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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.

Properties for Sale in Departure Bay

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New
1567 Knight Court Rd, Nanaimo

$1,275,000

1567 Knight Court Rd, Nanaimo

4 Beds 3 Baths 3,591 SqFt 10,019 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926679

Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty (NanIsHwyN)

New
628 Beach Dr, Nanaimo

$789,000

628 Beach Dr, Nanaimo

4 Beds 3 Baths 1,901 SqFt 9,148 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926703

Century 21 Harbour Realty Ltd.

New
1217 Manzanita Pl 107, Nanaimo

$1,199,000

1217 Manzanita Pl 107, Nanaimo

3 Beds 4 Baths 2,122 SqFt 0 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926614

RE/MAX Generation (LD)

New
2955 Newton St, Nanaimo

$599,900

2955 Newton St, Nanaimo

4 Beds 2 Baths 1,911 SqFt 7,406 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926432

Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty LD

New
3301 Country Club Dr, Nanaimo

$799,999

3301 Country Club Dr, Nanaimo

5 Beds 3 Baths 2,323 SqFt 7,841 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926543

RE/MAX of Nanaimo

New
3622 Reynolds Rd, Nanaimo

$799,000

3622 Reynolds Rd, Nanaimo

5 Beds 2 Baths 1,936 SqFt 10,019 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926283

Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty (NanIsHwyN)

New
2880 Cosgrove Cres, Nanaimo

$799,900

2880 Cosgrove Cres, Nanaimo

2 Beds 3 Baths 1,883 SqFt 9,584 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 926365

460 Realty Inc. (NA)

2562 Departure Bay Rd 107, Nanaimo

$459,900

2562 Departure Bay Rd 107, Nanaimo

2 Beds 2 Baths 1,231 SqFt 0 SqFt Lot Condo Apartment MLS® # 926273

eXp Realty

3355 Edgewood Dr, Nanaimo

$899,000

3355 Edgewood Dr, Nanaimo

2 Beds 3 Baths 2,044 SqFt 2,178 SqFt Lot Row/Townhouse MLS® # 925033

RE/MAX of Nanaimo

2936 Glen Eagle Crt, Nanaimo

$698,000

2936 Glen Eagle Crt, Nanaimo

4 Beds 2 Baths 2,310 SqFt 7,841 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 924892

eXp Realty

3855 Departure Bay Rd, Nanaimo

$649,900

3855 Departure Bay Rd, Nanaimo

5 Beds 2 Baths 2,160 SqFt 9,148 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 925001

eXp Realty

3240 Granite Park Rd, Nanaimo

$954,000

3240 Granite Park Rd, Nanaimo

4 Beds 3 Baths 3,011 SqFt 7,406 SqFt Lot Single Family Detached MLS® # 924619

Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty (NanIsHwyN)

View of dozens of Departure Bay homes among the trees

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.

Back to Nanaimo neighbourhoods

Areas of Departure Bay, Nanaimo