Best Beaches and Islands in Canada

Prince Edward Island is Canada’s beach province. Its north shore is a 60 km run of red sandstone cliffs, dunes and wide pink-red sand protected within Prince Edward Island National Park, split into the Cavendish, Brackley-Dalvay and Greenwich sections. Cavendish Beach is the busiest, with lifeguards, a campground and the Green Gables house of Anne of Green Gables a short drive inland. Brackley and Stanhope are quieter and closer to Charlottetown, about 25 minutes away. Greenwich, on the eastern end, has floating boardwalks over the dunes to a long, nearly empty beach.

On the island’s eastern tip, Basin Head Provincial Park is known for its “singing sands”, which squeak underfoot, and a channel where locals jump from the bridge into the tide. The south shore, facing the strait, has warmer, shallower water and red-clay beaches good for small children.

You need a Parks Canada pass to use the national park beaches in summer. You reach the island by the 12.9 km Confederation Bridge from New Brunswick, which charges a toll only when you leave, or by the seasonal ferry from Caribou in Nova Scotia to Wood Islands, which runs from about May to December. Charlottetown also has direct flights from Toronto and Montreal. Book summer accommodation early: the island fills up from mid-July.

Cape Breton Island has the most dramatic beaches in the Maritimes. On the Cabot Trail, Ingonish Beach in Cape Breton Highlands National Park has a lake behind it and the ocean in front, so you can swim in either, and Inverness Beach on the west coast is a long sandy strand below a golf course with sunsets over the Gulf of St Lawrence. Mainland Nova Scotia has Melmerby Beach on the warm Northumberland Strait, Martinique Beach, the longest sand beach in the province, and Lawrencetown, the local surf break east of Halifax. Further down the South Shore past Lunenburg, Carters Beach has white sand and clear, very cold water.

Far offshore, Sable Island is a 40 km sand crescent with wild horses, grey seals and almost no people. Only a few hundred visitors a year make it, by charter plane from Halifax when the weather allows or on expedition cruises, and all must register with Parks Canada first.

In New Brunswick, Parlee Beach near Shediac and Moncton is the busiest warm-water beach in Atlantic Canada, and Kouchibouguac National Park has boardwalks across salt marsh to Kellys Beach and a long chain of barrier dunes. On the Bay of Fundy side, the water is too cold for most swimmers, but the tides are among the highest on earth. At Hopewell Rocks you walk on the sea floor between the flowerpot rock stacks at low tide and kayak around them at high tide. Grand Manan island, reached by ferry from Blacks Harbour in about 90 minutes, is the place for whale watching and lighthouses, and Campobello Island is linked by bridge to Maine.

The Magdalen Islands (Îles de la Madeleine) are a chain of islands in the Gulf of St Lawrence joined by long sand spits, with red cliffs, painted houses and some 300 km of beach. Summer winds make them one of the best kitesurfing spots in eastern North America, and the water on the lagoon side is warm enough for a swim in August. The CTMA ferry from Souris in Prince Edward Island takes about five hours; flights run from Montreal and Quebec City. Plan at least three nights.

On the tip of the Gaspé Peninsula, the town of Percé faces Percé Rock, a limestone arch you can walk out to at low tide, and boats run to Bonaventure Island, home to one of the largest northern gannet colonies in the world. Forillon National Park near Gaspé has pebble coves and seals. Anticosti Island, larger than Prince Edward Island and home to a huge white-tailed deer population, is a wilderness trip by small plane or the Relais Nordik supply ship.

Newfoundland is about icebergs and sea cliffs more than sand. Fogo Island, 45 minutes by ferry from Farewell, has outport villages, walking trails and the Fogo Island Inn. From late May to June, Twillingate and the north-east coast see icebergs drifting south, and puffins nest on islets near St John’s. For sand, Sandbanks Provincial Park near Burgeo on the south coast has white beaches you will share with almost nobody.

In the Arctic, the islands are expedition territory: Baffin Island from Iqaluit, Herschel Island by summer charter from Inuvik, and Beechey Island with its Franklin expedition graves on Northwest Passage cruises.

Vancouver Island has Canada’s surf coast. Long Beach, the centrepiece of Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, runs about 16 km between rainforest and open Pacific, and Tofino at its north end is a small town of surf schools, seafood shacks and lodges looking out over Chesterman Beach and Clayoquot Sound. Water temperature stays between about 10 and 15°C all year, so you need a full wetsuit even in summer; lessons and rentals are easy to find. In winter, storm watching brings visitors for the big swells and the low-season prices.

From the BC Ferries terminals at Nanaimo, reached from Horseshoe Bay near Vancouver, it is about three hours’ drive west across the island on Highway 4, a narrow, winding road. Small planes fly into Tofino from Vancouver. A Parks Canada pass is needed to park at Long Beach, and accommodation in Tofino in July and August books out months ahead.

