Stay: Tin Can Ranch in Gibsons

During the summer, we decided to visit the Sunshine Coast because we found a unique place to stay: Tin Can Ranch, a renovated 70’s airstream located on a ranch just a few minutes away from Gibsons. In this post, we share a detailed review of our stay.

Bookable on AirBnB, Tin Can Ranch is hosted by Dave and Ashlee who have poured so much hard work and creativity into re-imagining what glamping can and should be. They renovated a 70’s airstream trailer with all the modern comforts you’d expect at a fancy hotel in a small but well-designed space. Spoiler alert: design lovers will want to buy everything in the trailer to re-create the look at home (they do tell you which stores they bought some of the items from).

The experience extends to the outdoors where you have access to your own sauna, outdoor tub, outdoor shower, fire pit, seating, barbecue and outdoor dining table. If you love horses, you will enjoy seeing Sonny and Friday, who live near the airstream and are quite friendly.

Dave and Ashlee have thought of everything to make your stay enjoyable and fun; when we arrived, we were pleasantly surprised to find some local cider from Brickers in the fridge! The hosts also want you to experience the best the Sunshine Coast has to offer and provide coffee from Beachcomber Coffee Company, a heavy duty Yeti cooler filled with ice to keep drinks cold, a guide with recommendations on what to do/eat/drink, and even provide growlers if you want to get fills from popular spots like Sunday Cider Company and Tap Works Brewing.

Tip: Use the mist setting on the shower after using the sauna to cool down.

We enjoyed relaxing at Tin Can Ranch in between going into Gibsons and the surrounding area to check out what was on offer and the scenery. We really enjoyed visiting Persephone Brewing and Tap Works Brewing, Smoke on the Water for barbecue, the Gibsons Public Market to buy groceries and things to grill on the barbecue, Beachcomber Coffee for cold brew and donuts, Sharkey’s Fish Locker for fish and chips, The 101 Brewhouse for beer and tacos from Salt & Swine, cider from Brickers Cider, and shopping in the small stores.

The setting is so quiet and peaceful, making it hard to believe you are only about 1 hour away from Vancouver. Sitting on the deck at night by the fire with the string lights and with some of our favorite songs playing brought us back to some of our favorite places in the Southwest USA, like Lone Star Court in Austin, Texican Court in Dallas, the El Vado Motel in Albuquerque, and Cavalry Court in College Station to name some. We feel extremely thankful and lucky to have gotten to stay at Tin Can Ranch so close to home while being reminded of all the places we love to visit and haven’t been able to travel to this year.

At the time of writing this, Dave and Ashlee are working on renovating a 2^nd airstream so that by next season, there will be 2 trailers on the property, making it a fun getaway from small groups of friends/families. We are already thinking of going back with friends to enjoy the convenience of hanging out to enjoy a fun and conformable place with our own spaces too.

Who wants to come glamping with us? Have you ever stayed somewhere like this?