My wife and I were married and chose to tour through the Gulf Islands for our honeymoon. Of the 12 nights we toured the Gulf Islands, we stayed 5 nights on Saturna in Cottages 3 and 4.

One Cottage had a newer, roomier interior -- with the cutest kitchen nook at corner windows where you can eat breakfast, watch orcas, porpoises, otters, and blue herons -- and the other was the Lighthouse Keeper's Cottage, which was very quaint. We preferred the first one, but our experience in both was memorably excellent.

We LOVED staying here, meters from the sea in both cottages (as they neighbour each other). Truly, a spectacular experience.

We cycled from Oak Bay in Victoria to Saturna's East Point. As I was hauling a 100-plus-pound trailer attached to my bike, I won't pretend that some of the hills on Saturna didn't conquer me. However, vehicle traffic is minimal so I had the ease to pedal and sweat when I needed to, and ocean-side views were a constant. The air CHANGED as we were under the arches of the forest, greener, fresher. When we arrived at these cottages, I said, "Totally worth it!"

The cottages have everything you might need. We brought our small dog with us and she loved it too, particularly our walks along the shoreline where she could sniff and eat mysterious dead things at random, and up near the lighthouse among the golden grasses. We didn't let her run free too much as we didn't want her to interfere with a baby seal, or get picked up by a bald eagle (plenty of them). We seldom saw anyone from the neighbouring cottages, so our experience was as private as we wanted it to be. Many many acres of parkland to explore via trails with our dog proved a welcome daily trek.

Raeanne House, who manages the cottages, was tremendously generous with ensuring we had what we needed, providing guidance and tips for our adventuring, preventing me from doing an upmountain cycle with my bike that would have killed me, and gave us a gift of the ripest, most flavourful strawberries. She was wonderful.

We heartily recommend Saturna Island and we will happily stay at these cottages again, perhaps trying those we haven't tried yet. This was a top-shelf experience for us newlyweds, romantic, breath-catching, awe-some. I woke many mornings at 4:30 a.m. to write at the table as the sun crested the seas and spilled its lackadaisical light. Saturna is very special, and I hope it remains so as it receives more tourist attention in the years to come.

We're grateful.