Good weather and sunny days can be hard to find on occasion in Southwest British Columbia during the fall so last week I headed to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver. I had never before visited Horseshoe Bay except to board a ferry to Vancouver Island, so a sunny day seemed like a good opportunity. My initial plan was to stop at Lighthouse Park, Whytecliff Park and then Horseshoe Bay and enjoy the waterfront view along Marine Drive. However, a fog bank hung just offshore which made it clear visiting Lighthouse Park would be an exercise in disorientation. I was happy to find that Horseshoe Bay had no fog, with just a small amount visible off in the distance in Howe Sound.
After parking at Horseshoe Bay Park I walked down to the beach and onto the Horseshoe Bay Public Dock. From there I photographed the panorama above showing some of the shoreline in the park as well as the Lookout Coffee Shop (Blue building) at Sewell’s Marina. I had heard of Sewell’s Marina before, if only because it was into these boats and docks that the Queen of Oak Bay had “hard landed” back in 2005. The video of that incident is interesting, and nobody was injured. It does appear many of the boats at the marina were not that lucky.
The BC Ferries vessel pictured below is the MV Coastal Renaissance – one of the newer Coastal Class ferries making the run from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay (Nanaimo) or from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (Victoria). I photographed the MV Coastal Renaissance on this occasion as it approached the ferry terminal to dock. I didn’t consult the ferry schedule before my trip but was lucky to photograph both the MV Coastal Renaissance (arriving) and the older Queen of Surrey (departing) while at Horseshoe Bay.
I had the impression that there was more to Horseshoe Bay than what I found, but it was a very nice spot to stop and photograph. If I were the sort eat lunch at a restaurant after hiking nearby this would be a good spot to do it. I tend to have a thermos of soup or a sandwich in the cooler instead though. The most (maybe only) interesting building along the shore is the Lookout Coffee Shop. The rest of the buildings there are rather generic – the great scenery here is the winning feature, not the architecture.
This is the Horseshoe Bay Public Dock which offers a good view of most of the sights in Horseshoe Bay. From here you can look at the ferries, the boats in the marina, and north towards Howe Sound and the mountain ranges further up the Sea to Sky highway.
For more of my photography from this area of British Columbia visit my Vancouver Coast & Mountains Gallery in my Image Library.
