Part of the fun of living in Vancouver is having little pockets of loveliness like Bowen Island,…read moreavailable to visit as a day-trip. As of yet, I haven't accumulated the funds to purchase my own private island a la Richard Branson...but Tunstall Beach allows us to indulge such fantasies. This gorgeous, sheltered beach can be accessed by car, bike or bus. At times it is busy, and other days we have had the beach to ourselves. When folks are there, it is fun to watch people kayaking, swimming and picnicking. There are 'rustic' but totally functional washroom facilities (bring Purel :) I do not recommend it for ones with mobility issues, as there is a small incline down from the parking to the beach area. Other beaches on Bowen Island are flat. Our favorite thing to do is pack a blanket, some pate, cheese and crackers, fruit, prosecco...and watch the sunsets that are truly breathtaking. It is a short ferry ride home to be back to work/life the next day but you will feel as if you have had a mini holiday! Bowen Island has some cute shops, restaurants, artisans and a riot of fabulous scenery if you feel like kicking around a bit longer during the day...

Nice beach with relatively easy access to water. A generally pleasant place to sit around. As with…read moreother beaches on the island, lots of mussels and sea stars.

Beautiful community beach with soothing sounds of waves . It has one outhouse there as a restroom…read moreand a few parking spots . Great area to see the sunset

* Easy hike, very peaceful *…read more Just a short hike from the docks this is a beautiful little spot. If you follow the posted signs to the picnic area and stop just a bit short there is a little hidden bench made out of beautifully polished wood (this ain't no ordinary splintery bird poo covered park bench!) that is smooth and makes for a wonderful spot to just lay down, enjoy the view, listen to the ducks, and watch the dragonflies with the mountains off in the distance. Beautiful!

A short stroll, right off the ferry will transfer into the woods of Bowen Island. This well marked…read moreout trail will make you feel like you have walked right into a Canadian jungle.. that's because you have! I have done this walk probably 20 times and it has yet to get boring. I like doing the loop with my parents dog. I can take the dog off leash most of the time, but just be respectable if your dog isn't responsive in off leash situations because you will probably run into other dogs and people. I find most of the times i am actually alone out there and it's so nice. Lots of view points, and benches to take breaks and savor the view. Picnic tables for those people that don't want to grab lunch at a place on the strip or Artistan square. It takes me 45 minutes to complete the loop, but i also drive right to the picnic tables.

If you enjoy nature this place is worth visiting. It is calming and has great views and a few…read morelarger rocks to climb around. There are many areas to snap great touristy photos and nice for the sunset too. Park is well maintained and easily accessible with parking lots nearby.

Many people go to Horseshoe bay to take the ferry to Bowen island but a stop at Whytecliff Park on…read morethe way is clearly a nice Idea. Lovely views of the bay, lazy sea lions sunbathing on the rocks, easy trails to walk on and lots of benches to sit, relax and enjoy the view. There's even a cafe in the parking lot near the entrance. Hot food, snacks and drinks, if you forgot to bring food you won't starve there.

The forest trails are great, we didn't make it to the lighthouse but still enjoyed this location…read morevery much. There is parking you do have to pay but it's not too bad. Walking around the massive, ancient trees provides a deep sense of peace and wonder. It is scenic and accessible for hiking in the area.

The highlight of this park is a lovely, historic lighthouse built on a huge granite boulder - but…read moreto get to the lighthouse, you hike through a massive old-growth forest with magnificent views of Burrard Inlet and downtown Vancouver off in the distance! The original lighthouse was wooden and lit in 1875 - this current lighthouse was built in 1912 out of concrete on top of a massive granite boulder. It's still in use today although the light is now automated. You can't access the lighthouse itself - it's closed off by fencing. But there are some buildings surrounding the lighthouse with interesting info signs on the parts they played during WWII. There's also picnic tables if you need a rest or some snacks. The trail up to the lighthouse viewpoint are wide and very well maintained. The entire trail is a moderate loop just over 4 miles long with almost 450 feet elevation gain according to AllTrails. Due to time constraints, we only hiked from the parking lot to the lighthouse viewpoint- it was pretty easy and it's less than a mile to the lighthouse with just over 100 feet of elevation gain. So round trip we did less than 2 miles. There's a large parking lot at the trailhead that's pay-to-park. We paid via QR code on one of the signs easily - we had good cell signal. It was just over $10CAD for about 2 hours so very reasonable.

