Ucluelet is inseparable from its Indigenous neighbor. Just across the bay, connected by road but a world apart in governance, sits Hitacu, home to the Yuuluit'ath Government, one of the five Maa-nulth First Nations that signed a modern treaty with British Columbia and Canada. The Yuuluit'ath, whose name translates as 'people of the safe harbour,' have lived in these waters long before the first European vessel rounded the peninsula. Their presence shapes the town's character in ways both visible and subtle, from the cultural programs at local schools to the broader political reality of shared coastline and overlapping claims. The 2021 census counted 2,066 residents in Ucluelet proper, a population that swells dramatically each summer.

The trail that put Ucluelet on the tourism map begins at Amphitrite Point Lighthouse and follows the open Pacific coastline north through Big Beach Park. Walking it, you understand why storm watching has become a legitimate industry here. Between November and March, Pacific swells detonate against the volcanic rock, sending spray high enough to soak hikers standing well back from the edge. The trail is accessible to all ages and abilities, and in some sections even to wheelchairs, which is remarkable given the raw power of the landscape it traverses. In calmer months, the same path offers views of grey whales migrating between Baja California and Alaska, their spouts visible from the clifftops during the Pacific Rim Whale Festival each March.

Ucluelet's economy has undergone a quiet revolution. The fishing and logging industries that sustained the town for generations have not disappeared, but they have been eclipsed by tourism. The Pacific Rim Visitor Centre, located at the park entrance on Highway 4, is the second-most-visited tourism centre on Vancouver Island after Victoria, welcoming an average of 90,000 visitors annually to the Ucluelet-Tofino-Pacific Rim corridor. Surfers gather along Florencia Bay and Wickaninnish Beach in summer. Kayakers explore the inlet. Bear-watching tours depart from the harbour. In 2012, the Ucluelet Aquarium moved into a new building on Main Street, operating on a catch-and-release model that returns every specimen to the ocean at season's end, a philosophy that neatly captures the town's evolving relationship with its marine resources.

Getting to Ucluelet requires commitment. Highway 4 from Port Alberni winds through mountain passes that demand winter tires or chains from October through March. The Tofino-Ucluelet Airport sits about twenty minutes away by car, and the harbour's water aerodrome accepts floatplanes, though coastal fog regularly delays summer morning arrivals. The isolation is part of the appeal. Once you arrive, the town rewards with a calendar of events that belies its size: the Edge to Edge Marathon from Tofino each June, the Pacific Rim Summer Festival in July, and Ukee Days at month's end, featuring the salmon barbecue and town parade that have anchored local life long before the tourists arrived. Every odd year, Ucluelet hosts a leg of the Van Isle 360, a sailing race circumnavigating Vancouver Island in ten legs.