Being avid campers and having married on Sep 2, a holiday weekend and usually the last best time to camp in Eastern Canada (in a tent), we spent our honeymoon camping and subsequently most of our anniversaries doing the same. When the girls were in school, it was always a great ‘last hoorah’ and when they were older and gone, we often extended our camping trips because school was back and campgrounds less busy. So, in keeping with our tradition, although retired now, we booked an anniversary trip to an island we had yet to see – Cortes Island.
To get to the island we had to take a ferry from Campbell River to Quadra Island – drive to Heriot Bay – and take another ferry to Cortes. Smelt Bay Provincial Park is about a 30 minute drive once you disembark. Cortes Island is one of the Discovery Island. The island is 25 km long, 13 km wide and has a population of about 1100 permanent residents.
Arriving at the campground we checked the board as directed to ensure we were registered and drove to our site along a very narrow camp road. We noted that most of the sites were quite small and many not very level – our van barely fit in our spot. It would appear the campground is set up more for tents, although there is an overflow parking area that would fit big rigs. None of the sites have a water view – to get to the beach and day use area you walk down a road for about 10 minutes. The parking / overflow area is quite large and does have great views of the ocean, so hmmmmm. maybe a better place to camp (in my opinion). There is a large grassy area which would be great for bocce, volleyball, etc. and the beach has lots of space to stretch out and run with dogs. We spied a pod of whales off in the distance, and there were a lot of sailboats and other vessels out and about. We had to move to another site the following day, also very small and too close to our neighbour. Given the lack of privacy, lack of view, and heavily wooded site we decided the next day to go back to Quadra and grab a site and We Wai Kai campground which we have been to before and really like. Although they were quite full up, we scored a great site at the end of a row which was very spacious. The walk around Rebecca Spit is always scenic and peaceful.