English Bay is an open

bay A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

northwest of the Burrard Peninsula in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada, extending from the

headland A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, Jo ...

between Siwash Rock and Prospect Point on

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 cit ...

's Downtown peninsula in the northeast, to the northwestern tip of

Point Grey Point Grey () is a headland marking the southern entrance to English Bay and Burrard Inlet in British Columbia, Canada. The headland is the site of Wreck Beach, Tower Beach, Point Grey Beach and most notably, since 1925, on its top is the Poin ...

in the southwest. The bay encompasses the coasts of

Stanley Park Stanley Park is a public park in British Columbia, Canada, that makes up the northwestern half of Vancouver's Downtown Vancouver, Downtown peninsula, surrounded by waters of Burrard Inlet and English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay. The park bor ...

, the West End,

Kitsilano Kitsilano ( ) is a neighbourhood in the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Named after Squamish chief August Jack Khatsahlano, Kitsilano is located along the southern shore of English Bay, Vancouver, English Bay between Fairview, Vancou ...

, West Point Grey and the

University Endowment Lands The University Endowment Lands (UEL) is an unincorporated area in Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It lies west of Vancouver and east of the University of British Columbia's Point Grey campus lands. Most of the University Endowment ...

, and makes up the southeastern portion of the outer

Burrard Inlet Burrard Inlet () is a shallow-sided fjord in the northwestern Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada. Formed during the last Ice Age, it separates the City of Vancouver and the rest of the lowland Burrard Peninsula to the south from the coa ...

. There is a narrow

inlet An inlet is a typically long and narrow indentation of a shoreline such as a small arm, cove, bay, sound, fjord, lagoon or marsh, that leads to an enclosed larger body of water such as a lake, estuary, gulf or marginal sea. Overview In ...

named

False Creek False Creek () is a short narrow inlet in the heart of Vancouver, separating the Downtown Vancouver, Downtown and West End, Vancouver, West End list of neighbourhoods in Vancouver, neighbourhoods from the rest of the city. It is one of the four ...

at its eastern end.

Attractions

English Bay Beach, near the city's West End residential neighbourhood, is a popular sunbathing, swimming, and sunset-watching beach in the downtown Vancouver area. Other downtown beaches facing English Bay include Sunset Beach, Second Beach, and Third Beach. Along the south shore of the bay lie Kitsilano Beach, Jericho Beach, Locarno Beach, and the Spanish Banks beaches, while on the North Shore are Ambleside Beach and various smaller cove-beaches in the city of

West Vancouver West Vancouver is a district municipality in the province of British Columbia, Canada. A member municipality of the Metro Vancouver Regional District, West Vancouver is situated on the north shore of Burrard Inlet to the northwest of the city ...

. The beaches facing English Bay are a major tourist attraction all year long, with the peak season being late summer. The Vancouver Seawall runs all the way around English Bay from

in the northeast around False Creek at

facing the

Strait of Georgia The Strait of Georgia () or the Georgia Strait is an arm of the Salish Sea between Vancouver Island and the extreme southwestern mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada, and the extreme northwestern mainland coast of Washington, United Stat ...

in the southwest. This is a favourite destination for walkers, runners, bicyclists, and roller-bladers. (Note: the Seawall is one-way for cyclists and roller-bladers, running counter-clockwise from just east of the

Lions Gate Bridge The Lions Gate Bridge, opened in 1938 and officially known as the First Narrows Bridge, is a suspension bridge that crosses the First Narrows (Vancouver), first narrows of Burrard Inlet and connects the City of Vancouver, British Columbia, to ...

to Third Beach.) English Bay Beach is host to a number of public events. The Celebration of Light is a fireworks competition that is held for two weeks every summer (usually the last week in July and first week in August). While this competition often struggles to secure funding, it has successfully run since 1990 and is the largest off-shore fireworks display in the world. Each winter it is the host of Vancouvers' annual Polar Bear Swim and each summer the Vancouver Pride Parade and Festival is held on English Bay Beach.

History

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, English Bay Beach was home to Vancouver's first official

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and Cardiopulmonary ...

, the legendary Joe Fortes, who taught hundreds of the city's early residents how to swim, and patrolled the beach from his cabin on its shore. Today, the waters of the bay are often dotted with hundreds of small pleasure boats, as well as huge freighters waiting at anchor to load cargoes at Vancouver's port. The beach was the site of an

oil spill An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into th ...

on April 8, 2015. The official cause of the spill has not been confirmed, but at least of "

bunker fuel Heavy fuel oil (HFO) is a category of fuel oils of a tar-like consistency. Also known as bunker fuel, or residual fuel oil, HFO is the result or remnant from the distillation and cracking process of petroleum. For this reason, HFO contains sev ...

" are known to have escaped from a cargo ship into the bay. The highly toxic oil later washed up on nearby beaches, creating a slick thick. At least twenty seabirds were injured or affected by the spill, but the full extent of any environmental and economic damage is unknown at this early stage. The federal government was criticized for its response to the spill, including the delay in notifying the public of the health hazard, by the mayor and premier, environmental scientists, and an international shipping expert. Coast Guard officials defended the response, with regional director Assistant Commissioner Roger Girouard saying, "it was exceptional". The beaches were tested and most were reopened following a ten-day closure. While the water and soil at most of the beaches tested was found not to have harmful levels of oil present, the government cautioned that "small amounts" of oil may remain, and urged people to be aware of the possible hazard and avoid contact with any oil. The reopened beaches will continue to be tested and the need for further cleanup assessed as needed.

Gallery

File:English_Bay_First_Beach.jpg, Looking along English Bay Beach in the West End File:English Bay Beach Vancouver (42912670420).jpg, English Bay Beach, Vancouver File:English_Bay_01.jpg, English Bay at sunset File:StanleyPark4.jpg, English Bay Pier from Stanley Park File:Sunset on the inuksuk at English Bay.jpg, Sunset on the

inuksuk An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) or inukshuk is a type of stone landmark or cairn built by, and for the use of, Inuit, Iñupiat, Kalaallit, Yupik, and other peoples of the Arctic region of North America. These structures are found in northern Canad ...

at English Bay File:English Bay Vancouver (43813270275).jpg, English Bay Vancouver File:English Bay from the air.jpg, Aerial photo of English Bay looking east, including downtown, the West End, and Kitsilano

References

External links

City of Vancouver - English Bay Beach
{{British Columbia hydrography Bays of British Columbia Coast of British Columbia Landforms of Vancouver Beaches of Vancouver