Great Canadian Beach Thread

[MolsonExport]

Originally Posted by megadude

Never heard of that. I see it's only a couple minutes off of 6. I'll have to try there next time I'm up in the Bruce. Looks like a shallow and narrow bay. Ideal place to produce that warm water.

great place. At Dorcas Bay.

[megadude]

Originally Posted by ScreamingViking

Re: water levels, some the lakes have started trending down from the peak of the past few years. I know that's true for Lake Ontario, possibly Erie too.

Can confirm it's the case for Georgian Bay, Lake Huron. Lowest I've seen the water in at least a decade.

However, the pond that is created after winter melt on the beach every year is a shadow of its former self this year. That pond is full of minnows, frogs, birds, etc. This year it's like 1/20th the size.

And the rocks that otherwise would have been in the water are now exposed on the sand along the water. So for pure sand, you have to move well back from the water.

Water at this point last year was warmer. Still swimmable but not the most inviting.

[esquire]

Originally Posted by MolsonExport

^ahh, the not so good ol' days.


amc

I remember my jaw dropped when I first saw that scene!

[csbvan]

Had a quick stop at one of my favourite beaches in the Okanagan in the late morning today. Sun Oka park, just outside of Penticton:

20210620_113655 by csbvancouver, on Flickr

20210620_112720 by csbvancouver, on Flickr

20210620_111919 by csbvancouver, on Flickr

20210620_111431 by csbvancouver, on Flickr

[MolsonExport]

Went swimming at Lake Huron yesterday (Pinery). Bracing.

[megadude]

Little video from the dashcam on the way to Balm Beach (Georgian Bay, Lake Huron) to take the the two year old gokarting and mini golfing for the first time.

It was Wednesday morning at 10:30 so kinda dead there. Plus the town decided that no one can come park with a pay and display for the day anymore. All based on a finite number of parking permits you purchase at the beginning of the season. Some of their other beaches, which don't have the beach town ammenities are pay and display.

I guess that means those who want to do the weekday trip to the beach/arcade/gokarts/mini golf/etc. with the family thing have to go to Wasaga, which is half an hour closer anyway to the population centres. Though a lot of people prefer the less crowded option. I can't imagine the businesses at Balm Beach were happy with that.

As you can see, these cottages are smaller and right beside each other. Lacks privacy. Though there's still a good amount of trees in between. But it also makes for a more intimate landscape and probably sense of community.

• Video Link

[someone123]

This was from the skyline thread but I guess it's more of a beach post.

McNab's is a gem. I went there a number of years ago and had forgotten about the beaches there, which includes arguably the nicest one near downtown. There are stretches of maybe 1 km at a time of sandy beaches along parts of the shore with skyline and harbour/ocean views.

I do think this reveals the somewhat weird way that these amenities are developed around the Halifax area. There's a balance to be struck as far as how much to develop a given place but Halifax is often far off in the direction of leaving things untouched for long periods of time. McNab's actually went from a more developed place to a less developed place and in more recent years it's become a kind of nature preserve known mostly to local enthusiasts and it has no real public access (you have to hire a private boat to take you there). It's hard even to look up online and find out where the beaches are on McNab's. This is 5 km away from downtown in a metro area that's pushing half a million people, plus it contains a national historic site.

Originally Posted by Hali87

The largest, heavily forested island is McNab's Island; it's partly managed by Parks Canada and partly by the province, with a few private properties. There are a handful of people who live there (not sure whether year-round or just during the summer), several great beaches, lots of wildlife, blueberries and decent fishing, and the ruins of several old fortifications and an old township. At one point (likely around 1900) there were a few industrial buildings there and an amusement park. Historically it's been a bit cumbersome to get there but there have been efforts over the last decade to improve access. There's no public ferry, but more and more private shuttles have been operating and the city's boating infrastructure in general has been improving, so there's been more people sailing/kayaking over, etc. There's a designated camping area but it's common for people to just pitch a tent somewhere in a forest clearing or along a beach.

