Deep Bay to Hornby Island, Vancouver Island, BC Canada
Trail photos
Author
Trail stats
- Distance
- 12.53 nm
- Elevation gain
- 26 ft
- Technical difficulty
- Moderate
- Elevation loss
- 26 ft
- Max elevation
- 69 ft
- TrailRank
-
24
5
- Min elevation
- 69 ft
- Trail type
- Loop
- Moving time
- 4 hours 27 minutes
- Time
- 6 hours 23 minutes
- Coordinates
- 3996
- Uploaded
- August 27, 2018
- Recorded
- August 2018
near Deep Bay, British Columbia (Canada)
Viewed 1053 times, downloaded 1 times
Trail photos
Itinerary description
This usually easy day-paddle skirts the south sides of Denman and Hornby islands after a 2 km crossing from the eastern shoreline of Vancouver Island roughly between Qualicum and Comox. While the ocean can get rough with strong southerly or even northerly winds, the short-term forecasts in this area are reasonably good and there are many places to duck out of the weather.
This route starts at a small public boat launch with room for just a few cars to park. There are other larger boat launches to the south and north by only a few kilometers. It is best to start and finish this paddle at mid to high tide levels due to the shallow shorelines in this area. It can be a long walk from the car to water and across mud or on slippery stones at low tide levels.
After a 30-45 minute crossing of Baynes Sound, you will pass an historic lighthouse on Chrome Island and then paddle among large shoreline rocks on the south side of Denman Island. You can often, depending on the tide level, tuck in behind these rocks through narrow passageways.
The crossing to Norman Point or Toby Island at the southwest corner of Hornby island is quicker, but this area can be rougher than Baynes Sound, as it is more exposed. The Hornby shoreline has several beaches, rocky or sandy, to make a stop and there are several parks along the shoreline.
The endpoint can be at any of several beaches at Tribune Pay or along Helliwell Park, and cruising this shoreline, with high bluffs above many of the beaches and lots of marine and avian wildlife is a treat.
This route starts at a small public boat launch with room for just a few cars to park. There are other larger boat launches to the south and north by only a few kilometers. It is best to start and finish this paddle at mid to high tide levels due to the shallow shorelines in this area. It can be a long walk from the car to water and across mud or on slippery stones at low tide levels.
After a 30-45 minute crossing of Baynes Sound, you will pass an historic lighthouse on Chrome Island and then paddle among large shoreline rocks on the south side of Denman Island. You can often, depending on the tide level, tuck in behind these rocks through narrow passageways.
The crossing to Norman Point or Toby Island at the southwest corner of Hornby island is quicker, but this area can be rougher than Baynes Sound, as it is more exposed. The Hornby shoreline has several beaches, rocky or sandy, to make a stop and there are several parks along the shoreline.
The endpoint can be at any of several beaches at Tribune Pay or along Helliwell Park, and cruising this shoreline, with high bluffs above many of the beaches and lots of marine and avian wildlife is a treat.
Waypoints
Beach
-3 ftComments (2)
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Love that Wikiloc provides so many mapping options! This is a lovely kayak route that passes some great Sea Lion viewing. We went into Tribune Bay. Watch the weather though, strong SE winds can come up the straight and is hazardous if you aren't prepared.
Thank you, laurapopedenman. A great side trip, assuming relatively calm winds and waves, is to Norris Rocks, which are a half nautical mile (under a kilometer) SE of the south-western tip of Hornby Island. This collection of low islets is often chockablock full of sea lions. Generally the seals tend to congregate at the north end of Denman, but of course both go everywhere. Various sea birds are also present throughout the route. I second the warning about SE winds, as the route provides almost no shelter from this direction.