Flores Island is a small island (approximately 150 km²) in Clayoquot Sound, off the west coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
The village of Ahousaht is the only major settlement on the island. The island is home to many members of the Nuu-chah-nulth or Nootka First Nation. The island can only be accessed by boat or seaplane.
The main industry is fishing with some tourism. Tourism is promoted through the Walk on the Wildside hiking trail. 41 km² of Flores Island form part of the Flores Island Marine Provincial Park and the whole island is a part of Clayoquot Sound Biosphere Reserve.
Flores Island was named in 1791 by Francisco de Eliza, in honor of Manuel Antonio Flores, the 51st viceroy of New Spain.
Famous quotes containing the words flores and/or island:
“At Flores in the Azores Sir Richard Grenville lay,
And a pinnace, like a fluttered bird, came flying from far away:
‘Spanish ships of war at sea! we have sighted fifty-three!’”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)
“I should like to have seen a gallery of coronation beauties, at Westminster Abbey, confronted for a moment by this band of Island girls; their stiffness, formality, and affectation contrasted with the artless vivacity and unconcealed natural graces of these savage maidens. It would be the Venus de’ Medici placed beside a milliner’s doll.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)