The Sunshine Coast: My Definitive Guide

The best spots to visit in the most magical place.

I’ve been meaning to put together a list of my favourite spots on the Sunshine Coast, where I’ve been calling home for the past two years. I want to share this list because living here and getting to watch the community as a newcomer has been a really beautiful thing. For me, it’s about the nature. This place is wild and beautiful. It can turn the most indoorsy folk into trail runners and mountain bikers and hikers and nature lovers. And I’d like to cordially invite you to visit, because I really do think it’s a place worth seeing. Skip Vancouver, go straight to the ferry terminal and spend a few days reconnecting with the one truth I know: nature.

Ok, here it is:

Definitive Guide to the Sunshine Coast

Trails & Hikes

Some of my favourite places to hike. Save your feet and leave your city shoes behind and throw on some trail runners or hiking boots for most of these. This is by no means an extensive list, it’s just some of my favourite places to go and that I recommend when friends visit.

Cliff Gilker Park

Easy, accessible, and no climbing. You can spend a few hours meandering old growth trees, streams, and a little waterfall. I keep the dogs on leash during busy hours here. Make your hike as short or as long as you want. An easy couple of kilometres.

Bonnybrook Beach

A pretty rocky beach to walk, but worth it. If it’s slightly cloudy, get here for sunset. I often go here for a sunset swim in the summer.

Oxygen Trail

A short but absolutely stunning trail. Lives up to the name and you’ll end up feeling reborn. An easy 1.6km.

Hidden Grove

My favourite for trail running. Well marked, and out of the way enough to not be overly busy. Choose your own adventure. An easy 2-5km.

Soames Hill

A little climb which will definitely wind you. About 300 steps to the top, but worth it for the cute little views. Orient yourself here! A moderately easy ~2.7km.

Sprockids Bike Park

A great place to meander through the woods. Add in Langdale Falls if you want a worthwhile (and somewhat challenging hike, 2.6km). If you’re into mountain biking, this is the spot. Moderately easy.

Mount Elphinstone Summit Trail

Starting from Sprockids, this is a challenging route with amazing views. The Coaster Marathon dubs this the vertical kilometre in their now yearly run. This is a challenging 12.2km.

Events

Gibsons Public Market

These night markets are unanimously agreed upon as “really fun”. Incredible local vendors come together and I’ve always had so much fun, really. This year’s dates are June 27th, August 1st, and August 29th.

Shady Hazel Farm Supper Club Long Table Series

Ian and Sara bring some of Canada’s best people who wear chef hats to create beautifully curated farm-to-table meals. These are my favourite events on the coast. Tickets go on sale May 1st at 10am and they sell out incredibly fast.

Shady Hazel Farm Pumpkin Patch

Every Saturday and Sunday in October. Pet a pig, launch a pumpkin in their pumpkin canon (leave your dogs behind for this one as there are lots of farm animals).

Yaya & Boo On the Go! Book Launch! (Pre-Order)

Allow me to plug my own event here. I’m still working on the details but on September 20th, we’ll be at Banditry Cider and we will have games and books and dogs. Mark your calendar!

Some other occasional events you might find me at include Drink & Doodle (first Wednesday of each month at Tapworks Brewing), and the Art Battles at The Kube!

Cider & Beer

For some reason there are a ton of cideries on the coast. These places are doing amazing things and creating drinks that are as flavourful as natural wine. All of these spots are dog friendly.

Banditry Cider

Kim and Jamie did an amazing job curating this kid friendly and dog friendly (complete with a little fenced in dog park hidden in the back) open air cidery. Feed the ducks, and find our books on loan in the taproom. A great spot to spend an afternoon. If you’re hungry, try their amazing food truck, TK's Gourmet Turkish Cuisine.

Sunday Cider

The Sunday team do an incredible job elevating ciders. My favourite is the Nite Rider which “drinks like a Lambrusco”. You had me at Lambrusco. It’s another perfect dog and kid friendly outdoor space to lounge in the sun. Don’t forget to grab a great coffee and some vegan grub at Sea Monkey Coffee Co.

Persephone Brewery

Yet another dog friendly and kid friendly place to drink in the sun. Persephone is over 20 years old and are focused on “people, planet, and profit —in that order”. They also have an indoor area and a really great food truck. And chickens. You’ll have to get to all three, really. I say stagger them with hikes to make the most of it.

