Travelling to Victoria BC? Get OUT of the city and drive WEST!

While Victoria is my home town, if you’re travelling here and expecting to see the sights, you’ll be sorely mistaken. The downtown core is rife with homeless and street vagrants. Whatever you do, for you own personal safety, do not walk up Pandora Ave past Quadra Street. In fact, you can draw a rectangle from Quadra Street and North Park Street to North Park Street and Chambers Street, over to Chambers Street and Johnson Street and back down to Johnson Street and Quadra Street – this is ground zero for homeless, rampant and open drug use, and crime. Yes you can walk this area during the day, but as you get close to Pandora and Cook Street you risk your personal safety, even during the day.

All throughout the downtown core along Douglas Street up to Pandora you will see street vagrants at all times of the day and some are more aggressive and hostile than others. While our city prides itself on tourism, it tries to hide the homelessness, drugs, and crime under the sheets. It’s so bad that citizens of Victoria prefer not to live anywhere near the downtown core whatsoever and prefer to live in suburbs of Saanich and Westshore (Colwood, Langford, Metchosin and Sooke) – far away from the mess downtown.

So what can you do if you’ve booked a trip to Victoria and you don’t want to hang around the downtown core and be stuffed into tchotchke shops? Simple! Do what the Victoria residents do and actually see nature in the Victoria region and this is only done by renting a car for a day (ideally rent it for 2 days as there’s so much to see)!

Either pack yourself a picnic lunch of head to a local Subway fast food restaurant and pick up a 6″ or 12″ submarine sandwich to go and then venture westward outside of Victoria along Douglas Street (this turns into Trans-Canada Hwy/BC-1) and take Exit 10 towards View Royal/Colwood – which turns into Sooke Road (this will be the main road you stay on for your trip!).

When you get to Sooke, if you didn’t pack a picnic lunch or pick up a sub sandwich, avoid the chain and fast food restaurants and stop in at the Up Sooke Eatery (6697 Sooke Road). This is a hidden gem (well, it’s not really hidden – it’s where all the locals eat!) and is only open for breakfast and lunch. It’s also a good place for a rest stop before the rest of your journey.

Now before I talk about the spectacular sights from this point forward, this can be done in reverse (start very early in the day and head to Botanical Beach first and then hit all the sights listed in reverse order). This is probably the best approach as this is a full day adventure and Botanical Beach has picnic tables, so you can time it right and have your lunch there after you walk the beach and then head back towards Victoria hitting all of these. I’ve listed them in the order as they are closest to Sooke (in the event you can’t drive all the way out to Botanical Beach (as the drive from downtown is roughly 2+ hours)).

Sheringham Point Lighthouse

Just 20mins out of downtown Sooke is the Sheringham Point Lighthouse. Continue along Sooke Road and take a left on Sheringham Point Rd (address for your GPS is 1 Sheringham Point Rd in Shirley BC). Bring your camera for on a sunny, clear day the views are incredible. The site is open to the public every day from 9am – 4pm. Admission to the site is free, however this is a National Heritage Lighthouse run by volunteers, so a donation is appreciated. It’s a short 200m walk from the parking lot to the gate and viewing area (this is pretty much where you should stop if you have mobility issues as there is a viewing platform here). For everyone else, it’s a further 300m down to the lighthouse itself.

French Beach

Less than 10 minutes from the Sheringham Point Lighthouse is French Beach. Just head up Sheringham Point Road and turn left onto BC-14. Head less than 10 minutes and you’ll see the entrance to French Beach Provincial Park on your left.

This is a favorite amongst the locals as its your first glimpse of the raw Pacific Ocean. As I kid I swam here, but be warned the water is frigid, even in August! If your here in the spring, it’s common to see gray wales migrating north through this area (and again, if swimming and there’s whales, you can hear the whale calls when you have your head underwater and it’s amazing, but you have to be a crazy kid or brave to swim in this cold water!) There are dozens of picnic tables here as well, so if you want to, you can stop here for a picnic lunch or dinner. Lots of people bring hibachi’s and will grill hamburgers and hotdogs right on the beach!

Sandcut Beach

Just 5 minutes past French Beach on the left is Sandcut Beach. This is another famous spot to hike the beach and take pics of the waterfalls. At certain times of the year (spring/fall) the waterfalls are pretty spectacular, but even in the middle of summer it’s still flowing. Ideally you want to time this (to the best of your ability) to arrive during a low tide.

Sandcut Beach is not really as the name suggests – sandy. As you can see from the photo the beach is largely rock, but at low tide you can walk along the lower portion which has some slight sand. I’d highly recommend carrying water walkers or some type of footwear you don’t mind getting wet.

It’s also not accessible for people with mobility issues. From the parking lot, it’s about a 500m descent over steep steps and a rough-cut trail through the trees. When you make it to the beach, head left and walk another 500m or so to the waterfall. In the summer this area will be fairly crowded with locals cooling off under the waterfall and splashing in the water. Come early if you want to photo like the above without anyone in it!

Mystic & China Beach

Mystic Beach is a bit harder to find as you won’t find any signs for it anywhere. Just 10 minutes past Sandcut Beach you’ll find the parking lot listed as China Beach Trail Parking Lot. The Mystic Beach access will be the first parking lot on your right. If you want to check out China Beach, that’s the 2nd parking lot on your left. From the parking lot, take the trail to Mystic Beach. This is definitely not for people with mobility issues, as the hike to the beach takes you over boardwalks, rough nature trails, and a suspension bridge!

This hike to the beach is just over 2km, so it should take you roughly 45mins to an hour, depending on your physicality level and make sure you bring mud gear (depending on when you do this hike).

