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Echo Bay is located west of Broughton Archipelage Marine Provincial Park , approximately 30 miles northeast of Port McNeill. Echo Bay can be reached by boat through Retreat Passage or Cramer Passage on the northwest side of Gilford Island , with departure from Telegraph Cove, Alert Bay and Port McNeill on northern Vancouver Island . Floatplane access is available by daily seaplane service between Seattle , Port McNeill, and Cambell River.

The private museum was created by lifelong fisherman and beachcomber Billy Proctor. The 'junk collector' was born in a shack in the woods in Port Neville, across from Kelsey Bay , and grew up in Freshwater Bay on Swanson Island , where his parents ran a fish-buying camp. The artifacts, some of which go back 6,000 to 8,000 years, represent different cultures and include 400 stone and bone artifacts, old hand logging equipment, old animal traps and skinning boards, and 1,300 old bottles. Entrance is by donation, with the proceeds going to support salmonid enhancement at Scott Cove hatchery.

There are two resorts in the bay. One, provides the post office, grocery store, fuel, laundry facilities, showers, electricity, moorage, hotel and housekeeping units. The other is a floating resort in keeping with the float houses of the times gone by. It provides moorage , showers, two float house rentals, an art gallery with local art and crafts, filtered local spring water and a bakery in operation during July and August. At the head of the bay is the Echo Bay Provincial Marine Park . It is accessible by a government dock although moorage is limited to boats under 7 meters long. The park provides a place to walk around and stretch your legs or for kayakers, a flat place to camp. Further on in the back of the bay is the Echo Bay Community Hall built in the 1960's and Echo Bay School , established in the 1920's and is one of the last few one room schools still in operation in the province.