South of Victoria, Juan de Fuca Provincial Park has China Beach, Mystic Beach with its waterfall onto the sand, and the tide pools of Botanical Beach near Port Renfrew, best at a low tide below about 1 m.

Back on the mainland, Vancouver has city beaches that fill on summer evenings: Kitsilano with its saltwater outdoor pool, English Bay downtown, the seawall beaches of Stanley Park, the long flats of Spanish Banks and the clothing-optional Wreck Beach below the university, reached by a long flight of stairs.

The Gulf Islands, strung across the Salish Sea between Vancouver and Victoria, have the mildest, driest climate in Canada and a slow pace of farm stands, galleries and kayaking. Salt Spring Island is the largest and busiest, with the Saturday market in Ganges from spring to autumn. Galiano has the sandstone formations of Montague Harbour, Mayne Island is the easiest by bike, and Saturna is the quietest, with much of it inside Gulf Islands National Park Reserve. BC Ferries sails from Tsawwassen near Vancouver and Swartz Bay near Victoria; reserve vehicle space in summer or travel as a foot passenger.

Further north, Hornby Island has Tribune Bay, a sandy, sheltered bay with the warmest swimming on the BC coast, reached with two short ferries via Denman Island. Quadra Island is 10 minutes by ferry from Campbell River, and Bowen Island is a 20-minute hop from Horseshoe Bay for a day trip.

Haida Gwaii is the trip of a lifetime on this coast. The archipelago is the homeland of the Haida Nation, with old-growth forest, beaches on the north coast of Graham Island and, in the south, Gwaii Haanas, where Haida Watchmen guard village sites such as SGang Gwaay with its standing mortuary poles. The ferry from Prince Rupert takes about seven hours; there are flights from Vancouver to Sandspit and Masset. Gwaii Haanas can only be reached by boat or floatplane, and every visitor must reserve and attend an orientation, so most go with a licensed tour operator.

Ontario’s freshwater beaches warm up faster than the oceans and reach the low 20s°C by late July. Wasaga Beach on Georgian Bay is the longest freshwater beach in the world at about 14 km, with shallow water and a party strip at its centre. Sauble Beach on Lake Huron is quieter, known for sunsets. Sandbanks Provincial Park in Prince Edward County has big dunes on Lake Ontario and wineries nearby; summer day-use passes sell out on hot weekends, so reserve with Ontario Parks.

Bruce Peninsula National Park has the Grotto, a sea cave with turquoise water below limestone cliffs, where summer parking must be booked in timed slots. Glass-bottomed boats from Tobermory pass shipwrecks to Flowerpot Island and its rock pillars, and the Chi-Cheemaun ferry continues to Manitoulin Island, the largest island in any freshwater lake. Further east, cruises from Gananoque and Kingston tour the Thousand Islands and Thousand Islands National Park; in the south, Point Pelee and ferry-reached Pelee Island sit on Lake Erie.

Toronto Islands are the city’s beach, 15 minutes by ferry from the foot of Bay Street in Toronto, with Centre Island’s family beach, Ward’s Island and the clothing-optional Hanlan’s Point. Check water-quality postings before you swim, especially after heavy rain.

In the west, Okanagan Lake in British Columbia has warm summer swimming and wine country, with town beaches in Kelowna and Penticton, where you can also float the channel to Skaha Lake. Osoyoos Lake near Osoyoos is among the warmest lakes in Canada. In Manitoba, Grand Beach on Lake Winnipeg has white sand dunes an hour from Winnipeg.

The swimming season is short. Lifeguards generally work only from late June to late August, and many island ferries, park campgrounds and seasonal businesses cut back after Labour Day in early September. Atlantic beaches stay pleasant into September, when the sea is at its warmest and the crowds have gone.

For ferries, book ahead in summer. BC Ferries routes from Vancouver and Victoria fill at weekends and on long weekends, and the Haida Gwaii, Magdalen Islands and Manitoulin crossings run on fewer sailings with limited car space. Parks Canada passes cover national park beaches; a Discovery Pass covers all national parks for a year and pays off if you visit several, as our national parks guide explains.

Rip currents form on surf beaches at Long Beach, Lawrencetown and Martinique, so swim between the flags where there are lifeguards. Cold water is the bigger danger: the Pacific, the Bay of Fundy and Lake Superior can cause cold shock within minutes. On Fundy beaches and at Hopewell Rocks, check the tide tables before walking out, because the water comes back fast. Biting black flies and mosquitoes are heavy in June on many eastern and northern beaches. For marine life such as whales, puffins and seals, see the wildlife guide, and the first-time guide covers getting around.