Departure Bay Real Estate
Departure Bay is a beautiful oceanside neighbourhood, a bowl-shaped valley rising from a large beach.
It is a highly desirable area owing to its spectacular ocean views, large swimming beach and park, well-kept homes, and central location. Almost anyone who's been to Nanaimo will be familiar with Departure Bay as the large bay where the ferry arrives from Vancouver. (But the ferry terminal is not in the residential area referred to as Departure Bay - it's in the Brechin Hill neighbourhood.)
There are luxury waterfront houses down by the beach of course, but as you go uphill you'll find different types of neighbourhoods. At the southern end are Cilaire and Beach Estates - then further north is the Lynburn neighbourhood, also notable for its mid-century and higher-end postwar homes. There are some strata buildings close to the beach, and then to the north, the land rises as dark basalt bluffs covered in houses of wood and glass. Sherwood Forest is tucked into here (with streets named Prince John Way, Marion Way, Bowstring Close, Nottingham, etc.).
North of Sherwood Forest there is still a lot of undeveloped land (beautiful undulating lands with arbutus and moss and towering firs and hemlock), with multiple ridges rolling back toward the Hammond Bay area. These ridges are still being developed with beautiful newer custom homes, but a large area has also been preserved as hiking trails and protected lakes.
Amenities are very near with several big malls within a 10 min drive. But even closer are the many beaches and rocky shores, most notably Pipers Lagoon and Neck Point, and of course the long sandy Departure Bay Beach, a popular (but seldom crowded) swimming beach with a playground, grassy lawn, driftwood hide-outs and a coffee shop.
Need help buying or selling in Departure Bay? Contact me.
Condos & Townhomes: Stratas around Departure Bay
3217 Hammond Bay Rd - Three-storey rowhomes a few blocks above the biological station.
Barrington Heights - A multi-phase strata built over many years starting in the 1990s with different kinds of townhomes.
Edgewood - Townhomes (attached AND detached) with views, perched above Departure Bay.
Elk Street townhomes - Two-storey townhomes built in 1981, a block from the beach.
Forest Heights - Six 3-storey townhomes built in the mid-90s up Rock City Road.
Fountain Bleu - Two-storey townhomes backing onto the green, built in 1967.
Lancelot Gardens - Built in 1965-1971, these 1- and 2-storey townhomes are beside the highway.
Legasea - Three-storey rowhomes with garages, personal elevators, and rooftop decks.
Maveric Place - Detached 3-storey rowhouses at the top of Rock City Rd.
Panorama Villas - Detached townhomes built 2021-2023 above Departure Bay.
Rockwood Heights (on Manzanita) - These 2-storey townhomes have big views of Departure Bay.
Rockwood Heights (on Ocean Mist) - Twelve 2-storey townhomes built in the 2010s near Rock City Rd.
Seascape Manor - This big building from 1981 has more than a hundred 1-2 storey apartments.
Seaside Place - This 3-storey apartment building has ocean view condos across from the beach.
Village on the Green - Early nineties 1-2 storey townhomes backing onto Nanaimo Golf Course.
Properties for Sale in Departure Bay
New
$699,900
3161 Singleton Rd, Nanaimo
3
Beds
3
Baths
1,456 SqFt
9,148 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1048086
eXp Realty (NA)
New
$798,000
↑ $3,000
3310 Smugglers Hill Dr, Nanaimo
5
Beds
3
Baths
2,069 SqFt
9,148 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1048101
Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty (NanIsHwyN)
New
$700,000
224 Cilaire Dr, Nanaimo
5
Beds
3
Baths
2,722 SqFt
9,584 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1047916
eXp Realty (NA)
New
$898,800
1217 Manzanita Pl 103, Nanaimo
4
Beds
4
Baths
2,199 SqFt
0 SqFt Lot
Row/Townhouse
MLS® # 1047923
eXp Realty (NA)
New
$799,900
3115 Rock City Rd, Nanaimo
3
Beds
2
Baths
1,525 SqFt
13,940 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1047809
460 Realty Inc. (NA)
New
$1,200,000
3596 Oakridge Dr, Nanaimo
3
Beds
4
Baths
3,739 SqFt
20,909 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1047610
One Percent Realty Ltd.
