Great Canadian Beach Thread

[MonkeyRonin]

Victoria too.


Gonzales Beach, March 16, 2024 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

[Innsertnamehere]

Victoria is remarkable in that people can have a shirtless beach day in March there!

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by ssiguy

I believe Christina Lake in BC's Boundary/Kootenay area is the nation's warmest. After that I'm not quite sure. Lake Okanagan, Lake Osoyoos, and Lake St.Clair are probably next but I don't know in which order. Lake Erie is the warmest of the Great Lakes but I think St.Clair is warmer due to being in hot SWO while being extremely shallow with a max depth of only 8 meters. All 4 of these lakes have some of Canada's best beaches.

As far as beach cities go, I think there are really only 3 major ones, Vancouver, Kelowna, and Toronto.

Osoyoos Lake is apparently the warmest in Canada.

https://www.destinationosoyoos.com/l.../osoyoos-lake/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osoyoos

Christina Lake is right up there. I've swam in all the major Okanagan Lakes, many times. Skaha Lake is warmer than Okanagan Lake. So too is Lake Kalamalka, Vaseaux Lake, Tuc-el-Nuit Lake, Ellison Lake, and Wood Lake.

[YOWetal]

Originally Posted by isaidso

Beaches along the Northumberland Strait are generally the warmest in Nova Scotia and the warmest waters north of the Carolinas. It's because its relatively shallow and sandwiched between NS and PEI. I've been to Rushton's Beach and Melmerby Beach. Rushton's was the only time I've been to a Canadian beach and not felt even the hint of cold. It felt like bath water that had sat for 30 minutes. If you like white white sand and turquoise water, Carter's Beach is the best one. It's on the Atlantic coast so the water is colder (19-20C in late August) but very pretty.

Yes the Northumberland Strait on both sides is the only salt water most of the world would consider swimmable. Hopefully with climate change things will improve. Some bays can warm up with sustatined 30C days and 20C+nights. The night being especially important. The Oceans themselves heating is a lot more difficult. We have beautiful beaches on both coasts that could sustain tourism in the future with warmer water.

[MolsonExport]

Penticton is one of the best beach cities in Canada. Maybe it is too small to be listed among the others?

[xzmattzx]

What's the best beach close to Downtown Victoria, and how warm is the water (or is there one beach that's the warmest)? I will be in Victoria in August, so I want to say I swam in British Columbia.

[zoomer]

The lakes of course have the warmest water, the ocean will be cold, but there are beaches where the water is shallow where it won’t be as bad. The closest big beach to downtown is along Dallas Road, which is at the edge of Beacon Hill Park (which itself stretches from the edge of downtown to the ocean). The wind is nearly always fairly strong at this stretch, thus not great for swimming, but you’ll see lot of kite surfers on the ocean and parachute gliders pretty much every day as even on calm days the wind picks up off the ocean in the later afternoon. If you just want to a dip in the ocean and swim a bit to say you did it, this will work. By car it’s less than five minutes from anywhere downtown and walking about 15-30 minutes or longer if you’re on the opposite edge of downtown.



Dallas Road by ai.dan, on Flickr



Dallas Road Beach - February 6, 2024. by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Now if you continue around the that point (Clover Point) in the last picture you’ll come across the more protected Ross Bay, where quite a few people go for their daily swim, but not really a swimming beach.



Ross Bay, Victoria. January 7, 2024 by JohnnyJayEh, on Flickr

Otherwise, the beach shown above, Gonzales is the best for warmier water and is a great beach atmosphere. It’s about a ten minute drive from downtown.

Next best would be Willows Beach, 12 minutes at most by car from downtown:



DHA_4974.jpg by Cameron Knowlton, on Flickr

A 15 minute drive will take you to another nice beach similar to Willows, called Cadboro Bay, just down the hill from the University of Victoria:



View over Cadboro Bay - Seaplane Flight, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada by Black Diamond Images, on Flickr

The aerial view makes it look small, but it’s quite a big beach and popular with families.

To the east of Victoria you’ll find some spectacular more rugged/wilderness beaches, but didn’t include those as they are further from downtown.

[Nouvellecosse]

^ Those look really nice! The first one looks Californian and the last one looks almost Australian - two places renown for beaches.

[MolsonExport]

Vancouver Island has some warmish water beaches on the Straight of Georgia / Straight of Johnstone side (Qualicum, Parksville, Miracle Beach, Rathtrevor Beach, etc.).

[zoomer]

Nouvellecosse - yes, the very southern tip of Vancouver Island around Victoria has a different look than the rest of the island in large part due to how dry it is and the rocky outcrops with Gary Oaks and Arbutus trees.

Up island Rathtrevor is great for warmer water because of how far the tide goes out. A popular family get away for folks on the island, in fact my daughters and nieces are going camping there this weekend

Another view of Willows Beach and Cadboro Bay respectively around the corner from Victoria Golf Club:



Victoria Golf Club - Seaplane Flight, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada by Black Diamond Images, on Flickr

Speaking of which (is there a Canadian Golf Course thread?) the Victoria Golf Club claims “The Victoria Golf Club, founded in 1893, is the oldest 18-hole golf course in Canada in its original location, and second oldest in North America”.







Source

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

Vancouver Island has some warmish water beaches on the Straight of Georgia / Straight of Johnstone side (Qualicum, Parksville, Miracle Beach, Rathtrevor Beach, etc.).

Miracle Beach is beautiful and if you hit the tide right the water can be downright balmy on a nice summer afternoon.

The best beach / best water in the Straight of Georgia is Tribune Bay on Hornby Island. The water pools and warms up rapidly there in the sun.

And yes, Penticton is one of the few true beach cities in Canada, with it being bookended by two beautiful stretches of beach front.

[MolsonExport]

Penticton. Skaha (Okanagan) Lake in the foreground (background). Fronted by beaches on both "coasts".

[Metro-One]

Which beach do you prefer, though? Okanagan Lake or Skaha?

Personally I prefer the sand and water of the Skaha beaches, but the vibe around the Okanagan lake beach is much better.

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

Which beach do you prefer, though? Okanagan Lake or Skaha?

Personally I prefer the sand and water of the Skaha beaches, but the vibe around the Okanagan lake beach is much better.

My feelings exactly, for both beaches.

I would rate Miracle Beach as the warmest Vancouver-Island coast waters that I have swam in (there are, of course, warmer lakes in the interior of Vancouver Island, such as Cameron Lake, Sproat Lake, etc.).