That said, what I find even more interesting is how few people avail themselves of the options for cooling off in the region. I grew up in Tsawwassen and all summer in the sunny weather the beaches are packed with people. Tsawwassen only has 25,000 people but this is enough to keep the four to five kilometres of beach to filled with people. When we look over here we do not see the same crowds. It is rare to find the 1.5 km of Islandview beach packed with people.
There are beaches along the shore of Beacon Hill park through to Clowerpoint and then again in Oak Bay. The crowds do not seem to find them. These beaches are close to a lot of people, but I have rarely seen much more than a scattering of people on these beaches.
Over on the Westshore there are some nice beaches, the Coburg peninsula is a wonderful almost two kilometre long beach with all that inviting water right at hand. Witty's Lagoon has a nice sand beach as well.
What will it take to build up a beach culture in this city to rival the sort of that exists in Vancouver? It is not just the beaches that are empty here, it is everywhere else as well.
The Gorge runs through the heart of the city and still the small cove at the Tillicum bridge rarely has more than a handful of people even in the hottest weather. the Gorge has the advantage that the water is warm and it is such an inviting narrow channel to swim across. The beach at the Esquimalt Gorge park is very underused. In fact there is nothing in the Esquimalt description of the park includes any mention of the beach and decent swimming access to the Gorge.
Goldstream park has this wonderful waterfall and it is not hard to get into the water there, it is rare to have to share it with anyone. It is one of many creeks and streams that lie to the west of the city that offer some wonderful cooling in hot weather.We have almost no public water play areas for kids, there is one in Beacon Hill park, but that is really about it.
It is a shame that people in this area are not making use of the resources we have to keep cool.
8 comments:
Thanks to the pro-sewage treatment types and shellfish warnings Victorians have been convinced that all ocean beaches, especially the Gorge, are unfit for swimming. Scratch a Victorian with some beach sand and they will start screaming FECAL COLIFORM.
There are 2 additional water parks for kids - one at Carnarvan Park in Oak bay and one at Beckwith Park in High Quadra.
I don't think you are looking hard enough. The lakes were packed all weekend with people of all ages!
And have been for a while.
There is also this funny thing called "tide" and sometimes it gets high.
I'd very much like to see you swimming in the Gorge. Hopefully you don't get an infection.
First off, thanks for those other water parks for kids, I was unaware of them and will at least make use of the high Quadra one now that I know of it.
Second, I have seen packed lakes and beaches elsewhere, what people consider packed here is hardly serious. I have yet to found a time I could not find parking.
Third, infection from what in the Gorge? Swimming it is great. There is almost no industry in the habour any longer. There are new sewers running into the Gorge. It has better water conditions than the lakes do and flushes faster than all of our local lakes. You can even eat the fish from it.
I'm not sure it's fair to compare the seemingly empty beaches here with the bustling ones in Vancouver. It would be interesting to see on a per capita basis how many kilometres of beach there is in the Greater Victoria, because I'd argue it is quite high and thus the crowds are spread out over the many beaches we have access to. Tsaawwassen and Greater Vancouver I don't think would have have as high a # of beach kms per person.
I also had the misfortune of visiting Thetis Lake on Sunday, and if that isn't packed, I don't know what is.
A lot of beaches are covered in goose S**t. Gorge Kinsmen Park is one of them -- my wife and I have to carefully pick our way through it when we launch our kayaks.
Also, consider that a lot of people are out of town. I myself am writing this from beautiful Parksville and the beaches here are crowded -- prolly from all the Victorians vacationing in local campgrounds and resorts.
Enjoy the wide open spaces... who knows how long they'll be around. :)
The Gorge? Really, Bernard?
You try to give the air of a Victorian but you just reek of stinky mainlander.
I've got some news for you. Sewage still runs into the Gorge. Try kayaking it sometime and tell me if you still want to go swimming, genius. There are a multitude of non conforming properties where the sewage just empties into storm drains. Where do those go?
The inner harbour has a LARGE sewage leak right under the causeway. I've been down there illegaly and its really gross.
As mentioned above, the goose shit is more prevalent than sand at Kinsmen Gorge park. Seriously.
You need to get your head removed from that fine rectum and stop posing as a Victorian.
A drive up Vancouver Island reveals more prominent, family friendly and well used beaches than Victoria. Ladysmith has Transfer Park with a water park, 2 playgrounds, beach, food hut and kayak rental.
Parksville has a beachfront park downtown with a waterpark and the biggest playground on the island.
Admittedly both place are on bays facing east which makes the water warmer.
Willows Beach is the best beach in Victoria.
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