Adventure & Outdoors
Flat, breezy, and bald-eagle-dotted: Delta's Centennial Beach to the dyke, where you set the distance and the eagles set the pace.
Boundary Bay Regional Park, Centennial Beach entrance at 12th Avenue and Boundary Bay Road
More infoBoundary Bay is Metro Vancouver's widest sky, a vast tidal expanse where the dyke trail runs flat and breezy between open strait and salt marsh. Start at Centennial Beach for actual sandy shoreline, then set your own distance along the gravel path toward Beach Grove. Bald eagles patrol overhead the whole way. One honest warning: there is almost no shade, so make it a golden-hour date.
Start at the Centennial Beach entrance off Boundary Bay Road at 12th Avenue, where there's a big free park lot right by the sand (note: a weekend/holiday permit-parking program runs the nearby streets May to early September, so use the main lot or arrive early). Walk down to the beach first, because Centennial is an actual sandy, swimmable beach and the perfect basecamp. Then pick up the dyke: it's a flat, smooth gravel path with the open tidal bay on one side and salt marsh and farm fields on the other, and you simply decide how far to go, a short stroll to the beach grass or a long out-and-back toward Beach Grove. Scan the sky and the fields for bald eagles and raptors; in the migration seasons the bay is thick with shorebirds and snow geese. The date move: bring a blanket and snacks and make the beach your turnaround reward, or time the whole thing for low, soft light when the wet sand mirrors the sky. Don't miss the spot where the dyke curves and the bay opens up completely. There's almost no shade out here, so save it for a cooler part of the day on hot days.
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