Photos of Protection Island

[riverrat]

Here's a bus bench on Protection Island. Not sure why it's there.

It's at the south end of the island, a beautiful, desolate place with great views of the city across the water, and a cool boat ramp, and awesome waterfront homes, and petrified wood on the beach by the lighthouse. There's also a nice beach at low tide (just east of the lighthouse). (I use "beach" a little bit lightly. Don't expect sand, per se.)

[riverrat]

This is as seen from Mt Benson. That's Gabriola Island in the background, looking much closer than usual!:

[riverrat]

The south end of Protection Island is an exposed, somewhat barren, beautiful place with great views of Nanaimo, Biggs Point, the estuary, Gabriola Island, and the (relatively) open waters of the Gulf of Georgia.

At low tide, there's a great beach here, though it's not the kind of "sand" you may have been looking for. It's some kind of spongy material, like tiny bits of rubber - but the geoducks sure seem to like it!

The Gabriola ferry and lots of other large vessels pass by here on their way into the harbour, so this beach is a great place to catch some little waves.









About Protection Island

[riverrat]

Mud Bay is aptly named but still beautiful, and it's the site of Protection Island's community docks. Access to the docks is within Pirates Park, a gorgeous arbutus and fir grove with an earthen volleyball court and a playground. There is a picnic table amidst tiny daisies throughout the warmer months, and you can find plant fossils on the beach.

I guess there are Garry Oaks there too.



This picture of the docks has Nanaimo's Bowen Park in the background:







About Protection Island

[riverrat]

Billy Bones Bay is the deeper end of the space between Newcastle and Protection Islands. There is a beach with a playground and a huge field on the Newcastle (northwest) side, and cozy homes are spread along the Protection Island shore.

One time I was crossing this water in the middle of the night in a canoe, heading for Newcastle Island. As I passed an old sunken dock, I saw phosphorescence snaking down a chain, illuminating anemones!









About Protection Island

[riverrat]

The floating Dinghy Dock Pub is a neat phenomenon, and a staple for some islanders. It's also a major draw for regulars from the Nanaimo side, and a lot of tourists also cross the water in the passenger ferry to eat fish'n'chips in the floating pub (it has a family section).

The pub runs the ferry, which carries about 30 passengers at a time, and runs all year between 8am and 10pm (earlier and later hours on certain days of the week and the year). In the summertime, island residents are squished between parties of enthusiastic tourists. We reclaim the space in the winter though, when storms often get the little ferry jumping up and down quite energetically.

(Note: This first photo does not show the pub itself - these are outbuildings and such - but you can see the route that pedestrians must follow to access the island from the ferry dock.)







About Protection Island

[riverrat]

This park on the Nanaimo side of Protection is like a really mini Piper's Lagoon. There is a lot of animal feces and rusted debris and old coal slag - it's awesome! There's a stellar little spot on the sandstone for a picnic too, looking across the water to Nanaimo.









About Protection Island

[riverrat]

Y'know, Protection Island and Newcastle Island aren't separate islands at the lowest tides. The Newcastle Island cafeteria used to have "low tide specials" for people who enjoyed walking across from the residential Protection Island. The Causeway is what people call the tidal channel between the islands.

At the lowest tides especially, the east end of the Causeway is a spectacular little sandy beach that runs straight into the view to Vancouver. Clear puddles in the sand have tiny crabs hiding in the grasses, and little warm waves lap across the sand.

This is a home for many happy starfish.



This is a friend with her kayak - she must be standing on sand in this picture - at low tide, this spot is all beach!







About Protection Island

[riverrat]

This tiny cove on the north end of Protection is a real gem, but it's surrounded by private property. Two residential lots have good access to the water here, so I dream of owning one of them some day.

This spot has a little sign on the road nearby that says "Mermaid's Cove".



About Protection Island

[riverrat]

Here's part of the view from the south end of Protection Island (Gallows Point).



And here's a shot I took from Nob Hill. This view is only available to the public because a couple of old character homes just below Nob Hill were recently demolished. It's likely they were cleared for a new development, so enjoy while you can: