English Bay (First) Beach

Beach Avenue between Gilford and Bidwell Streets

This is the downtown core's most populated beach attractive to people of all ages. Vancouver's first self-proclaimed lifeguard, Joe Fortes, resided here in a beachside shack just after the turn of the 20th Century, protecting and teaching the beginning swimmer. The present bathhouse built in 1932 replaced an earlier more ornate structure put up in the early 1900s. Many private homes and hotels once blocked access to English Bay before the Park Board made it a long-term objective to purchase private properties and remove any obstacle for the public's enjoyment of the waterfront.

Features

• On the Stanley Park Seawall system
• Concession
• Washroom
• Kayak rentals
• Kayak storage
• Stand-alone BBQs allowed (subject to restrictions) nearby at Ceperley Meadow
• Lifeguarded Victoria Day (late May) to Labour Day (early September)
• Swimming raft with large slide
• Pay Parking
• Sand volleyball courts: 2