Travel Tips

(Originally written in April, 2003):

In September 2000 I went to Bowen Island with my (then) boyfriend to go to our friends wedding. Bowen Island is a small mountainous island located north-west from Vancouver. It takes about 15 minutes to drive to Horseshoe Bay from downtown Vancouver. Then you must purchase a ticket for the ferry.

The ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Bowen Island is quite short (15 minutes) and within no time, you're already at the island. We hadn't been on the island before, but I had a pretty good idea of what to expect. The island has hundreds of year round residents, most who want to "get away from it all" while still being a short distance away from a large city. Generally hippies, artists and retired couples are the people you'd most likely find living on Bowen Island, but in the summer you're likely to find local Vancouverites vacationing at their summer retreats.

Here I am (looking like I'm about the start laughing!) standing infront of the Snug Cove harbour on Bowen Island. The camera's facing east, and you can see the beautiful colours on the Coast mountains and the mainland as the sun was setting. If you look closely, you can see the BC ferry that goes between the island and Horseshoe Bay. The ferry in the background was probably unloading at the time.

When you first arrive, you're at Snug Cove. This is a little marina full of boats and yachts, and cute little historic waterfront buildings. There are cute little restaurants and pubs at Snug Cove, and the boardwalk adds to the ambience. The wedding took place underneath those white tents. It was so picturesque!

Here's another shot of the Snug Cove buildings, the boardwalk and the wedding party under the tents!

Woo! How I love this photo! Here is Brenda, Colin, Shawn and Brent. You can see part of Bowen Island and the Coast mountains in the background.

And yet again, we get a view of the wedding and harbour. It was a glorious setting!

Here's a picture of the marina at Snug Cove. The water seemed to be very still that day. The sun setting in the west painted the Coast mountains (in the background of this photo) with various shades of orange summer light.

We ended up spending the night at the Vineyard Bed & Breakfast on Bowen Island. It didn't even feel like a B&B because it was so private and was in a completely different building than where the owners live. I believe 6 groups can stay at the Vineyard at once. This place was *amazing*. It's located at a winery about a 5 minute drive inland from Snug Cove. Unfortunately we never got the chance to have dinner there as we ate at the wedding, but apparently the meals are to die for. And they even had their own wine shop downstairs where you could buy their own wine.

Our room was huge - this is only one small section. You could easily have a party of 20 people comfortably in this place! If you do ever get the chance to spend a few days on Bowen Island, by all means - stay here! You won't be sorry!

(Update: this B&B closed a few years ago so is no longer open).