Whether they’re secret stretches of white sand or tucked-away coastal treasures, these beautiful Canadian beaches are less-travelled destinations you can’t help but fall in love with.
Carters Beach
Port Mouton, Nova Scotia’s Carters Beach, looks like something out of a tropical travel brochure. Three crescents of pure white silica sand hug a body of water turquoise enough to match.
While this open Atlantic beach remains delightfully chilly throughout the year, residents point visitors to the protected tidal lagoon tucked inside Carters Beach’s sandy dunes. It heats up just right during those rare Canadian summers for a swim.
San Josef Bay
Hidden deep in the wild northwestern coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, lies this untouched Pacific paradise. Accessed by a long, bumpy gravel logging road and then a 45-minute hike through coastal temperate rainforest, your efforts are rewarded tenfold upon arrival at low tide.
Extraordinary sea caves, secret sandy beaches, and towering rock formations topped with weathered trees appear as the tide rolls out.
Thunder Cove Beach
Away from Cavendish’s popular summer beaches jam-packed with visitors, Islanders enjoy this secret spot out in Darnley.
Thunder Cove Beach features a dazzling contrast of dark, rust-red sandstone cliffs and moving cream-hued sand dunes carved by strong Atlantic tides into unique photogenic rock sculptures, such as the iconic and fragile Teacup Rock.
Little Cove Beach
Tranquil and rocky, Little Cove Beach is a less crowded, traffic-jammed alternative to Bruce Peninsula Grotto, located in Tobermory, Ontario.
Set back from the road, this pebbled beachfront oasis seems secret and secluded, nestled between age-old limestone pavement and thick cedar trees. The water is exceptionally clear and shines with electric, bright Mediterranean-blue colour, but do brace yourself for the crisp and refreshing Georgian Bay temperatures.
Sandy Hook Beach
Located on the isolated and blustery Îles-de-la-Madeleine archipelago off the coast of Québec lies this epic, 16-kilometre strip of bright white silica sand. It feels incredibly remote.
Called Plage du Havre by locals, it hugs the coast in a gigantic crescent of sandspit, where kilometres of white sand converge with the cobalt blue sea of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Walkers here often say it feels like they’re walking into infinity.
Mystic Beach
Reached by crossing a suspension bridge and a spirited climb through a moss-lined temperate rainforest on Vancouver Island’s Juan de Fuca Trail in British Columbia, Canada, Mystery Beach seems like it was ripped from the pages of a fairy tale.
The highlight of this driftwood-strewn shale shore is a dramatic, literal waterfall tumbling down a vertical sandstone cliff face right into the rolling surf of the Pacific Ocean.
Katherine Cove
Contrary to Lake Superior’s reputation for dark volcanic rock and foreboding shorelines, this secret beach nestled within Lake Superior Provincial Park boasts powdery soft sand and unbelievably clear, calm water.
The shelf here is so shallow for so many meters out that the sunlight actually heats the water enough to swim in mid-summer. One can easily wade or paddle out to a smooth rock island for sunbathing.
Bennett Lake Beach
Bordering Lake Bennett in Carcross, Yukon, is an unexpected strip of fine sand dunes framed by enormous snow-capped sub-arctic mountains.
Completely at odds with what one might expect to find in the north, the surreal, sandy beach provides visitors with a place to unwind lakeside and take in views of the midnight sun dancing across the northern wilderness in high summer.
Middlebrun Bay
Situated on a remote spit of Lake Superior sand in Sleeping Giant Provincial Park outside Thunder Bay, Ontario, this secluded beach can only be reached by following a calm 5-kilometre trail through thick pine trees and across moist wetlands.
Accessed only by foot via a hike, this secluded and serene spot sees zero tourists, ensuring you will have the sweeping view of the chilly inland sea all to yourself.
Plage de la Pointe aux Bouleaux
Reachable only by boat on Québec’s remote North Coast, Mistastin Beach in Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve looks like it’s straight out of the prehistoric era.
Pearl-grey sands are dotted by giant moss-covered limestone monoliths thrust up by severe tides, standing as timeless guardians over this dramatic stretch of coastline that you’ll share with the occasional seabird and whale.
Grand-Anse Beach
Hidden behind high, uneven cliff faces of ocean-eroded rocks on Grande-Anse, New Brunswick, lies this hidden gem of a saltwater beach getaway in the north.
Visitors can spend time scavenging along the sandy shores of Chaleur Bay and watching one of the best sunsets (arguably the best in New Brunswick) with little to no obstruction.
Hawk Beach
At the very tip of Nova Scotia’s Cape Sable Island lies a pristine white-sand beach with an unbelievable prehistoric secret lurking beneath the surface for most of the day.
At extremely low tide, however, visitors can see exposed evidence of a 1,500-year-old drowned forest of petrified black spruce tree stumps left standing on end from when ancient sea levels slowly rose from their original position on land.
Winter Cove
Hidden on Saturna Island, one of British Columbia’s least populated Gulf Islands, this secluded grassy beachfront has dramatic views across the Salish Sea.
A peaceful retreat for kayakers and nature enthusiasts, the beachfront overlooks a busy marine traffic channel where you can expect to frequently see pods of resident orcas hunting along the shoreline with no crowds.
Sources: Please see here for a complete listing of all sources that were consulted in the preparation of this article.
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