This post is based on the video:
10 Beaches in 23 Days
>>> Click here to watch the 2 minute movie trailer video on YouTube <<<
>>> Click here to watch the full fast-paced 28 minute music video on YouTube <<<
From July 20 to August 11,
we drove to 10 beaches
in Beautiful British Columbia, Canada
Alberta's western neighbour.
Note: Click on beach name for more details.
Upon arriving, we found plenty of free parking under a canopy of large shade trees, which came in handy when we wanted to take an afternoon nap in our van. The most pleasing aspect about this beach was its warm water! As we floated in and out of warmer currents, all our cares vanished away. This was not only the first beach we visited, but was also our 1st favourite beach on this list.
With free parking right next to this Osoyoos beach, all we had to do was walk down a few stairs, throw down our towels, and jump into the warm water.
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3. Gyro Beach
Enjoy free parking at Osoyoos's premier beach. Bigger and closer to more shops and restaurants, this small town beach had more of a city feel.
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Located in Kelowna City Park - on the edge of downtown - we were not that surprised to have to pay - by the hour - for parking. Nevertheless, it was certainly worth the 5-10 minute walk to the warm waters of this sandy beach.
Being our first ocean beach - on this trip - I was shocked by the cold water! My wife Corinne sat this one out. And if you can get past this and the "over-abundance" of seaweed (and "Caddy" the sea monster), you can go for a swim in these calm waters. There was also free parking in a busy gravel lot.
There were 3 free parking options - on this long stretch of our 3rd favourite beach.
- Parallel street parking right beside the beach.
- Parallel street parking on the main road.
- Small angle parking lot accessible from the main road.
Come early in the morning because parking fills up fast. That being said, this beach was still easier to park at than many of the "residential area" beaches in Victoria.
Like Cadboro, this sandy ocean beach was also cold and clear, but with much less ocean debris. However, my wife Corinne, still found lots of stones and shells.
7. Colwood Waterfront Beach & Esquimalt Lagoon
Potentially, this was the most dangerous and longest stretch of windy beach we encountered. In fact, there were "tsunami risk" signs on this thin low lying sand bar between a lagoon and the ocean waters. However, this made for easy and ample free parking right beside the driftwood littered beach. In the end, this was simply a great place to park - and just chill - have lunch and go for an interesting walk.
This West Vancouver sandy beach was our 2nd favourite because it had everything from free parking to nearby food options (grocery stores, restaurants) to beachcombing to closeup views of large container and cruise ships to warmer ocean water than Victoria's beaches. In fact we spent 2 whole days at this beach (6am to 8pm). It was hard to leave. Tip: for better swimming, the tide comes in after 12 noon which is when the lifeguards also go on duty.
We filmed our video footage at sunset and then enjoyed a leisurely evening stroll along the concrete boardwalk (across from motels, apartments and restaurants). This busy Penticton warm-water white-sand (rock free) beach still boasted free - but time restricted - angle parking. And as with all beaches in the Okanagan, the water was warm.
10. Skaha Beach
Bring your umbrella, if you want to sit on this south-facing beach in the afternoon. The water was comfortably warm and clear with a very sandy bottom until reaching the "danger" signs. There was also free parking here, but it was not right at the beach.
Final Thoughts
We are extremely thankful to have been able to visit these 10 beaches. At this point, you are probably wondering how anybody could afford to take a month off and visit 10 beaches. We really only spent money on 4 things: food, fuel, ferries, and Ford (van repairs). That's right, the total cost for accommodation was $0. Here's how. During the day we parked our van at the beach. During the night, we parked on the street - between other vehicles - and contentedly slept in our van.
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