| Wetsuit Weekender Summer Break Edition |
BC Surf/Swim Road Trip (Vancouver Island, Savary Island)
DATES OF DIPS: June 11 - 28, 2022
A trip through Vancouver - the Sunshine Coast - Tofino to Victoria, BC. This trip also included a spontaneous detour to Savary Island, a Canadian Caribbean paradise. We aimed to learn how to surf in Tofino on this trip (and we were successful!), and included many hikes and adventure swims along the way.
Route
Seattle - Vancouver - Whistler - Sechelt - Lund - Tofino - Victoria
Distance
No major distance on this trip, but we got many quick adventures swims in along the way
Water
Coastal
Support
Boyfriend and buoy
The Road Trip Route | 881 Miles
A Disclaimer - this is a late post!
I'm officially writing my first post in Wetsuit Weekender in 2 years - this post is 2 years late! I am going to skip reporting on various hikes we went on in addition to swims, but the swimming highlights (namely, Savary Island) are what count here for the blog anyway! We hiked and mountain hiked through Whistler and other spots on this trip.
My sincere apologies ahead of time for this post not being the most detailed. I have entered into a calmer state of swimming, where I find peace and comfort swimming a mile regularly in my favorite spot on Whidbey Island (Ebey's Landing), where I now live. I'm still yet to venture out to new areas of Whidbey because I find so much joy in swimming at Ebey's Landing, WA.
First Stop - Jericho Beach, BC
Once we arrived in Vancouver, Evan and I started out the road trip with a dip at one of my favorite beaches of all time - Jericho Beach. I have wonderful memories of my first experiences in Washington at the Vancouver Folk Fest swimming at this beach. The water is shallow and warm and it's magical to swim here. We swam a mile at the beach and saw some other fellow open water swimmers.
The Sunshine Coast: Sechelt
Next, we drove along the Sunshine Coast and may our way to Sechelt where we did a few adventure swims at a dive park. These swims were mostly for tidepooling, but I also used them to keep up my cold water training with no wetsuit. It was low tide during one of the swims so we were able to swim around a large rock outcropping a few times to get some laps in and also climb on top of it. You can see me waving at the top in my wetsuit. We also did a beautiful, rugged hike at Smugglers Cove Marine Park.
Lund
While we were in Sechlet at our Airbnb, we read about a magical place called Savary Island over clotted cream scones with strawberries. Not originally on our itinerary, we decided to make the spontaneous trip to Lund to get to Savary. In Lund, we spent the night in a trailer on the beach, where I also got a swim in directly from the trailer lot.
Lund to Savary Island
The next morning, we took the small boat to Savary Island from Lund. Savary Island is by far the most beautiful island I've ever been to in the Salish Sea. It's a giant receding sand bar with warm, clear shallow water and white sand beaches. Savary boasts having some of the warmest waters north of Mexico! The water truly felt and looked Caribbean.
When we got to Savary, the beaches were empty. We had entered paradise. The island is an extremely fragile environment - the sand dunes on the island are 10,000 years old. The island is home to 100 people year round but is full of many more summer homes. There are no paved roads and no electrical power on Savary, and you can only access it via a small boat from Lund. Once on the island, you can rent bikes, which is exactly what we did. We camped one night on the island and spent the rest of the time winding through dirt forested roads by bike and swimming in the most perfect water I've encountered in the PNW. There's one little general store, restaurant and one ice cream shop tucked in the woods. I hope you find it!
Please read more about this delicate environment before coming through the Visitor's Guide from the Savary Island Land Trust to ensure we keep the island healthy and peaceful forever.
I recommend swimming some stunningly clear, warm laps around Indian Point and South Beach!
Tofino: A Cold Water Surfer's Dream
Our main intended destination on this trip was going to Tofino to learn how to surf. We ended up surfing two times with different groups, and just recently hosted one of our surf instructors at our home on Whidbey! Two years later! We got completely hooked on surfing out in Tofino and since writing this post, which is now 2 years overdue, we've also surfed in Westport WA, Maui two times and Santander, Spain!
In Tofino, we kayaked to Vargas Island (where sea wolves, aka. wolves that can swim in the sea, roam), hiked to an abandoned plane in the middle of the woods (Canso Plane Crash Site), and did little adventure swims. Tofino was absolutely gorgeous, I will never forget the sunsets.
Victoria: The Final Desination
From Tofino we arrived in Victoria, where we explored the Butchart Gardens and enjoyed high tea at the Empress Hotel. We also swam a little at Willows Beach and had tea and snacks after the swim at the Kiwani's Snack Bar, which was so perfectly located on the beach. Two years later, I remember we had a blueberry muffin. It must have been an outstanding muffin!
I highly recommend stopping by there and warming up after a swim!
