Beaches

Bowen Island has a total of 48 municipal beaches and coastal access points that range from sandy beaches that are frequently visited by the community, to rocky coasts that disappear at high tide, to steep cliffs with ocean views. A beach classification system to describe these diverse coastal ecosystems was created as part of the 2017 Parks Plan, it is outlined below.

You can view beach access points on BowMap, our new public interactive map.

Community Beaches

Community Beaches are frequently visited by the community and off-island visitors. They are easily accessible and are assigned the highest degree of maintenance and monitoring. 

Typical amenities at community beaches include seating, viewpoints, natural surface trails, access to the water, toilets, waste receptacles, parking, signage and community swim floats (May – September).

• Sandy Beach
• Tunstall Bay Beach
• Bowen Bay Beach
• Roger Curtis Beach

Neighbourhood Beaches

Neighbourhood Beaches are smaller and generally not as easily accessible as community beaches. These beaches are designated with signage, and natural surface trails and stairs usually provide access to the coast, but water access can be obstructed by logs.

Neighbourhood beaches are generally assigned less maintenance and monitoring than community beaches and often have limited parking and capacity.

Please make sure you take home any garbage or recyclables from the beach when you leave. Keep them clean for everyone’s enjoyment.

Coastal Access Points

Coastal Access Points are points along the Island’s coast that provide access to the water. Coastal access points are smaller than community and neighbourhood beaches and the shoreline is typically rocky or even covered at high tide.

In some instances, access may be challenging for those with mobility issues due to steep topography.

Coastal Viewpoints are points along the Island’s coast that provide opportunities for views of the ocean.

Access to the shoreline is not feasible in these locations due to steep slopes or unstable ground. Some coastal viewpoints are easily accessible by vehicle, while others require walking to an outlook.

Undeveloped Coastal Access Points are typically road right of ways (ROW) that the public has the legal right to access but they are currently inaccessible.

In some instances, future development may enable public access to the sea while some undeveloped coastal access points may be too difficult to develop due to public hazards such as steep slopes or unstable ground.

Community use boat racks

Sandy Beach, Tunstall Beach and King Edward Bay Beach have racks available to store small water craft. Please note the following conditions for use of the boat racks:

• All small water craft must be clearly labelled with the owner’s name and phone number.
• Only one small recreational water craft per community member.
• Rack storage is limited to: boats, life jackets, oars, paddles and bailers.
• Fuel containers, propane tanks, seafood traps, and all other personal, household or construction items will be removed at the owner’s expense.

Bowen Island is now part of the Whale Trail!

Beach Water Quality

Snug Cove Beach is not suitable for swimming. Beach water samples have regularly exceeded contamination limits for recreational water quality and the beach has been considered unsafe for swimming consistently for several years. In the interest of public health and safety, and under the guidance of Vancouver Coastal Health, regular beach water testing will no longer occur, and Snug Cove Beach is not a recommended swimming beach.

Five other Bowen Island recreational beaches are sampled throughout the swimming season (mid-May through early September) to determine compliance with the Canadian Recreational Water Guidelines. Two samples per beach area are analysed by Vancouver Coastal Health and geometric means are calculated.  

When samples from a particular beach area exceeds 235 E.coli bacteria per 100 millilitres of sea water sample or in the event of a known hazard or spill, an assessment will be made to determine the possible health risks and the most effective approach to protecting the health of recreational water users.  

The provincial Medical Health Officer may require Bowen Island Municipality to post a warning sign at a particular beach indicating that the water is contaminated and is unsafe for swimming. Beach “closures” are generally not based on individual results but rather geometric means of water samples taken from a particular swimming beach area over the past 30 days.

Visit Vancouver Coastal Health’s website for the most up-to-date information on beach water quality.

2024	Tunstall Bay	Tunstall Bay	Sandy Beach	Sandy Beach	Bowen Bay	Bowen Bay	Pebbly Beach	Pebbly Beach	Mothers Beach	Mothers Beach
May 14	25	5	10	15	5	<5	10	<5	35	59
May 21	5	<5	950	490	91	5	25	20	1000	955
May 28	<5	55	250	260	<5	77	41	36	535	265
June 4	600	14	440	210	35	20	115	90	900	360
June 11	<5	5	40	110	<5	<5	45	30	18	20
June 18	<5	<5	50	45	10	10	5	20	140	80
June 25	15	5	520	30	20	15	<5	64	70	86
July 2	9	n/a	77	n/a	n/a	<5	5	10	50	10
July 9	20	<5	3000	130	60	14	155	60	125	150
July 16	<5	<5	32	115	<5	<5	5	<5	18	18
July 23	5	<5	1250	70	18	10	<5	<5	15	136
July 30	14	5	400	800	5	115	5	<5	700	500
Aug. 6	<5	<5	<5	18	<5	<5	5	5	10	5
Aug 13	<5	<5	35	27	<5	<5	5	<5	65	65
Aug 20	<5	<5	5	100	<5	<5	<5	5	95	250
Aug 27	50	20	320	220	<5	<5	<5	25	45	27
Sept 3	5	95	160	35	<5	<5	<5	<5	130	25
Sept 10	9	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	<5	5	10

Numbers in this chart represent the number of E. coli bacteria per 100 milliliters of sea water sample. Two samples are taken from each of the swimming beach sites.