Tom Sean’s Guesthouse in Yellowknife is probably your best bet if you want to catch the Aurora (also known as the Northern Lights). Yes, this was what we actually saw during our trip to Yellowknife, Canada…
Why Stay at Sean’s Guesthouse to see the Aurora?
1. Sean’s Guesthouse is comfortable
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When we first arrived at Sean’s Guesthouse (which is about 7 minutes cab ride from Yellowknife Airport), it didn’t seem much on the outside. But once you’re in, you’ll realise that when the doors are closed and the cold (minus 33 degrees Celsius air) is kept outside, you’re almost transported to a different dimension.
Thanks to Sean and his meticulous attention to details, you’ll see that the house is kept spick and span and beautifully decorated. Just take a look at photos above. Yup, all done by the man himself. Really gave us some inspiration for decorating our place back home in Singapore 😉
The bathrooms are clean and we’re not just talking about normal clean. We’re talking about CLEAN clean. There’s hardly any water spots (except the ones we’ve created) and the bath mats are always laid over the bath tub – just like a hotel would! The best part? The comfortable beds…
Perhaps one of the most relaxing vacations ever, it could be the tranquility of Yellowknife or perhaps Sean just chose the right mattress from Ikea. Whatever it was, it just kept us snugly tucked into bed, even after we snoozed on the alarm – 3 times.
2. Sean’s Guesthouse – Best Smoothies in Yellowknife!
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At Sean’s Guesthouse, you’ll be able to enjoy cereals, toast, milk, yogurt, coffee and tea. BUT, the highlight? The famous Sean’s Guesthouse smoothies! The best smoothies in Yellowknife! Add that spinach for an added touch of healthy buzz.
And yes, we’ve got the recipe! 🙂
Sean is also a surprisingly good baker. In fact, his banana breads are so good that they can be sold in any bakery out there. Lightly crisp on the outside and moist on the inside.
And yes, we’ve got that recipe as well! 🙂
During our chases of the Aurora (Northern Lights), there would also be cookies and hot chocolate available. But most importantly, you’ll learn this life changing game called Qwirkle. You really know the true colours of your mates while playing it…
3. Sean’s really good at chasing the Aurora
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 in the shape of Singapore |
The last but most important reason why Sean’s Guesthouse is your best bet of catching the Aurora is because Sean’s really professional about what he does. Unlike some tour operators who will unscrupulously bring tour groups out eventhough there’s close to zero chance of seeing the lights, Sean only brings us out if there’s a good chance of seeing it.
How does he know?
From our limited 5 nights experience at Sean’s Guesthouse, we know that, in order to see the Aurora, you will have to have
1. Good solar activity – 2-4 nights ago. That’s how long it takes for the plasma to reach earth.
2. Clear skies.
Since Yellowknife offers approximately 240 nights of Aurora opportunities a year, the main factor that affects Northern Light sightings, would be cloud cover. Sean would read information off multiple websites and track the movement of clouds. He would then correlate these information with sightings across the globe before he makes recommendations to his guests whether to make the trip each evening. Low chance of seeing the Aurora? No trip. Simple as that.
The other great thing about chasing the Aurora with Sean is that he also does the photography! This means that you do not have to take off your gloves in the minus 30 degrees cold and attempt to take a shot of the Aurora. Even if you have a professional camera and know the correct setting for aperture and shutter speed, you may not be able to get that perfect shot as how Sean has done. Bottomline…Sean’s your best bet!
During our 5 nights stay at Sean’s Guesthouse in Yellowknife Canada, we saw the Aurora for 2 nights. The first night, due to the immense solar activity, we were able to see it right from our bedroom! That picture above is true! On our trip out with Sean, he was able to track a clear patch of sky and we chased it to Vee Lake. That was where the window opened for about 15 minutes and we were able to see the clear movement of Aurora across the night sky…
Information about Sean’s Guesthouse Yellowknife Canada
Address: 133B Moyle Drive, Yellowknife, Yellowknife (NT), Canada X1A 0B8
Room Price: $115 per night
Aurora Chasing: $85 per trip
As we were about to leave Sean’s Guesthouse, we were given these cute badges. After a relaxing stay at Sean’s, it was with a heavy heart that we left such a wonderful, relaxing and memorable stay behind us…
P.S. Thanks to Sean for making our stay so awesome! Also, we are so happy to have met Wan Xin, Louise, Gary and Rain during our stay!
Related Posts
What you should know about the Aurora (aka Northern Lights)
Sean’s Guesthouse Yellowknife: Your best bet in catching the Aurora!
I swear by God, and also on Wanxin’s honor, that every single word as well as every punctuation of this post is telling nothing but the truth, the true truth.
And that’s the truth!