Gabriola's Beaches Are For the Wild at Heart

You won't see any Gabriola Island locations on a list of British Columbia's best beaches, and that's a real shame.

Certainly, Gabriola doesn't have long stretches of pure, white sandy beaches — the kind you might see in a travel ad for the Caribbean or Mexico — but this island and a few other locations around the Salish Sea have something far better; an absolutely unique and natural art gallery of carved sandstone beaches.

I am probably among those who, for many years, used the image of a stereotypical white sand beach to rank beaches in my own mind, but in recent years I've realized it's more about what's around that sand that's truly important.

A stretch of sand is just a stretch of sand, but around the world my favourite beaches are all framed by spectacular rock outcroppings, like the beaches around Ao Pra Nang in Thailand; the eponymous beach at the temple complex outside Tulum, Mexico; or the beaches in the Algarve region of Portugal that are defined by the wind-carved cliffs and aquatic caves of that area.

Also, I say this as someone who travels to a family cabin on Savary Island, further north in the Salish Sea, which is home to many of the finest sandy beaches in all of North America. The beaches at Savary really are amazing, but having spent a lot of time in both places, the beaches on Gabriola are just as good.

Gabriola Island does have a couple of sandy beaches, particularly the Twin Beaches at the Gabriola Sands park, but the real stars of the show are the flat, carved sandstone beaches that stretch across the northern half of the island.

Many people believe the spectacular galleries and the swaths of rock that are filled with thousands of burst bubbles are made of volcanic rock, essentially pumice that froze in these configurations after some ancient eruption of lava.

In reality, these surreal carvings are all the result of erosion by wind and waves, carving the stone into myriad twisted shapes, like frozen crashing waves, gigantic bowling balls, cracked eggshells, and rounded towers of stone.

Unlike most of the sandstone formations in the Salish Sea, the stone beaches of Gabriola feature vast areas that are relatively flat, and can be easily walked over, with the occasional hop up or down onto a rock feature. The result is like walking through a surrealist sculpture garden created by a naturalist version of Salvador Dali. The beaches here are both bizarre and beautiful, and far more interesting than the vast majority of beaches I've been to. There's always something new to see, and the ocean creates its own show, filling up the twisting pathways and pools created by the sandstone sculptures.

When the sea comes in at full pool, that's the time to dive in with your mask and snorkel to explore this labyrinth of stone, inhabited by crabs, fish and the occasional sea otter.

In this section of our site, we're going to guide you to some of the best beaches in BC, including some well hidden gems, and give you some tips of how and when to enjoy them the most.

Many of these are the aforementioned sandstone beach walks that are really the star of the show, but there are also others that entice you for their soft sand and warm waters, a rich diversity of birds and wildlife, or their spectacular views.

Gabriola Beaches

Berry Point Beach - Long stone beach with wave sculpted stone.

Brickyard Beach - Black sand and rock beach, views, wildlife and bird watching.

Twin Beaches - Sandy beaches, ideal for swimming.

Malaspina Beach - Stone beaches, cliff diving, home to famous Malaspina Galleries, whale sightings.

DeCourcey Beach - Popular sculptured stone beach.

Descanso Park - Stone and sandy beaches in protected coves, good for paddleboarding.

Easthom - One stone beach with shallow warm water, and a stretch of sand beach.

Orlebar Point - Beautiful wave-sculpted stone, stunning views, frequent whale sightings.

Sandwell - Sweeping bay with mixed pebble and sand beach, amazing views, wildlife viewing.

The Strand - Mixed stone and pebble beach.

Whalebone - Mixed stone and pebble beach, fantastic sand flat at low tide.

Dragon's Lane

Drumbeg - Both sandy and sculpted stone beach surrounded by a provincial park and nearby islands. Wildlife viewing.

Spring Beach - Long, isolated beach, stupendous views, away from all the damned tourists.