The Sunshine Coast: Beauty & Bounty
Zoom Magazine, Spring 2019
Recurring advertorial for Sunshine Coast Tourism.
The arrival of Spring means shaking off the winter malaise and letting the longer days, brighter skies, and warmer weather refresh your spirits. On the Sunshine Coast, it’s the perfect time to reacquaint yourself with the area’s natural beauty and get excited for Summer coming up.
If the ocean beckons, heed the call. Grab a blanket, a picnic and some friends, and meet up for casual beachfire gatherings at your favourite sandy spot. Spring is prime time for bonfires since fire bans are often the case during the summer months.
Warmer weather also brings out watercraft aplenty, the sparkling Salish Sea inspiring locals and visitors alike to take their boats, kayaks, and SUPs out from winter storage. Fishing along the Coast is a popular pastime and as a robust salmon migration route, you can expect to find chinook salmon year round, joined by sockeye, coho, pink and chum salmon from mid-April to mid-November. Spend a few hours in your waders, or head out in a boat for a day’s adventure. If you don’t have your own vessel, chartering a boat is a stress-free way to go. In Pender Harbour, outfits like OTB Boat Charters know the best spots, providing the know-how and gear so you can focus on the fishing. Whether a simple, unhurried catch or an indulgent ocean-to-table experience, OTB is one of the outfits that can make it happen.
Trading in your reel for spokes is not uncommon on the Coast. Here is equally a mountain biker’s paradise as it is a fisherman’s utopia. There are over 700 kilometres of bike trails throughout the South and North Coasts, every town from Gibsons to Lund has their own parks and trails. Pender Harbour boasts Coast Gravity Park, a world renowned downhill park just 10 minute past Sechelt. Built by a hometeam of riders—the Coastal Crew—Coast Gravity Park offers a network of shuttled trails for those with basic skills to expert riders.
At the northernmost end of the Sunshine Coast is the town of Lund. Once you’ve fished and biked your way up the Coast, treat yourself to a stay at the reimagined Lund Hotel at Klah ah men. Though it has a rocky past, this historic hotel is now a celebrated establishment, proudly owned by the local Tla'amin Nation. As the first full-service Indigenous resort on the Sunshine Coast, it offers event space, a restaurant and a pub, all overlooking the renamed 13 Moons Marina.
On land or sea, springtime on the Sunshine Coast wakes us up from our winter slumber and introduces us into the joy of warmer months. It’s a time that reminds us of the beauty and bounty that surrounds us and we can take a literal breath of fresh air.