When you get down to Mystic Beach, the waterfalls can be found to your left. To the right, you can find small rock caves and a rope swing for swimming!

IMPORTANT: This is one of the few beaches on the west coast that you can actually CAMP on! This is honestly a bucket-list item to camp at Mystic Beach and wake up to the sound of the waves washing over the small rocks on the beach, pulling them back into the ocean! In order to camp on the beach, you will need to book a Backcountry Registration permit from BC Parks and the fees are just $10 a night for adults and $5 a night for kids (ensure you chose Juan de Fuca Park and China Beach).

WARNINGS:

1. Make sure you set up camp well above the tide line, or you might wake up wet and drifting out to sea!
2. This is wildlife camping – Anything west of Sooke is home to black bears and cougars. Make certain you store your food and personal items appropriately.
3. Dogs are permitted on the trail on leash and please for everyone’s sake – pick up after you dog! As a fellow dog owner, nothing is more irritating than finding someone took the time to bag their dogs poop, but left it on the trail or worse, hanging from a tree branch! Dispose of your dogs poop appropriately when it occurs, or you will be the reason we’ll see a “no dogs allowed” sign in the future!

Sombrio Beach & the Hidden Waterfall

Locals are going to hate me for posting this, as we really don’t want too many people to know about Sombrio. To me, this is the crowning jewel of the entire west coast. I took my girlfriend here last summer and it’s on our bucket list (this summer) to camp on the beach here.

Sombrio is roughly 25-30 mins west from Mystic Beach along BC-14. My first time here, we missed the turn off on the left as it can be hard to spot. There’s a few signs indicating Sombrio and you’ll see a gravel road on the left. YES you can take a car down here (I did this with a little Ford Focus), but be aware of the giant potholes in the road. You’ll eventually come to a small parking lot (again, the importance of arriving early). Unlike Mystic Beach, this is accessible by anyone and it’s just a short 5min downhill stroll to the beach.

When your almost to the beach you’ll see a sign that points you either to the right or the left. I highly recommend, you first go right, as this will take you on a very short hike across the Sombrio river over another suspension bridge!

Next head back to the trail marker, this time going left to Sombrio beach. You’ll see dozens of tents (in the summer) along the beach as most people come here to surf, as it’s the best place on the lower island for surfing. The beach is broken into West Sombrio (where the trail comes out) and East Sombrio. Continue walking along the beach and around the corner to East Sombrio and you’ll see a small creek running down to the ocean (yes, even in the middle of summer the water forms a very small creek to the ocean). Bring water walkers or shoes you don’t mind getting wet and hike up along the creek (there is a bit of a path, but guaranteed you will be in the water a few times, but it’s well worth the hike). It’s a short 5min hike from the beach, but what awaits you is the hidden waterfall at Sombio beach!

Just like with Mystic Beach, beach camping is permitted at Sombrio and where the trail comes out to the beach you can find bear-proof storage lockers for your food and supplies. In order to camp on the beach, you will need to book a Backcountry Registration permit from BC Parks and the fees are just $10 a night for adults and $5 a night for kids (ensure you chose Juan de Fuca Park and Sombrio Beach).

The same warnings apply for beach camping and hiking Sombrio as they do at Mystic Beach. But please, I can’t stress this enough, this our jewel – leave no trace you were ever here so that others can enjoy this for years to come. Bag up your dog’s messes and dispose of them properly and immediately (yes, if you haven’t sensed it yet, this is a big frustration point for locals by visitors to our parks and sights). Make sure you pack out everything you pack in (this means picking up all of your trash, beer and pop cans, etc). Your mother isn’t here to pick up after you, or your kids, so do your part and be respectful of our area. We have a motto here in Canada when camping and hiking – leave no trace!

Botanical Beach

If you’ve made it this far into the blog, you’ve now come to the final destination and as mentioned at the beginning, you can actually start your adventure here and work your way backwards towards Victoria. Botanical Beach is a good 30 minutes drive west from Sombrio and it’s the furthest West you can go on BC-14. You’ll drive through the small village of Port Renfrew, home to a population of about 500 people!

TIP: There are a large number of AirBnB accommodations in Port Renfrew, so if you’d like more time to enjoy all the sights out this way, make this an overnight trip and relax for the evening here in Port Renfrew!

Now ideally, you want to arrive at Botanical Beach at low tide so you can walk on the rocks and explore the tide pools and marine life! Unlike the other spots listed above, Botanical Beach has a massive parking lot, but in the summer it can still be challenging to find a spot as this is the icing on the cake for this adventure. There are all sorts of picnic tables up at the parking lot as well as washrooms (pit toilets). The hike down to the beach from the parking lot is roughly 1km, but it’s steep. Yes people with mobility issues can do it, but you’ll want to stop and catch your breathe from time to time.

Plan to spend about an hour exploring Botanical Beach, as there’s so much to see!

If you’re lucky, you’ll spot a pod of killer whales (aka Orcas) swimming past Botanical Beach!

The best time of year to see whales out this way is between March – April, when you’ll be able to spot the gray whales migrating from Mexico to Alaska.

Anyways, I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and now have an idea of what my Victoria is. It isn’t the downtown core shopping for junk trinkets or crammed into a bus ferried off to the Butchart Gardens and Butterfly World out in Brentwood Bay. Instead, it’s seeing what makes this area famous for the best hiking, camping, beaches, and temperate rainforests in the world! One last reminder – pick up after yourselves to preserve these beautiful and majestic sights as one day it might be nice for you to return with your kids and grandkids. That’s only possible if we all do our part and preserve our land – leave no trace!