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Vancouver, BC, Surfski
Looking Northwest at False Creek, English Bay and Burrard Inlet
Photo: tripsavvy.com - Click to enlarge
Vancouver is a large coastal city in Western Canada located at the Southwest corner of British Columbia. It is one of the most strikingly beautiful urban areas in the world, surrounded by mountains and brimming with public marine shoreline, rivers and waterways. The city and its nearby communities hosts a thriving bunch of paddlers who participate in a variety of paddling disciplines. As the long time parent of the Canadian Downwind Champs (on hiatus) originally held in nearby Howe Sound, the Vancouver area hosts the largest concentration of downwind paddling enthusiasts in Canada.
Downwind
- Bowen Island video
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- Spanish Banks Beach to Burrard Civic Marina (Vanier Park) approx. 6 km - if you can paddle upwind from Spanish Banks you can add to your downwind distance video
- Ambleside
- Burrard Inlet Run - Ambleside/Hollyburn Sailing Club - Caulfeild Cove Burrard Inlet 7.6 km Downwindfun
- Lighthouse Park to Ambleside - 8 km
- Eagle Harbour to Ambleside - 12 km video
- Gibsons, Howe Sound - See Sunshine Coast
Tidal Races
- Ambleside Park Laps A great place to surf laps in the city. After surfing up the current, turn around and go even faster back into the waves and surf down again!
Other Paddling
Video
Conditions
- Be prepared for COLD WATER - usually sub 50 deg. F / 10 deg C year round
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Weather
- AyeTides. For iPhone, iTouch and Ipad.
- Windy - Ambleside Wind Forecast w/ webcam
- BigWaveDave Mostly Vancouver Island spots, but includes Vancouver locales also
- BigWaveDave English Bay (websites move links around so if this is wrong look for English Bay under forecasts)
Webcams
- English Bay, Kits Beach, Vanier Park, Sunset Beach, Westend, Grouse Mountain, Ferry - updates each minute
- Ambleside Hollyburn Sailing Club this webcam is just west of Ambleside Park
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Races
Clubs and Groups
- Burnaby Canoe and Kayak Sprint Canoe & Kayak
- Dragon Zone Paddling Club Dragon Boats
- False Creek Racing Canoe Club Sprint Canoe & Kayak, OC, Surfski, Dragon Boat
- Jericho
- Club Locarno SUP, Row, Kayak, Surfski, Sail, Windsurf
- Jericho Paddling Club OC, Surfski, SUP
- Pitt Meadows Paddling Club OC, Dragon Boat, Voyageur Canoe…
- Canadian Canoe/Kayak Club Finder enter your city or town in the address search box
Rentals
Vancouver is actually one of the better locations for surfski rental. General advice about surfski rental.
- Western Canoe/Kayak - Sea kayaks, sit on top kayaks, Tandem Canoes (including racing canoes for Ski to Sea Race), SUPs (unfortunately no surfskis)
Local Coaching
OC
- Kamini Jain Right Angle Performance - Coaches dragon boat, outrigger canoe, surfski and kayak racing
Sprint Kayak/Canoeing
See clubs above that have sprint kayaking and canoeing
Surfski/Downwind
- A little farther afield - Bellingham Downwind Experts
Injury and Recovery
- Greg Redman http://wavephysio.ca/
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Dealers
- Coast Outdoors These folks (along with their waterside rental and training facility at Deep Cove) are long time supporters of the PNW paddling community. They can be a very good source of information about paddle sports and paddling in the Vancouver area. And they run the annual Tuesday Night Races at Deep Cove and used to run the Canadian Downwind Championships in Howe Sound.
- Pacific Boarder wetsuits
- Think Surfskis (Vancouver, BC based manufacturer)
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Repair
- Vancouver has many boat repair companies (examples Nordmänner Marine Services, MRV Marine Services) who can probably perform simple patch jobs very well (if your job isn't too small for them), but you might want to go with a dedicated small boat shop for major structural repairs? Or one of these locals may be completely capable of major structural repairs on carbon with good paint matching etc. Do your own due diligent research and please let us know if you find someone good.
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Resources
Photo: tourismvancouver.com
