Apr 2022)
  • 🌍 Bella Bella (McLoughlin Bay) ferry terminal. (updated Aug 2022)
    • Operates the following vehicle ferry routes to Bella Bella:
      • Between Port Hardy (Bear Cove) ferry terminal and Prince Rupert ferry terminal. Trips stops along the way in Bella Bella or in Klemtu, or in both. Crossing time to Bella Bella from Port Hardy is 5.5-6.5 hours, from Klemtu is 3-3.5 hours, and from Prince Rupert is 10 to 14 hours.
      • Between Bella Bella — Shearwater — Klemtu — Ocean Falls — Bella Coola. Travel time varies depending on stops along the way. From Bella Coola to Bella Bella, crossing time can range from 5.5 hours to 9.5 hours with the shorter end of the time range being direct trips offered in the summer. The crossing between Bella Bella and Shearwater is 50 minutes, and the crossing between Bella Bella and Ocean Falls is 4-4.5 hours.
    • It is important to check the schedule ahead of time. Ferries operate through the year, but not daily. These ferries operate less frequently outside of the summer.

• Seabus. A passenger ferry operates daily every 1 - 1.5 hours between Bella Bella and Shearwater. Trips take about 15 minutes each way. $5 round trip for local passengers, #10 one way for non residents, children under 16 free and must be accompanied by an adult. (updated May 2023)

• Starr Taxi, ☏ +1 250-957-2582. (updated Oct 2023)

There are two taxis that meet all the planes coming in.