$629,900
2560 Departure Bay Rd 602, Nanaimo
2
Beds
2
Baths
1,680 SqFt
213,445 SqFt Lot
Condo Apartment
MLS® # 1047435
REMAX Professionals (NA)
$1,150,000
3359 Edgewood Dr, Nanaimo
3
Beds
3
Baths
2,540 SqFt
1,307 SqFt Lot
Row/Townhouse
MLS® # 1047260
REMAX Professionals (NA)
$1,695,000
2640 Randle Rd, Nanaimo
5
Beds
3
Baths
2,067 SqFt
8,712 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1047283
460 Realty Inc. (NA)
$719,900
3730 Departure Bay Rd, Nanaimo
3
Beds
2
Baths
1,380 SqFt
6,534 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1047179
Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty (NanIsHwyN)
$699,900
1605 King John Way, Nanaimo
2
Beds
2
Baths
1,176 SqFt
11,326 SqFt Lot
Single Family Detached
MLS® # 1044061
REMAX Professionals (NA)
$435,000
2560 Departure Bay Rd 310, Nanaimo
2
Beds
2
Baths
1,254 SqFt
0 SqFt Lot
Condo Apartment
MLS® # 1047140
Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty (NanIsHwyN)
Nearby Schools:
- Rock City Elementary ; 3741 Departure Bay Rd
- Departure Bay Elementary ; 3004 Departure Bay Rd
- Cilaire Elementary ; 25 Cilaire Dr
- Wellington Secondary ; 3135 Mexicana Rd
Did You Know?
The first telephone line in British Columbia was installed here in the 1880s - it ran from the wharves at Departure Bay up to the coal town of Wellington (now part of Nanaimo, between Diver Lake and Long Lake). One of the mining engineers assembled the telephone system based on instructions he saw in a science magazine.
New Developments in Departure Bay
Barrington Heights townhomes
Barrington Heights is a development going back to the 1990s, with newer phases being added sporadically over the decades - the most recent was phase 4, a block of townhomes built in 2022 immediately west of this next phase.
These next phases (5, 6, and 7) will involve 26 townhouse units in 5 quadruplex buildings and 2 triplex buildings. It appears they will be on the north side of a knoll, looking northward, rather than having the south-facing views that many other homes have in this area.
2545 Doctors Road - Townhomes
This 5-unit townhome strata (2 duplex buildings and one detached) is now completed and as of Jan2026, a couple units are still available.
Lauren Mary Place Townhomes
(Development application approved early 2023.) This will be a 13-unit townhome development in the Departure Bay neighbourhood, close to the Edgewood strata development off Rock City Road. The topography slopes upward from the street, toward the south, meaning the homes will face northward toward the Linley Valley. It's not clear to me whether the homes will have ocean views.
Each home will have a garage on the lower floor, with two more floors above that. There will be three buildings (4-5 units in each), with one of those being on the west side, separated from the other two blocks by Mariposa Dr, and the other two blocks to the east will have a landscaped space between them, including "play areas" which may indicate that these will be a great choice for families.
Ridgeline of Cottle Place
Status: Pending(?)
These 24 units (duplexes, triplexes and single family homes) will be built on top of a ridge near Pipers Lagoon and Stephenson Point, near the border of Departure Bay and Hammond Bay. The ocean and island views will be spectacular.
I don't know anything about a timeline at this point - an application was made to the city in 2018 and approved, and then it was renewed in 2020; it expires in May 2024.
1415 Loat St - Rowhomes near the beach
The City has been asked to rezone a 0.77-acre property near Departure Bay Beach - about a block from the playground - so that a cluster of brand new townhomes can be built. The developer appears to be Treelife Properties.
There will be 37 units in total, including 10 studio units of just 312-327 sqft each (but it's possible I am mis-reading the building plans). The rest will be 2- or 3-bedroom units, many with their own garages.
If you'd like to be kept in the loop about this development, just contact me and let me know. I'm guessing this one won't be listed for sale until sometime in 2025.
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