There's a smaller island immediately to the east called Lawlor's, AFAIK it's also a provincial park but there isn't really any convenient access or infrastructure. You can easily swim over (probably even walk most of the way) from Eastern Passage at low tide.

The smallest one is called George's Island, it's managed by Parks Canada and until recently there was only public access a couple days per year due to lack of infrastructure (only one small dock and limited electrical and plumbing). There have been recent investments and it's technically open to the public now. It's pretty small (maybe the size of a couple football fields) and just has a small fort, a lighthouse, and a few other small buildings. It also apparently has the largest concentration of snakes per square metre of any known place. I don't think you can camp on this one; there isn't really much space anyway and it's all pretty exposed.

So in summary, we have 3 main islands in the harbour, all of which are nominally "parks", but only 2 of them are really accessible to the public (and only if they have a boat or hire or rent one to get there) and until very recently visiting even one of those two would get you a fine unless you worked something out with Parks Canada. It's been great to see McNab's and George's open back up; for a long time they were these basically unexplorable places that could just be seen from a short distance across the water.

A few years ago when Pokemon Go was at its peak, there was fierce competition over Pokemon gyms on the islands that most people couldn't get to easily

I would say that McNab's is actually the best park in the Halifax area overall. It's almost like a rough-around-the-edges Olmstead type park that just sort of happened by accident, rather than actually being planned as a park. It's similar to Point Pleasant but larger and better in basically every way, although the infrastructure is a degree more rustic. The main beach is easily the nicest oceanfront beach "within 1/2 hour of downtown".

[Klazu]

Spanish Banks in the West Point Grey neighborhood is a Vancouver favorite for spending a nice warm summer day.

Several beaches make for a total of four kilometres of nice sandy beach.







Views of North Shore Mountains across Burrard Inlet are simply amazing.



Many ships dock in the Burrard Inlet as they wait for their turn to visit the Port of Vancouver.







Downtown skyline is a legendary backdrop for a nice day at the beach.









Several new skyscrapers in the recent years have nicely added to the ever-evolving Downtown skyline.

[Coldrsx]

Port Elgin (Huron) from the other night. Water levels are down quite a bit over last year and so much so that we get 15-20' more beach!

[rousseau]

Funny how Port Elgin's main commercial street is parallel to the lake, and quite far from it as well, while Southampton's main drag runs perpendicular toward the lake and practically goes right up to it.

Wonder why?

Also funny how Michigan's beach town culture isn't much to speak of on Lake Huron (somewhat analogous to Lake Ontario), but is mostly on the "west coast" on Lake Michigan (somewhat analogous to the beach scene along Lake Huron, the "west coast" of Ontario). Did people in Ontario and Michigan just generally gravitate toward places with sunsets on the water when establishing lakeside vacation spots a hundred years ago?

[Coldrsx]

The hill plays a major factor in that as well as Port's origins more industrial in nature versus Southampton.

Southampton certainly presents better, but with my cottage being in Port.... Southampton is my Shelbyville.

[Coldrsx]

Port Elgin this afternoon

my own

[Dr Awesomesauce]

Originally Posted by megadude

Little video from the dashcam on the way to Balm Beach (Georgian Bay, Lake Huron) to take the the two year old gokarting and mini golfing for the first time.

It was Wednesday morning at 10:30 so kinda dead there. Plus the town decided that no one can come park with a pay and display for the day anymore. All based on a finite number of parking permits you purchase at the beginning of the season. Some of their other beaches, which don't have the beach town ammenities are pay and display.

I guess that means those who want to do the weekday trip to the beach/arcade/gokarts/mini golf/etc. with the family thing have to go to Wasaga, which is half an hour closer anyway to the population centres. Though a lot of people prefer the less crowded option. I can't imagine the businesses at Balm Beach were happy with that.

As you can see, these cottages are smaller and right beside each other. Lacks privacy. Though there's still a good amount of trees in between. But it also makes for a more intimate landscape and probably sense of community.

• Video Link

Was going to comment on how great Balm Beach is when I saw the Spanish Banks post - hard to complete with that...

[megadude]

Originally Posted by Dr Awesomesauce

Was going to comment on how great Balm Beach is when I saw the Spanish Banks post - hard to complete with that...