Great staff Great services and location…read more We did the whale watching tour with Andrew and we did indeed find whales , porpoises , seals and seal lions . For 150.00 per person and a 5-6 hr day it is well worth the investment. A lot of fun , remember to bring snacks and water for the trip . Throughly enjoyed our day on the water .

We had a great experience renting kayaks from Salt Spring. The staff were super friendly and…read morehelpful, and gave us good information about our routes (we rented on 2 different days). We especially liked the fiberglass kayaks which were so swift and easy to paddle. Such a beautiful place to kayak!

5 Star Service to compliment the 5 star Scenery…read more Everything about the setting is idealic and beautiful. Provide a company could provide the essentials, the experience is already going to be great. However, Pedals and Paddles don't simple rest on the fact that they're situated at a great spot. They provided excellent service by quickly replying to my phone call, providing flexibility, offering things at no extra cost such as crocks (so as not to get your own footwear wet), among other things. Lots of equipment available and the staff were extremely friendly and helpful. We had limited time in our day to return to the ferry and they even charged a half hour rate rather than a full hour which I don't think many others would do.

Awesome fun rental area in Sechelt . The place to go if your wanting to do some kayaking in Sechelt…read moreinlet . Pristine and Beautiful scenery . The staff were humble , knowledgeable and kind . Prices very reasonable . I recommend doing at least 2 hrs as it's only $15 more for the 2nd hour

Had a fun time in Deep Cove. Due to high tourist season, it is best to go online to register and…read morereserve your kayaks. It will save you a lot of time when you pick up your kayak. Prices are pretty reasonable and we chose the two hour option due to our limited time during the sunset period. The staff were busy but friendly and assisted us with our kayaks. They will brief you about the kayaks, safety and where to go. Now, I would select a longer time to truly appreciate Deep Cove's natural beauty when you aren't dodging other kayaks or boats. The traffic can be somewhat chaotic in the summer time and it is main area for a lot of boaters heading out of the cove. We kayak around three islands within our two hour option, but didn't relax as much as we want. Again, the salt water, slight wind, and being in the 80's made it a wonderful but brief time.

Great place to kayak, incredible views, definitely worth a visit…read more Equipment and gear were great and in great shape. Our guides were knowledgeable and got us in and out of our kayak without us getting our feet wet. I didn't give five stars for two reasons. First, the two guides seemed a bit lax, they mostly paddled with us instead of taking lead and sweep positions, despite the fact that two out of the six of us had never kayaked before. They did look back periodically to check on everyone, but it was still strange compared to other kayak tours I've been on. Second, they didn't take pictures of us, other tours I've been on do it as a matter of course and email or post pictures to everyone. Still, this was a very worthwhile experience, and everyone enjoyed the views, the seals we saw in the water, etc., and no one had trouble keeping up despite the wind and the range of both ages and kayaking experience.

We had an excellent adventure with this outfitting and guide service in early August, 2016. Our…read moreparty consisted of 3 experienced paddlers and one guide. We paddled for 6 days and camped for 5 nights. The scenery and whale watching aspects of the trip were excellent. The camps were comfortable and well supported by occasional re-supply from the base back in Port NcNiell. The camp on Sophia Island was particularly well appointed with already set tents, cots and a nice kitchen and sitting area. The food prepared by our guide was excellent and hearty. I would certainly recommend this group for paddlers of all levels of experience.

My wife and I spent 3 days/2 nights with Discovery Expeditions and had such a great time. Larry,…read morethe owner, was extremely welcoming and very knowledgeable. We learned a lot from him and enjoyed spending some time getting to know him. Our guide, Korry, was also excellent. He was also friendly and welcoming and made sure we were well fed and had a good time. There is never a guarantee of finding specific wildlife when you are out in the wild, but Larry and Korry knew the animals behaviors and made sure to stay up to date on recent patterns and updates from all the other local teams in order to give us the best chance to see orcas, humpbacks, eagles, seals, and lots of other wildlife while out kayaking. Even if we didn't see any whales the entire time, it still would have been a great trip. However, we did see lots of orca and humpbacks during our time. They even came right by our island one evening, where we could see them from our dinner table and hear them while sleeping in our tents. I highly recommend going with Larry and Discovery Expeditions. We hope to make another trip in the future.