Galiano Island: Discovering a Secret Beach
On an early morning in June we caught the ferry from Tsawassen to Galiano Island. Our plan was to ride to Dionisio Point, the northern point of the Island. The rumor was that this area was only accessible by boat, and that it was not possible to go by land, because the roads to get there are closed to the public. So, we figured that one cannot get there with a car, but if you cycle or walk it could be possible. The uncertainty if we could actually get to that beach made the trip into more of an adventure. We found the private road, cycled down a steep forest and all of the sudden we were on this beautiful beach with only one boat in the distance. I could not avoid thinking about the movie “The Beach” and the scene where Leonardo Di Caprio and his friends actually find the secret beach.
We spent the rest of the day walking along the beach at low tide. The rock formations were amazing and the low tide also revealed a few neat caves. Eventually we sat on the beach, cooked dinner and watched the orange sunset. We spent the night at a campground nearby, which was nice and clean and almost totally empty because of the inconveniency of getting there.
The next day we rode out on a different road lined by bright yellow flowers. We met a baby deer that was not afraid of us and just stood by the side of the road. Then we rode to Bodega Ridge, which is the highest point on the island. We left our bikes, hiked up and got great views of the nearby islands such as Secretary Islands, Salt Spring Island and more. We made it back in time for the five o’clock (only) ferry back to Vancouver. We even had time to grab an ice cream to cool down after a wonderful hot weekend on Galiano Island.
