Looking down the Gorge from Kosapsom Park |
Max riding the huge Daddy Whale |
Kosapsom is a perfect location to introduce swimming to little kids. The slop is gradual and they can control how far they go in. The first step with a little child is to get them be comfortable with the water. My hope is that in six weeks Max will be able to float on his own.
What it also offers is what I suspect is the warmest water for swimming in the CRD. Yesterday at 6 pm there was a bit of a breeze and the sun was going behind the trees. This was not making me desperate to go in the water but once I was in the water was almost swimming pool warm. I suspect close to 25 degrees.
Max cautiously trying deeper water |
This is the beach that has been consistently tested by VIHA for water quality. This location has a lot of Canada Geese and they do crap on the ground. If any spot in the Gorge was going to have a problem I would think this was it, but in going back in all the years of data I got from VIHA, there is no evidence of any water quality issues.
What would be nice would be if Saanich had some parks staff come and clean up the beach area - at times I have seem a few too many cigarette butts and such on the beach. When I lived in Vancouver near Jericho Beach one of the things I liked is that the City regularly groomed the beaches to make sure there were no "surprises".
I think this would also be a good spot to have a lifeguard on duty. Back in 2004 and 2005 when Benjamin and Stephen were in some City of Victoria summer camps, the only time they went swimming outdoors was when the took a trip to Fuller Lake. Fuller Lake is near Chemainus. The reason for the long trip to that lake is because there is no outdoor location in the CRD with a lifeguard.
In just under a month on August 12th there will be the first annual Gorge Swim Fest
1 comment:
We have fond memories of camping near Chemainus and spending the day at Fuller Lake with our boys in their younger years.
Every year, the Times-Colonist publishes a list of Greater Victoria beaches and they go so far as to list the beaches west of Sooke and heading up towards Port Renfrew. It takes a couple of hours to get out to some of them and in less time than that you can be swimming at Fuller Lake or even Rathtrevor up in Parksville.
I would recommend Witty's Beach as a great beach to get kids acclimatized to water. The water is shallow and -- as a side benefit -- it's also warm. You have to time the tides right though plus parking can be a hassle.
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