West Bay Park

Located at the foot of Maple Ln.

I've known that West Bay has existed my entire life, but I had never been there. I'd never even tried to find it. I'm kicking myself now. West Bay Park looks like this:

The sand has some rocks in it, but that just means it's natural. It's not enough to deter me from taking off my shoes to walk on it. If I enjoyed swimming, I'd consider West Bay a fine place to swim. It's a far cry from Ambleside where the sand is imported, the logs are strategically placed, and there's a designated swimming area. I particularly appreciate the natural scattering of logs and driftwood on this beach.

There's also the fantastic view... but all waterfront parks have those. Still, they sure are impressive.

The park is actually kind of difficult to locate. It's at the bottom of a street called Maple Lane that is absolutely adorable.

To get to this street with any sort of convenience from Marine Drive, you have to go down a set of stairs. They're right beside West Bay Holistic Clinic and there's a landing with a bench half way down. There's also a bathtub planter with dolphins on it at the bottom. It's quite the setting.

The locals have taken full advantage of their location. Every waterfront property has deck chairs facing the beach, and most have some sort of watercraft sitting in the yard. One house even has a swing hanging from a tree at the edge of the lot.

The space in between the beach and the road is grassy with a few paths to choose from: one steep and gravelly, one that's paved with stairs and one that comes from another direction out of the trees. I didn't get a good look at the third one, but I think I know where it come out on the other end. It's right by the bus stop of Oxley St. I'll probably take that route down the next time I visit West Bay Park.

But back to the actual park! Besides the trails and grass, the space before the beach contains a few benches, a public washroom, and this creek that runs underneath the concrete path:

I thought that was really pretty. The whole park is pretty. Go check it out.

PPR
Good: swimming beach, washrooms, view
Bad: hard to find, not so private (there's a view of the beach from all the surrounding houses)
7/10