Sidney Spit Ferry Beach Day

Two islands stitched by a wooden bridge, an Airstream in the woods, and a hot tub pointed at the stars.

A 35-minute ferry to Salt Spring's 140-vendor Saturday market, lavender fields, cheese farms, and a fireplace waiting at the end.

Tofino in winter: 20-foot swells and a fireplace. In summer: surf lessons. Ucluelet is the quieter locals' version of both.

Canada's only Booktown, where the plan is to pick a book for each other and compare notes over a cinnamon bun.

A flat, mile-long breakwater into Sooke Harbour, where the eagles and seals show up and the Olympic Mountains do the rest.

The gnarliest tree in Canada and a tide-pool beach crawling with purple sea stars, two hours from Victoria.

A flat, shaded rail trail that ends at a peaceful cove and a beloved local swimming hole near Sooke.

BC's warmest wine country doubles as a float-home cheese crawl and tubing river, all under an hour from Victoria.

Twenty-five oceanfront cabins one hour west of Victoria, each with a private hot tub and the Olympic Mountains across the water.

A full Nordic circuit on a restored 1943 barge at Ship Point, three saunas, cold plunges and hot tubs with the Inner Harbour lapping beside you.

Sidney's flat seaside walk past bronze sculptures and loafing seals, with the Gulf Islands and Mount Baker for a backdrop.

A wobbly candy-coloured village of floating homes, harbour seals, and fish and chips on the dock.

Tasting flights of award-winning organic cider on a ten-acre Saanich Peninsula orchard above the water, reservations required on weekends.

The two-lake, sandy-beach, Garry-oak-trail date fifteen minutes from downtown Victoria that somehow costs nothing except May-to-September parking.