Sidney

The town of Sidney is a seaside community with a wonderful variety of shops, restaurants, art galleries, and a number of recreational activities such as carriage rides, harbour ferry tours and free concerts in Bandstand Park. Sidney also has quite a reputation among book lovers for its many excellent new and used book stores.

Other activities include diving around the two sunken diving reefs - the G.B. Church and the HMCS Mackenzie, sailing, kayaking, or Island hopping. Pack a picnic lunch and board a ferry to Sidney Spit Marine Park, a favorite spot for a day out at the beach, where you will also find excellent picnic facilities, drinking water, restrooms, camping sites and hiking trails. The Sidney Spit ferry is located at the Beacon Avenue government wharf in Sidney.

Take a guided whale watching tour on boats specifically designed with equipment to track the movement of three resident pods of orca whales or enjoy a saltwater fishing excursion. Year-round salmon fishing is available, as well as cod, snapper, halibut, sole, crab, prawns and shrimp in local waters.

Stop by the Sidney Historical and Marine Mammal Museum, known for its outstanding whale displays and exhibits, located at the foot of Beacon Avenue. Recent additions to the museum include interactive and hands-on displays. An echolocation hall allows visitors to experience how the mammals are able to hear underwater. In addition to the marine exhibit, the Museum features historical photographs and artifacts on display portraying the history of the Saanich Peninsula. The historical items focus on the Coast Salish Aboriginal Peoples and European and Asian settlers.

Tucked away on Canora Road in a hangar at the Victoria International Airport, the BC Aviation Museum features a hangar full of historic artifacts, photographs and personal histories as well as many aircraft including a full size replica of the Gibson Twin Plane, a Cessna Crane, Luscombe, Pietenpol, large Sikorska helicopter, SE-5, Nieuport, Seabee, a three-quarter Spitfire and Bell 47 helicopter. Volunteers at the museum are currently working on reconstructing a Norseman - a classic single-engine bush plane built in Canada in the 1930's, and an Anson aircraft, used as a training plane in the Second World War.

The Victoria International Airport can be used by private planes and to clear customs. Ground transportation includes an airport shuttle service to downtown Victoria. Both Sidney and the Swartz Bay Ferry terminal, also close by, are served by BC Transit buses to and from downtown Victoria.

McDonald Provincial Park is located a short distance from the Swartz Bay ferry terminal, just off Highway 17. The 20-hectare park has 49 campsites and facilities include pit toilets, water, and picnic tables.