Tapworks

No coastal drink list is complete without mentioning Tapworks. Great burgers and crisp beers. There’s an outdoor section that’s dog friendly, too.

Food

The Station Wine Bar

Sip some wine and have some tapas in a cozy interior with a central location. Lower Gibsons.

Lunitas Mexican Eatery

Tacos and cocktails with an incredible view. Dog friendly patio in the back which is somehow the front. Lower Gibsons.

Good Friday’s Cheese Co

Grab a sandwich to go, and pick up some cheese and snacks for a picnic on the beach. Located in Gibsons.

Gumboot Cafe

“A local favourite since 1993.” Have a bite and then take a stroll through Roberts Creek.

MIDDLECHILD

Best coffeeshop on the coast. I said it. Sechelt.

Other Favourites

Reasons to Live

Used and new books and records in Gibsons, really fun t-shirts. “We have more copies of Ulysses than any other store”. Lower Gibsons.

Good Friday’s Gift Shop

Cute gift shop in lower Gibsons. Also a location that’s featured in my newest book!

Fong’s Market and Gifts

General store that’s been around since ’84. Lots of fun gifts. If you need something, just ask, they probably have it. Like the rainbow umbrella hat my friend Michelle found. Honestly, just go in and spend a half hour browsing. You’ll find a treasure or strike up a great conversation with the owners.

The Kube

Beautifully curated gift shop and locally made housewares in Gibsons. They’re also a gallery that hosts great local artists, try to line up your visit with their gallery openings or art battles, or just pop in and say hi to Jody and Jill for me.

Local Tourist Gift Shop

Beautifully curated gift shop in Sechelt. Custom goods that are really great quality and well designed. If you want to get a special gift for someone from the Sunshine Coast, this might just be the place.

Talewind Books

As good as a bookstore gets, the most helpful staff, one of those bookstores that you don’t forget. Located in Sechelt. Tell them I sent you and they’ll give you a free high five.

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That little story that usually goes before the meat of the article that everybody just scrolls past but I wanted you to see the list first so I moved it to after the article so feel free to skip this part thanks:

For about 15 years, I traveled tirelessly. Mostly by van, sometimes in short term rentals, I roamed around the U.S., Mexico, Europe, and Canada. The scenery changed, but the feeling stayed. The van was home, for me and the dogs.

I accidentally figured out how to be a nomadic homebody. Always moving, always grounded. But Boo started to get carsick, and I began to wonder if I should land somewhere. I never managed to build much of a community on the road. Though I did have close friends pocketed across the map, and each one became a possible anchor.

I had to choose a place to land. Somewhere good for the dogs. A few close friends had rooted themselves in this little landlocked stretch of highway north of Vancouver. It had everything the West Coast had to offer in a rural setting. The 40 minute ferry made access just hard enough to feel exotic, and kept rent prices lower than Vancouver.

I’ve been on the Sunshine Coast for two years now. I’ve almost left a few times. But I often catch myself looking around, breathing in deep, and asking myself: “How did I end up in the most beautiful place on earth?”

Sometimes it rains for weeks and you wouldn’t catch me saying that. Sometimes I wish there was a little trendy neighbourhood with natural wine and a trendy third wave coffee shop I can sit down and work from. Maybe it’s the very fact that these things don’t exist here that make me appreciate it even more. I make all my meals at home, brew my coffee, and watch the waves from my living room. I created a little space that I love coming home to.

When the place you live becomes the most beautiful place you’ve been, that alone is a good reason to stay. Even if it’s a fleeting thought. Even if it isn’t an objective truth. It’s a lot like looking at a sunset and saying “this is the most beautiful sunset”. It’s the most beautiful one because it’s the one that’s in front of you. But it’s still a sunset. It’s still perfect. You can see it, you can almost touch it. And for me, as long as I’m here, no other place exists.

One of the best things about the Sunshine Coast for me is that the dogs are thriving. We walk everyday in the trails through the cedars and douglas firs and ferns. Every morning we rise with the sun (or a little later) and walk down to the ocean. I couldn’t imagine a better place for the dogs.

I really do want you to come see for yourself. Let me know if you visit and say hi if you see us. If I missed your favourite spot or event, leave it in the comments! Now I’m gonna go hide from all the coastal businesses I forgot to mention.

Love this list? Interested in visiting? Share it with a friend!

Love,

Andrew, Yaya, & Boo