Getting to the Sunshine Coast

• Author: WantsToTravelMore
• Accommodation: Vancouver Coast & Mountains

Considering the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia is actually part of the BC mainland, it’s odd that you need to take a 40 minute ferry ride to get there.  BC Ferries provides the same sort of ships from Horseshoe Bay that they do when you sail to Victoria or Nanaimo on Vancouver Island.  

You arrive in Langdale and then you drive the Sunshine Coast Highway (a.k.a. Highway 101) to your destination.  When driving this highway, keep in mind that it’s all two-lane undivided roadway, which isn’t what a lot of us consider a highway.  There are a lot of bends and turns and changing speed limits.  The locals know the road well and must go mental when faced with tourists who are for the first time negotiating bends in the road.  A local resident told me that the RCMP is fairly effective in enforcing the speed limit.  And you can guess why!  An accident on the road would gum up the entire road network for the Sunshine Coast!

Oddly the highway is not rife with ocean scenes because all the crinkles in the coast line are hidden from the road by forest.  The Sunshine Coast’s overall terrain is rocky and steep.  One place to stop on the way north for a good view and some seaside is Davis Bay.

At dusk and night times be sure to watch for deer by the side of the road.  A big beast can also do a lot of damage to your car and you.