An entrepreneur based on Vancouver Island has launched an app to help folks explore the region better.
Diogo Travassos, who came to Canada by way of Brazil, is the founder of Finback Digital.
Launched this year, Finback Digital’s flagship offering is Camena Tours—a mobile app that doesn’t actually want you on your phone.
The audio tour app lets users choose a route to walk, bike, or drive. The key is that the route map and the audio experience is downloaded offline, so the phone can be tucked away during the tour.
“I wanted the phone out of the way,” says Travassos. “You should be looking at the building, not at a screen telling you about the building.”
During a tour, each place’s story begins automatically when an explorer reaches it; the whole tour works without a signal. The self-guided nature means users can leave whenever, set their own pace, and finish whenever.
For Travassos, there is a personal reason why he felt compelled to build Camena.
“My family still comes over from Brazil,” the entrepreneur explains, “and every time they do I want to show them what the Island is made of.”
“People arriving from very far away with almost no idea what is around them, and a region with a lot more in it than a day trip usually turns up—that is really where this started,” Travassos says, noting how the app features language accessibility features for foreigners that he struggled to find from comparable offerings.
“The languages are not a feature I added later,” the founder commented. “They are the reason I started.”
The app is free to download and includes on free tour—a 27-stop route relaying Victoria’s iconic Inner Harbour. After that, the cost of exploration steepens, with each additional tour costing roughly $20 to access.
There is a 100-kilometre driving tour of the Trans-Canada Highway with 66 stops; a half-day walking tour of Victoria with over 100 stops; and a 30-kilometre bicycle ride down the Galloping Goose rail trail with nearly 70 stops. Currently, there are no tours off the Island.
“The first route I tested was the cruise-day walk,” recalls Travassos. “I used to live in James Bay and I would watch the ships come in all summer, thousands of people at once, and I liked walking down to Fisherman’s Wharf and the Inner Harbour along with them.”
Camena is available to download for Apple and Android.
The post This App Lets You Explore Vancouver Island with Devices ‘Out of the Way’ appeared first on Techcouver.com.
This App Lets You Explore Vancouver Island with Devices ‘Out of the Way’ was first posted on September 17, 2026 at 5:01 am.
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