I was pretty excited about paddling the north shore of Mayne Island.  Not only would I be paddling past my house, but also I’d get to see Edith Point, which I’ve hiked countless times, from the water and get to check out the other houses along my street.  I thought that it would probably be fairly relaxing with somewhat interesting scenery.

We started out leaving Bennett Bay as the tide was coming in.  There wasn’t a lot of beach left when we headed out, and there was absolutely no beach to land on when we returned.  I managed to get in and out without going for a swim surprisingly.  Crossing the opening to Campbell Bay, I was really concentrating on my technique, and had a really good rhythm going.  We rounded the corner and started paddling along Edith Point.

There’s not much else I can say about the trip.  Turns out it was my least favorite paddle so far.  I don’t know if it was just my mood that day, but I didn’t enjoy the coastline as much as I was expecting and paddling felt like a chore.  When I got back to shore, I was tired, sore and didn’t really feel like I had accomplished much.  The tide was incredibly high, and the wind picked up half way through our paddle;  we were mostly paddling without any sort of currents (at slack), so if you stopped paddling, you would just stop in the water.  I’m willing to bet that this trip would be a completely different experience at low tide.

We made it to Oyster Bay and then turned around and headed back to Bennett.  Again, nothing remarkable on the return trip.  I had an interesting moment when I realized that between Active Pass the week before, and this trip, I had paddled around approximately half of the island.  I guess, in reality I’ve managed to do the entire shoreline now, but the consecutive week realization was kind of neat.

Bennett Bay, Mayne Island

The beach is such an integral part of summers in the Gulf Islands.  Mayne’s definitely got it’s share of beautiful places to worship the sun.  Bennett Bay is hands down the biggest and most popular.  We’re not talking wall to wall people, but you’ll definitely find a couple of dozen people there on a sunny afternoon.

Bennett Bay

Bennett Bay offers a great combination of sand and warm waters as well as natural beauty; it overlooks a part of the Gulf Islands National Park Reserve, and you can even see as far as Mt. Baker in the States on a clear day.  When I’m out and about with the kids, Bennett is definitely the beach of choice.  It’s generally sunny all day long (southeast exposure).

Campbell Bay

Campbell Bay early morning

Campbell Bay is extremely sheltered and has a smallish beach.  It’s mostly gravel, but does have some sand.  It gets a ton of sun in the morning, and is a great swimming spot in the afternoons as the sun warms the surrounding sandstone throughout the day.  There is a sign indicating the presence of a clothing-optional beach (Boulder Beach) at Campbell Bay, but it doesn’t seem to see a lot of use.

Campbell is a great choice if you’re looking for a quiet spot for a picnic.

Piggott Bay

On the south side of the island, you can find Piggott Bay.  It’s one of my personal favorites for scenery, but in all honesty, the beach isn’t the greatest.  There is usually a ton of driftwood washed up on shore, and there’s a quite a bit of seaweed.  It gets great afternoon exposure, so it can be nice for an afternoon swim.

Miner’s Bay

Marine life from one of the many tide pools

Not a bad spot to sit and watch ferries go by.  It borders on Active Pass which can have some crazy currents, so if you’re swimming with children, keep on eye on them.  The beach isn’t very sandy, but is mostly small gravel, so it’s still not a bad place to lie around.  It’s close to town (just down from the library), so if you’re making a day of it, it’s really convenient to be able to run up to the grocery store/bakery for supplies.

This is by no means an exhaustive list.  In addition to those listed here, there are a great deal of rocky beaches with great tide pools for a leisurely stroll and some fun exploration.  There are a ton of “hidden” beaches too, but what fun would it be if I gave away all of their locations? (okay, maybe in a later article)

Last night I had the distinct pleasure of paddling from Village Bay, Mayne Island to Oyster Bay.  This little adventure led our group of 15 through Active Pass and about as close as I’d ever like to get to a BC Ferry when not aboard one.

We started out just south of the ferry terminal in Village Bay.  There is a boat launch with a rocky beach there that was big enough for our group.  After getting everyone sorted out, we had a quick talk about what to expect, and what we should do WHEN the ferries went by (not if).

It takes a little under an hour to paddle from Helen Point on the south end up to Georgina Point on the north end.  You really don’t want to get caught in Active Pass when one of the large Spirit-class vessels making the Swartz Bay-Tsawassen run goes by; the wake tends to make a pretty nice swell that can introduce you to the rocks in no time.

Traveling with three experienced guides from Mayne Island Kayaking we timed it perfectly so that we arrived at the tip of Helen Point just as the Coastal Celebration passed us by.  At that point we rounded the corner  and paddled toward Miner’s Bay along the coastline.  Helen Point is beautiful to look at from the water — it’s a Native Reserve, and there are no structures on it, so it’s completely uninterrupted nature.

The second factor to take into account is that Active Pass is fairly narrow, and the currents can be quite challenging if you don’t have your timing right.  Luckily (okay, so it wasn’t so much luck as traveling with excellent guides) we started our trip at slack current (little/no current) and ended with a slight flood current.  Because of this, we really didn’t have to paddle at all between Laura Point and Georgina Point – the water pushed us along.

When we hit Georgina Point, we were graced with another pair of ferries (one going from the mainland to Vancouver Island, and the other going the other way).  In the end, because of the timing, the swells from the ferry boats didn’t affect us too much.  We were in fairly open water for both encounters.

We finished our paddle approximately two hours after setting out, and were greeted by a number of seals hanging out on the rocks at the entrance to Oyster Bay.  It was the perfect end to another great outing.