Near and on the Water

Vancouver is lined with long sandy beaches. Actually the downtown is flanked by Stanley Park, Third Beach, Second Beach, English Bay Beach and Sunset Beach.

The shoreline then turns into a small inlet area known as False Creek surrounded by residential and business areas. This is home to a lot of local boat paddling and rowing.

Stanley Park and False Creek offer some popular running routes along the sea walls.

The south side of False Creek going west eventually turns to Kitsilano Beach a Venice Beach like location crowded with sunbathers, volleyball, basketball, tennis, and swimming. This beach also has a huge pool on the west end of the beach.

Further west you get to Point Grey which is home to Jericho, Locarno, and Spanish Banks beaches. Out here you can paddle and the wind is good for sail activities. This is less trendy than Kits Beach and it offers about 1.5 miles of beach area. This area also is popular for running routes with a seaside trail or running up in the wooded trails of Pacific Spirit Park.

When your not playing tennis at Stanley Park or Kits Beach it can be fun to take kayaks from False Creek and got to the various beaches for a swim. One of my favourite short paddles on a kayak would be to go on the North side of False Creek and down along English Bay past the Vancouver Aquatic Centre and down to Stanley Park and Third Beach.

Third Beach is one of my favourite beaches in the city. It is not too big and seldom is that crowded but it is not too deep and tends to keep the water warmer for more enjoyable swimming.

If you go on the south side of False Creek and English Bay you can do a short paddle to Kits Beach or a longer paddle to Jericho Beach or beyond. We often would paddle down to Jericho where they have a sailing centre with a food service. This place has the best ocean side view of the city, the north shore mountains, the water and Bowen Island.

From here if you want you can go further along Spanish Banks and around Point Grey eventually ending up at Wreck Beach, Vancouver's nude beach. The area around Point Grey is a more natural padlling area and the water is a little more active than in English Bay or False Creek. In this area you can find more secluded areas of beach to sun and swim. One note of caution, as a return trip this is a long kayak and should only be done by experience kayakers.

Outside of Vancouver there are many great places to kayak. This website has a few, Broken Islands, Desolation Sound, and Howe Sound. The Howe Sound kayaking can be done from Bowen Island just a 10 minute Ferry from the city and you can get kayaks from Bowen Island Sea Kayaking.

Feel free to share any on or near the water trips or activities on this website through the post section.