Pacific Mariners Memorial Park — Attraction in Prince Rupert

The Pacific Mariners Memorial Park and surrounding area was the highlight of my visit to Prince Rupert. It's right beside Cow Bay, so it's a great place to walk with a coffee to see some amazing views after visiting the nautical information centre and before walking the docks to look at the nearby boats.

The 27-foot Kazu Maru is the centre object of display at the memorial park. A plaque describes the ghost ship’s strange journey as having a “mystic quality,” but the full story can be read on the informational sign.

On September 26th, 1985 Kazukio Sakamoto left Owase for a day of fishing. In March of 1987, a government patrol vessel near Skidegate Inlet on Haida Gwaii spotted the boat overturned, barnacle-enshrouded, and about to be smashed into the rocks. They rescued the boat and brought it to Prince Rupert. When the Kazu Maru was identified, it surprised people to learn it was from Owase, Prince Rupert’s official sister city since 1968.

The boat was restored and put on display at the cannery. In 1990, it was moved into a Japanese-style shrine at Prince Rupert's new memorial park. Sakamoto’s widow Eiko, family members, and others from Owase came to BC to attend the opening ceremony. The Japanese delegation offered prayers and helped bless the shrine, which is dedicated to all of those who have been...

I believe my son found every possible bench between San Francisco and Alaska 🤣 however this one he took a little more time and actually sat here and enjoyed for a few extra moments. Which allowed the rest of us to spend a few extra moments to enjoy the views. The people in the area were extremely friendly. They welcomed us in and treated us kindly, even though we were there invading their town and their space. They still took the time to show us where things were and point us in the directions of were little extra special things to find were. This park was a great place to overlook the boats and the ships. And to just allow my son to be a kid before we continued...

It's a great park that looks out over the cruise ship dock and waterfront of Prince Rupert. A real highlight is the recovered ship Kazu Maru from Japan. The story itself is too long to go into here, but you should look it up online. It is stunning that the ship survived that journey and ended up here of all places. I'd recommend coming by if you have any interest in nautical history, and there are many restaurants, gift shops, and other places of interest nearby when...