I think you're being generous when thinking of Balm Beach as great! It's the smallest of beach towns and looks cool for about 5 minutes. Still better to have that there than nothing.

Always nice to have a scenic backdrop when at the water. That Okanagan and Spanih Banks scenes fit the bill. Are the waters there warm enough in the summer for a pleasant swim?

Balm Beach is part of the world's longest freshwater stretch of beach, including where I go. It is part of a huge bay with Blue Mountain (lol mountain) and the rest of the escarpment on the other side. So there is a backdrop, but that scene in the background is far away and not that big. Regardless though, it does add a nice touch, especially when it's clear and you can see the ski runs (treeless swaths in the hills) of the resorts like Blue Mountain and others.

Taking the weather out of the equation, I don't think Canada has anything near a perfect beach in terms of water clarity, calmness, fine sand, beach town ammenities and scenic backdrop.

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by megadude

I think you're being generous when thinking of Balm Beach as great! It's the smallest of beach towns and looks cool for about 5 minutes. Still better to have that there than nothing.

Always nice to have a scenic backdrop when at the water. That Okanagan and Spanih Banks scenes fit the bill. Are the waters there warm enough in the summer for a pleasant swim?

Balm Beach is part of the world's longest freshwater stretch of beach, including where I go. It is part of a huge bay with Blue Mountain (lol mountain) and the rest of the escarpment on the other side. So there is a backdrop, but that scene in the background is far away and not that big. Regardless though, it does add a nice touch, especially when it's clear and you can see the ski runs (treeless swaths in the hills) of the resorts like Blue Mountain and others.

Taking the weather out of the equation, I don't think Canada has anything near a perfect beach in terms of water clarity, calmness, fine sand, beach town ammenities and scenic backdrop.

I was asked by a Japanese girl once if Canada had any real beach resorts. After thinking about it I said no?

[ScreamingViking]

Originally Posted by Denscity

I was asked by a Japanese girl once if Canada had any real beach resorts. After thinking about it I said no?

Our counterpart to that is "cottage country" resorts. I'm not sure how many nations offer that kind of vacation option, but we're probably one of the most notable ones.

[Denscity]

Ya BC doesn't have cottages so not sure what we can offer besides hotels on or across the street from the beach in the Okanagan or Tofino.

[Metro-One]

Originally Posted by Denscity

Ya BC doesn't have cottages so not sure what we can offer besides hotels on or across the street from the beach in the Okanagan or Tofino.

What are you talking about? The Cariboo is nothing but lake houses and cabins.

It’s a very different feel than the lakes of the Okanagan but are referred to as cottages by all the Ontario ex pats that live / own a property there. Most lakes also have some form of rental cabins / RV “resorts” there. Obviously they are more geared to the fishing and hunting crowd. (My parents lived there before moving to Nelson, so I met many such people there).

And to answer the previous question, yes the lakes in the Okanagan are warm and great for swimming. Osoyoos Lake actually gets too warm for my taste by August (starts to feel swampy, but in June and July it’s great though.)

[Denscity]

Originally Posted by Metro-One

What are you talking about? The Cariboo is nothing but lake houses and cabins.

It’s a very different feel than the lakes of the Okanagan but are referred to as cottages by all the Ontario ex pats that live / own a property there. Most lakes also have some form of rental cabins / RV “resorts” there. Obviously they are more geared to the fishing and hunting crowd. (My parents lived there before moving to Nelson, so I met many such people there).

And to answer the previous question, yes the lakes in the Okanagan are warm and great for swimming. Osoyoos Lake actually gets too warm for my taste by August (starts to feel swampy, but in June and July it’s great though.)

Yes I just meant they're not called "cottages" here in BC.

And yes Osoyoos Lake might be the warmest lake in Canada.
And Christina Lake I believe is the warmest tree lined Lake in Canada.

[le calmar]

Osoyoos Lake was already warm in late June when I swam there many years ago, so I imagine it gets pretty darn warm in August. Water quality was not the greatest though, and that was still early in the season.