Interactive Metro Vancouver

Horseshoe Bay is a small, quaint and picturesque village on West Vancouver’s North Shore. It figures most prominently as the location of the Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, which provides service to Hoe Sound, the Sunshine Coast, and Central Vancouver Island. It is also a charming place to visit, where small seaside shops and eateries offer a taste of mellow, costal living, accompanied by views that are equally memorable.

Horseshoe Bay was an active destination and place of departure well before European settlement. For First Nations people bay acted as a meeting place, and was used as a fishing camp and as a rest stop on journeys between the Squamish River and Burrard Inlet. The Bay gained a B.C. ferry terminal in the 1950s and has since grown into a small seaside community, but the rugged tranquility and natural marine bounty remain, as does some of the cultural flavour of the bay’s First Nation heritage, evinced by the beautiful wood panel doors of the Boathouse Restaurant carved by the Nisga’a artist Norman Tait in the traditional West Coast style.

B.C. Ferries:

The B.C. Ferries offer service from Horseshoe Bay to Hoe Sound, the Sunshine Coast, and Central Vancouver Island, including such locations as Snug Cove on Bowen Island, Langdale and Departure Bay in Nanaimo, all popular vacation and tourist destination in themselves. The ferries take walk on passengers and passengers with vehicles and operate on both weekdays and weekends. While the destinations may be important, the ferries also offer respectable dining options and incredible views of the mountains and inlets of the North Shore and Vancouver Island.

Shopping and Dinning:

Cafés colourful or calm and a variety of restaurants (with seafood serving prominently within them) comprise the enjoyable dinning experiences to be found in Horseshoe Bay, only complimented by a number of shops and boutiques that are permeated with the coastal atmosphere.

Hiking:

The Baden-Powell Trail, the longest hiking rout on the North Shore at almost 48 km, begins (or ends) in the western section of Horseshoe Bay. Climbing and falling through forested and mountainous, yet well traveled terrain, the trail threads through both Cypress and Mount Seymour Provincial Parks, and eventually reaches its end in Deep Cove, tying a cord between some of the North Shore’s most prominent features and attractions.

Other Activities:

While no activity features prominently above the others, many are available in and around the bay area. These included sea kayaking, scuba diving, boating and hiking. Kayakers can take guided tours or set off on more adventurous excursions, depending on their fancy and ability. Boaters can either launch their own boats at the boat launch or they can rent boats from the marina. Boaters have the option of taking guided sightseeing or wildlife viewing tours, and the fishing in the bay, whether guided or self directed, is excellent.