White Rock British Columbia

North AmericaCanadaWestern Canada

A thousand windowed eyes gazed over an indifferent sea

White Rock, a seaside town about 20 miles south of Vancouver BC on Canada’s west coast, wraps its terraced face around the wide mouth of its tidal horizon like a Mediterranean city in the throes of youth; the long breath of the sea captivating sight, smell and touch. A place where anyone can enjoy the solitude or liveliness of the sea shore.

Our panoramic view from the patio of Bellevue House Bed & Breakfast, perched high above the bay, was as stunning as it was beautiful.

Below us like strips of bacon in a frying pan thin margins flowed with the contours of sea and land; the glinting water fretting over the wide expanse of rippled sand, the tidal marks strung with logs and driftwood, the long thin green of parkland straddling the iron ribbon of railway to the manicured parking stalls hard against the bustle of Marine Drive. Only the lanky finger of the old pier broke the sinuous weave and, amid all this order and sculpted shoreline, a lonely rock as white and sharp as a single molar cast from a giant’s mouth.

White Rock has increasingly become a destination within a destination, drawing the packed urbanites of sprawling Greater Vancouver to rest, walk and play along its promenades both natural and man made. Here the tides run away to misty mountains leaving wide swaths of cool sandy playground for children to build their castles while parents can while the day away with a good book and the ocean breeze. Long strolls far from shore, Frisbee games on the edge of the sea, romantic walks and quiet talks along an expanse as broad as a prairie horizon; until the face of the sea turns with the tide.

Legend has it the great white rock from which the place took its name, though regular coats of whitewash accentuate the hue, was tossed from afar by the son of a sea god to mark the place where he and his mortal bride would found a new people after their parents’ denied their union and acceptance amongst the ageless or the mortals. There arose the Semiahmoo, The Half Moon Tribe.

It’s said Captain George Vancouver named the place White Rock in recognition of the striking marker left many thousands of years ago by a retreating glacier. And around it the people came and built their town by the sea, in time crawling up the steep slopes, twinkling in the moonlight and glinting in the sunset.

The well tended brick promenade stretches over 2 kilometers past statues, totems and the local museum, housed in the old train station. The station is a reminder of the Great Northern Railway which first blew through town in 1909 linking the little community to the greater world beyond. The wheelchair friendly walkway links east and west beach providing for sea view stroll with the hum of busy Marine Drive only a short hop away.

The historic pier juts over 1500 feet into the bay to a breakwater and small marina where you can watch and listen to the sounds of gulls and the patient fishers and “crabbers” trying to catch their dinner. Completed in 1915 the bony finger has recovered from two fires to offer the visitor its panoramic view of the distant mountains or, looking back on the town, the flickering glint of the Sun off the many high windowed homes crawling up the hillside.

Marine Drive is a busy strip evolving pleasingly into a welcoming strand of well kept shops and restaurants inviting the eyes to stop and the feet to keep moving. Color crowds the street edge and the humming bustle lends the place a happy air of people intent on enjoying themselves.

The city fathers can look with more than a little satisfaction at how their community has manicured its place by the sea to draw visitors without losing either the natural beauty or the charm of a seaside town. By morning, noon or night time, by the high tide or the low, in storm or under blue skies the place can soothe the soul.

As if the waterfront at White Rock is not enough nearby are other attractions worthy of visits in their own right.

Just above our B & B the green expanse of Centennial Park retains the memory of the days of the forests. Trails wind under forest shelter through marshes and creek beds where the trill of Robins replace the cry of gulls.

Just to the north the vast arch of Crescent Beach throws out its wide beaches and the coziness of its little village.

A short sail up the tidal mouth of the Nicomekl River or drive along the Crescent Beach Road will bring you to Elgin Heritage Park where you can visit the restored 1894 home of the pioneering Stewart family. The stately home rests in a life-engorged conservation area with regal Blue Herons, laughing ducks and all manner of sea marsh fowl, sheltered picnic grounds and ambling pathways through west coast forest with fern and cedar and Douglas Fir twined with clinging ivy.

Even when the weather turns blustery or during the graying days of winter White Rock and its shoreline is a compelling attraction. Dressed appropriately you can watch the sea in its moods and the defiant sea gulls lazily gliding in its winds. The warmth and coziness of a meal and hot drink are never far away.

Our hosts at Bellevue House, Silvia and Bruce, rightly painted their community as a destination of its own that attracts visitors from either side of the border. One of the great advantages of B & B’s is the personal knowledge and recommendations that can open up otherwise unthought of activities and suggestions keened to the interest of their visitors.

And here with sunset lighting the terraced windows even an indifferent sea has to pause to admire its own golden reflection.

Author: Glen Cowley