From our various trips to the Sunshine Coast, I became aware of the small provincial marine park: Plumper Cove on Keats Island, just across the water from Gibsons Harbour. It features 20 campsites, pit toilets, and a pump for fresh water (but with a long-term boil water advisory) during the summer months. Camping is $16 per site per night (up to 4 adults and 4 kids). In the off season after mid September, camping is free but the water pump is shut off. There are no other public fresh water sources, so off season campers have to bring in their own water.

Keats Island is serviced by BC Ferries, but the ferry landing is connected to the marine park by a somewhat sketchy 2-km unofficial trail through the woods that doesn’t even properly show up on hiking maps, let alone Google Maps. Understandably, most visitors to the park arrive by water.

Since Keats Island is only 2.5km away from the Langdale Ferry Terminal, I came up with a trip plan:

• park the car in Horseshoe Bay
• walk onto the ferry with all our gear
• launch from Langdale
• paddle to Keats Island

I put the call out for paddle friends, as I don’t like doing adventure paddles solo. I initially wanted to bring Big Bro too, since he did so well at Widgeon Creek. However, due to less-than-favorable weather forecast calling for rain and winds up to 20km/h, the attendance list changed a few times and eventually it was Johnny, Adrian and I sans kids.

Loading the Paddleboard over Kayak Cart

Since I tend to over pack for my paddle camping trips, the first challenge with walk-on ferry is: how do I carry 4 dry bags plus a paddleboard, and still be able to paddle with everything? I could use a 4-wheel wagon for the dry bags, and carry the paddleboard on my back in its pack, but then I would have to carry the wagon the whole paddle. I could invest into slimming down my loadout, starting with getting a small backpacking tent, and forgoing some luxury items such as camp chairs, but I would probably run into a weight problem again if I go paddle camping with a kid in the future. And if the launching spot is some distance away from the ferry terminal, carrying a board plus backpacking gear can be exhausting.

So I opted for putting a set of kayak wheels under my board and using it as my wagon. It was highly effective in helping me carry the weight. I could even balance the weight over the wheels such that I barely need to lift the nose. But pulling a 12 feet board through the ferry terminal is tricky, and the wheels moved too easily so it needed frequent adjustment.

For the future, if the launch spot is confirmed to be at the ferry terminal or at least very close to it, it may actually be easier to pack the board in its bag (preferably with wheels so it can also hold the heavier objects and be pulled) and slim down the load so that everything can be carried for a few hundred meters. Adrian was even able to check his bag at the passenger drop off and have it waiting for him when he got off.

Walk-on Loading at Horseshoe Bay

After parking in the long-term parking lot (the short term surface lot is closer but full), we walked to the ticket booth and paid for 3 passengers.

We were then directed to go around the building and use a temporary passcode to go through the bike gate. Here you can see the difficulty navigating tight turns with a 12-foot board.

After the ferry finished unloading, we were the first to go on to the ferry before the trucks.

We were directed to park our boards off to the side at the front, so that it doesn’t take up any car space.

It was definitely very nice to not have to worry about ferry reservations, line ups, and save on ferry fare. Round trip from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale was $15.15.

Launching at Langdale Ferry Terminal

There are two launch options at Langdale Ferry Terminal: the public float, and a small public beach.

The public float is a very small floating dock on the north of the ferry off-ramp. There was some controversy about BC Ferries wanting to close this a few years ago, but as of right now, it’s open from 5am to midnight, 7 days a week.

It’s a very high dock though, meant mostly for boats, with old tires that make it hard to get in and out of a paddleboard. It only has enough space for 1 boat at a time, so if it’s occupied, paddlers would need to use the beach instead.

The beach can be accessed through a short but rooty trail. It’s a very gentle sloping beach. Rocky at high tide, and sandy/muddy at low tide.

Paddle to Plumper Cove

We launched at 1:45pm under a gloomy, cloudy sky after the ferry departed. Thankfully the forecasted rain hasn’t materialized. The headwind and waves coming north up Shoal Channel was a little challenging.

We planned to go south until the point after Gibsons Harbour, and cross the channel at the narrowest point. After 20 minutes or so of fighting the head wind, we realized it’s only going to get worse if we keep going towards the Straight of Georgia.

We made a quick decision and crossed early, so that we can get into the lee of Keats Island instead.

It was a difficult, approximately 3km crossing fighting a side wind and chop. But half way through the channel, our decision started to pay off. The winds and waves got noticeably less powerful as we got closer to Keats Island.

We took a breather and watched the storm cloud and rain approach us from the north.

But thankfully, we got to Plumper Cove just as the rain started.

Plumper Cove Marine Park

Plumper Cove Marine Park has a large dock and boat buoys. The docks are a bit high for paddlers, but we made it work. A pebbly beach near the end of the dock would have been easier.

