Kitsilano Beach
Sand facing the mountains, with the longest saltwater pool in the country.
Duration
1 hr 30 min – 4 hrs
Best time
Late afternoon
Open
Every day
Entry price
Free
Kitsilano is named after the Squamish chief Xats'alanexw. The district was the home of Vancouver's 1960s counterculture — Greenpeace was founded here in 1971 — before becoming one of the most expensive in the city.
The beach takes in downtown and the North Shore mountains in a single glance: it is the best free urban viewpoint in Vancouver. The Kitsilano pool, at the water's edge, is a hundred and thirty-seven metres long, filled with filtered heated seawater, and it is the longest in Canada.
Getting there
Bus 2 or 22 from downtown, fifteen minutes. The False Creek Ferries call at Vanier Park, ten minutes on foot.
What to bring
- Wetsuit
- Swimsuit
Rules on site
The pool only opens from late May to mid-September; out of season it is empty. Pacific water stays around fifteen degrees even in August: sea swims are short.
Other places in Vancouver
Stanley ParkFour hundred hectares of forest ringed by a ten-kilometre seawall, with the mountains opposite.
Granville IslandA former industrial site turned public market, with artists' studios and theatres.
Capilano Suspension BridgeA hundred and forty metres of walkway, seventy metres above a canyon.
Grouse MountainTwelve hundred metres above the city, reached by cable car or by the Grouse Grind.