All About the Harbour City

Departure Bay

The Departure Bay area is a beautiful oceanside neighbourhood, a meeting of two hills above the bay and the beach. There are some funky old homes down by the beach, as well as some modest split-levels behind them, and a lot of semi-luxury to luxury homes perched on the rocky bluffs overlooking all.

Living around Departure Bay can be annoying for people without cars, because to get anywhere, you have to deal with big hills. The buses do come through here, at least.

Almost anyone who's been to Nanaimo will be familiar with Departure Bay as the large bay where the ferry terminal is. But the ferry terminal is not in the residential area referred to as Departure Bay. (The ferries are at the bottom of Brechin Hill.)

Along bus routes? Yes.
Bad part of town? No.
Nearby parks: Beach Estates Park, Beban Park, Linley Valley, Pipers Lagoon, Rutherford Ridge

Back to Nanaimo Neighbourhoods page.

Sherwood Forest

The Sherwood Forest neighbourhood is a gorgeous old (twenty or thirty years?) development of homes clustered on the slopes of Sugarloaf Mountain, northwest of Departure Bay Beach. Most of these properties are beautifully integrated into the hillsides and have amazing views of Departure Bay, Newcastle Island, Downtown Nanaimo, and Mount Benson.

Homes in Sherwood Forest come in an exciting variety of styles, most of which take full advantage of the views. Most of the houses are large and constructed with the finest native materials.