We moved our gears up and marvelled at the well-kept park. There was a lawn and some apple trees, a picnic area, and 20 campsites scattered around the park. The sites on north side of the park had more tree cover and privacy, but they are further from the beach and dock. The first few sites on the south had good views of the ocean, but were more exposed.

We settled down in Site 3 and had dinner.

The marine park was very quiet. There were only two other camping parties on this September weekend. A few boaters who stayed on their boats only came down to walk their dogs. Everyone was friendly and polite. Peace and quiet prevailed, except for our own chatter.

Trail to Keats Landing

After dinner, we explored the trail that leads to Keats Landing where BC Ferry stops at. It was a little sketchy because prominent signs warned people that these trails are not maintained and contain hazards such as loose dirt. The trails were not clearly shown on any GPS apps, including Gaia GPS, Maps.me, and AllTrails. Google Maps was simply a hopeless blank. What’s more, the GPS signal is quite spotty here, probably due to the dense tree cover.

We were not prepared for a hike, as we just wanted to go for a after-dinner stroll. But our curiosity kept us going until it started to get dark.

Eventually, we knew we had to start going back with the remaining daylight, as we left everything back at camp, including our headlamps. We had to make a decision: to keep going and try for the ‘Plumper Road‘ on the hiking GPS apps, or to turn around and retrace our steps through the somewhat sketchy trail in dim light. Plumper Road sounded flatter and safer, but the map showed that it ends abruptly on some private property.

We went forward for another minute or so and finally decided to heed the signs, one of which read “Follow signs to Marine Park, NOT Google Maps”, and turn around. Thankfully, we got back 15 minutes before sunset. Plumper Road, we later determined, would have indeed ended in a dead end and we would likely be forced to climb over private fences or double back on the sketchy trails in the dark.

At camp, we wanted to start a campfire but the park attendant who was supposed to be there was nowhere to be found. In pursuit of minimizing weight, we all left our fire starting kits at home too. We collected some damp branches, used dozens of match sticks, and eventually gave up and called it a night. Next time, if having fire is at all desired, don’t skimp out on taking an axe and fire kit.

Keats Island Circumnavigation

We rose early the next morning at 6am, had breakfast, took down camp, and launched at 8:30am to circumnavigate Keats Island. To complete a full circle and cross back to Gibsons, the paddle would take about 4 hours. Forecast was sunny, but with a westerly wind up to 20km/h expected to start at noon.

We launched from the beach at low tide. The beach was rocky and covered in barnacles and oysters. Oyster picking is closed anywhere on Keats Island and in Howe Sound in general.

We decided to do the circle counter clockwise, going southwest to round the point at Salmon Rock as early as possible. We knew this is going to be the most challenging spot of the whole paddle, with significant waves from the Straight of Georgia meeting the strong currents flowing from Howe Sound. To do this as the last leg of the paddle with an increasing head wind and tired arms would be much less desirable.

As we approached Salmon Rock, the swells got progressively bigger. Soon, none of us could stay standing on our boards due to the 2-feet waves. It was low tide, and the gap between Salmon Rock and Home Island did not look passable, so Adrian and I paddled around Home Island, braving formidable winds and chops.

Johnny had a better idea and went closer to assess the gap, and it turned out that there was just enough space to navigate a paddleboard through even at low tide.

After rounding Home Island, the conditions improved dramatically. The winds and waves are damped by island, and what remained were on our backs to push us forward.

The southern coast of Keats Island was the least populated. Everywhere else, the island was dotted with private homes and docks of varying degree of opulence.

The most beautiful part of the paddle was around the east and north coasts. Here, we were treated to some great views of Howe Sound and the overlapping layers of islands and mountains.

With a last look at the most beautiful property on the island (Barnabas Landing), we peeled away and headed back towards Langdale.

We made sure we waited until the ferry was long gone from the terminal before aiming for it. We knew that the next ferry won’t be back until 12:50, so we had an hour-long window to get to the beach. With an open crossing of about 3km, we were very thankful that the forecasted westerly head winds did not materialize.

We pulled up on the Langdale terminal beach just before 12 noon, and had some time to spare to cook up a celebratory tea.

Keats Island is quite extensively settled and very close to the populations of Gibsons, so the paddle did not feel like a wilderness exploration. It was a very fun excursion nonetheless, with just the right dose of ocean rodeo adrenaline, marine wildlife viewing (starfish, seals, great blue herons), and a very convenient launching location right off the Langdale ferry terminal. I would recommend bringing real shoes for hiking the sketchy trails for some additional adventure. There’s apparently a ‘Highest Peak’ viewpoint that looked like challenging fun.

This was a wonderful introduction to paddling in Howe Sound. On the ferry back, we were already plotting out how we would tackle the island next door: Gambier Island – Halkett Bay Marine Provincial Park.