Crescent Beach is a beachside community within the

South Surrey South Surrey is a community within the City of Surrey, British Columbia, located on the Semiahmoo peninsula in the southern portion of the city of Surrey, sharing a border with the city of White Rock. Neighbourhoods of South Surrey include Cresc ...

town centre of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada next to

Boundary Bay , image = Boundary Bay Regional Park in Tsawwassen.jpg , image_size = 260px , alt = , caption = Looking east across Boundary Bay from Tsawwassen , image_bathymetry = , alt_bathymetry ...

and Mud Bay, across from

Delta, British Columbia Delta is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, as part of Greater Vancouver. Located on the Fraser Lowland south of Fraser River's south arm, it is bordered by the city of Richmond on the Lulu Island to the north, N ...

. It is home to 1,200 residents, mostly in single-family homes.

History

Crescent Beach has been a summer destination for centuries. In pre-colonial times, it was the location of a significant temporary summer camp for area aboriginals. The tidal mudflats were a good clam digging area. Wild berries, especially cranberries, and a

weir A weir or low head dam is a barrier across the width of a river that alters the flow characteristics of water and usually results in a change in the height of the river level. Weirs are also used to control the flow of water for outlets of l ...

site were located at nearby

Nicomekl River The Nicomekl River springs from the ground in Langley, British Columbia and travels west through the city to Surrey's Crescent Beach, where it empties into Mud Bay, the northernmost section of the Boundary Bay of the Strait of Georgia. It has a ...

and Serpentine River areas. The area was part of Snokomish territory until a

smallpox Smallpox was an infectious disease caused by variola virus (often called smallpox virus) which belongs to the genus Orthopoxvirus. The last naturally occurring case was diagnosed in October 1977, and the World Health Organization (WHO) c ...

epidemic in 1850 forced the survivors and their lands to be amalgamated into the

Semiahmoo First Nation Semiahmoo First Nation ( ) is the band government of the Semiahmoo people, a Coast Salish subgroup. The band's main community and offices are located on the Semiahmoo Indian Reserve which is sandwiched between the boundary of White Rock, Brit ...

Musqueam The Musqueam Indian Band ( ; hur, xʷməθkʷəy̓əm ) is a First Nations band government in the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is the only First Nations band whose reserve community lies within the boundaries of the City of Vancou ...

bands also travelled to use the lands seasonally. Artifacts such as arrowheads and jade have been found on the beach in the modern era. First Nations' burial sites were uncovered in 1970 by sewer excavation. The Semiahmoo First Nation attributes three to five metres depth of the land base to archaeological deposits of clams, charcoal and fire-cracked rocks without which the area would largely just be a sandspit. Modern excavations in some parts have also uncovered more than 700 human remains. The first Europeans to chart the area were Spanish sailors. Captain Galiano titled it San Rafael Point on his map. After the creation of British Columbia, the first owner of Crescent Beach area was John Musselwaite of Royal Engineers in 1871. In 1909, the development of the Great Northern Railway from Blaine, Washington to

New Westminster New Westminster (colloquially known as New West) is a city in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia, Canada, and a member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It was founded by Major-General Richard Moody as the capi ...

provided easier access to the beach for

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

-area residents. In 1913, permanent dikes (now serving as the waterfront walkway) were established to permit subdivision development. 1912 saw a development of pier and the Crescent Beach Development Company promoted Crescent Beach as a resort area. Notable Vancouverites began building summer homes in the neighbourhood. That year, Captain Watkin Williams also opened the Crescent Beach Hotel, a 21-room building with a restaurant, store and post office. The hotel burned down in February 1950.

Oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not ...

imported from Japan seeded a thriving business for some decades until the Crescent Oyster Company was closed in 1961 due to river pollution and contemporary concerns about shellfish paralytic poisoning.

Recreation

Crescent Beach is home t
Alexandra Neighbourhood House
the Wickson Pier and Blackie Spit Park, all local landmarks. Crescent Beach is the home of the "Crescent Beach Swim Club", a local club that offers swimming, sailing, tennis, water polo, volleyball, and triathlon lessons to children. Crescent Beach walkway

On the southern end of Crescent Beach near the bottom of 101 steps staircase at 24 Avenue is the 120 tonne Crescent Rock boulder. Crescent Rock Beach is the 6.5 km. long rugged strip of shoreline from this large rock to White Rock at the base of the Ocean Park bluffs that is utilized by

naturists Naturism is a lifestyle of practising non-sexual social nudity in private and in public; the word also refers to the cultural movement which advocates and defends that lifestyle. Both may alternatively be called nudism. Though the two terms a ...

and nudists for nude sunbathing and skinny-dipping. The City of Surrey refuses to endorse its clothing-optional use as it is outside their jurisdiction but the RCMP have acknowledged that nude use on this area out of sight from the marine parks at Crescent Beach and White Rock is legal under Canadian case law. The beach area has showers to wash feet and legs to prevent

swimmer's itch Swimmer's itch, cercarial dermatitis or schistosome dermatitis is a short-term allergic contact dermatitis occurring in the skin of humans that have been infected by water-borne schistosomes, a type of flatworm. It is common in freshwater, brack ...

, a short-term immune reaction caused by waterborne parasites seeking freshwater snails.

Blackie Spit birdwatching

The northernmost portion of Crescent Beach is Blackie Spit, named after a settler and known as a birdwatching site beside Mud Bay and near

. The City of Surrey created Blackie Spit Park in 1996. Northview from Mid Bay 2014

The park is an annual migration rest stop for the

Pacific Flyway The Pacific Flyway is a major north-south flyway for migratory birds in the Americas, extending from Alaska to Patagonia. Every year, migratory birds travel some or all of this distance both in spring and in fall, following food sources, heading ...

for 300 species of birds including 10,000 ducks and geese. It is the only area in Boundary Bay where purple martins nest. The

eelgrass Eelgrass is a common name for several plants and may refer to: * ''Zostera'', marine eelgrass * ''Vallisneria'', freshwater eelgrass {{Short pages monitor