Canada’s Best Beaches

Great White North & Great White Sandy Beaches Too!

Canada is not all forests and mountains. It has world-class beaches, seaside parks, charming beach towns and resorts — including places with warm water the colour of turquoise and sapphire, and yes, palm trees.

From Sea to Shining Sea

We have both saltwater and freshwater beaches. The Great Lakes are freshwater inland seas, and the country is big enough that there is a beach worth driving to in every province, from the Maritimes to British Columbia.

Blue, Blue Ontario

Ontario is the surprise: some of the bluest water this side of Montego Bay, and a good alternative to crowded U.S. beaches.

Camping & RV Friendly

Many of these are inside provincial parks with campgrounds, so you get convenient access to the beach and the amenities an RV needs.

Maritime Provinces

• Parlee Beach, NB — water reaching upwards of 29 °C and soft white sand; Parlee Beach Provincial Park has RV sites with electrical and water hookups.
• Cavendish Beach, PEI — red sandstone cliffs and dunes inside Prince Edward Island National Park; Cavendish Campground has RV sites with electrical hookups.
• Brackley Beach, PEI — white sand in the national park, 30 minutes from Charlottetown; Vacationland RV Park has full hookups.
• Bouctouche Dune Beach, NB — warm saltwater and one of the longest sand dunes in North America, with a winding boardwalk.
• Blue Sea Beach, NS — on the Northumberland Shore, water to 22 °C, long sand flats and bird watching.
• Ingonish Beach, NS — in Cape Breton Highlands National Park, salt and freshwater swimming; Broad Cove Campground has RV sites with electrical hookups.
• Gagnon Beach, NB — some of the warmest water north of Virginia Beach.
• Rissers Beach, NS — long sandy shores and a boardwalk through a salt marsh; the provincial park has RV sites with electrical hookups.
• Singing Sands, PEI — often called Canada’s best beach, 21 °C in summer, and named for the silica in the sand that sings underfoot.
• Carters Beach, NS — Caribbean-blue water and white sand.

Quebec

Îles de la Madeleine — an archipelago in the Gulf of the St. Lawrence; Dune du Sud has turquoise water and magnificent dunes.

British Columbia

• Long Beach, Vancouver Island — over 16 km of sand in Pacific Rim National Park Reserve; Green Point Campground has RV sites with electrical hookups.
• Tribune Bay, Hornby Island — “little Hawaii”, white sand and shallow water that warms up in summer.
• Sombrio Beach, Vancouver Island — surf, waterfalls and back country hiking.

Freshwater Beach Destinations

• Wasaga Beach, ON — over 14 km on Georgian Bay, the world’s longest freshwater beach; Wasaga Pines Family Campground has full hookups.
• Sauble Beach, ON — 11 km on Lake Huron, three hours from Toronto, Canada’s #1 freshwater beach destination; Sauble Beach Resort Camp has full hookups.
• Grand Bend, ON — bright turquoise water and one of Canada’s top beach towns; Pinery Provincial Park has RV sites with electrical hookups.
• Port Dover, ON — a resort town on Lake Erie, palm trees and warm water.

Freshwater Beach Destinations – Prairie Provinces

• Grand Beach, MB — fine white sand and dunes on Lake Winnipeg’s eastern shore; the provincial park has RV sites with electrical and water hookups.
• Good Spirit Lake Beach, SK — one of Canada’s top 10 beaches according to Maclean’s, 30 minutes northwest of Yorkton, with fishing.
• Sylvan Lake, AB — mountain views and year-round activities.
• Osoyoos Lake, BC — a desert climate that takes the water to 24 °C, surrounded by vineyards and mountains.
• Bennett Lake, YT — named by the Huffington Post as one of Canada’s top beaches.

Beach Daze above the 49th Parallel

So much for the myth: Canada has salt and freshwater beaches worth the drive, and the sun tanning to go with them.