Living / Buying on Protection Island

These are properties near the waterfront, many of them very affordable, just a few soccer fields' distance from downtown Nanaimo! If you love the commute over the water, there is no reason NOT to live here. It's worth looking into. Trust us.

Protection Island is your opportunity to live in an extremely rare waterfront property situation. The island is very quiet, the noise of the city dulled everywhere by the thick forest that still covers most of the island. Yet you can take your canoe, skiff, kayak, yacht, or sailboat right into downtown at any time. The crossing only takes ten or fifteen minutes for a kayak, and five minutes for a power boat. But you don't need a boat. The passenger ferry takes just ten minutes and it runs hourly.

Oh, and families? There are lots of them here! Schoolday ferry passage for the local kids is funded by the school board, and the island's "pub" has a restaurant area so that families can eat there, too. The island is a wonderful place for kids to grow up.

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Protection Island Real Estate

Protection Island is "downtown"

In the past few years, Protection Island real estate has become a very hot investment market. Yet the island's lifestyle is still coloured by those whose ancestors settled here, and nature-loving retirees, and hipster students with a passion for each morning's crossing by kayak, on their way to the university.

The home styles on the island are a hodge-podge of log homes, cottages, waterfront cabins, luxury homes, and crafty bungalows, scattered along the island's few (gravel) streets.

Jim Pierce is a real estate agent who lives on Protection Island. You can grab a copy of his map of the island right after you get off the ferry.