Tofino takes its name from Vicente Tofino de San Miguel, a Spanish hydrographer and cartographer who never visited the place. In the late 18th century, Spanish naval expeditions surveyed this coast extensively, and Tofino's name was attached to the inlet by the officer Dionisio Alcala Galiano during the 1792 expedition. The town itself grew slowly from a settlement on the peninsula southeast of the older community of Clayoquot on Stubbs Island. For most of its history, Tofino was a remote fishing village, accessible only by boat or seaplane. Highway 4 was not paved all the way through until the 1970s, and the journey from the east side of the island remained an adventure well into the modern era. That remoteness shaped the town's character: independent, weather-hardened, and comfortable with isolation.

Tofino is Canada's surfing capital. Long Beach, stretching for kilometers within Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, catches consistent Pacific swells that draw surfers year-round, from beginners in summer wetsuits to veterans in winter hoods and gloves. Cox Bay, Chesterman Beach, and Wickaninnish Beach each have their own character and their own loyal following. The town hosts annual surf competitions, including events sanctioned by international surf organizations. In a country not traditionally associated with surfing, Tofino has built an entire culture around it -- surf shops, board shapers, surf schools. Forbes profiled the world's largest female-only instructor surf school here. Sanoa Dempfle-Olin, born in 2005, became the first surfer to compete for Canada at the Olympics, carrying a tradition that began in these cold, powerful waters.

Tofino's dramatic scenery has attracted film productions that want wilderness without leaving North America. The Twilight Saga: New Moon filmed at South Beach and Incinerator Rock in March and April 2009. War for the Planet of the Apes used Long Beach and surrounding areas inside the national park reserve. The Big Year, starring Jack Black, Owen Wilson, and Steve Martin, filmed scenes at Schooner Restaurant and the 4th Street dock. The Canadian film One Week made Tofino the literal end point of a cross-country motorcycle journey from Toronto. Even a teen comedy, Going the Distance, launched its road trip from Tofino beach. The appeal is consistent: raw coastline, towering forest, atmospheric fog, and a town that looks nothing like a studio backlot.

Living at the end of the road means accepting certain realities. Tofino General Hospital serves the community but relies on the Vancouver Island Health Authority for specialist care. One newspaper, the Tofino-Ucluelet Westerly News, covers the region. Local radio station CHMZ-FM, known as Tuff City Radio, broadcasts on 90.1 FM with a decidedly independent voice. The Wickaninnish Community School educates local children. Beyond the town's edge, the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation community of Opitsaht sits across the harbor on Meares Island, and the deep rainforest of Clayoquot Sound stretches north. Tofino exists in a state of productive tension between its identity as a laid-back surf village and the pressures of tourism that bring over a million visitors in peak years. The town has chosen, so far, to stay small, to keep its mud-booted character even as the world comes knocking.