By Keith and Heather Nicol
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| Heather paddling past a Blue Heron near the marina |
On Sunday, August
14 we decided to see the scenic Oak Bay area of Victoria from the seat of a
kayak. This area is has lots of small rocky islands with sand beaches and even
amazing views of Mt Baker on a clear day. Ocean River Sports has a small
operation out of the Oak Bay Marina but it is perfect for exploring this area
by SUP or sea kayak. The dock area was busy with kayaks coming and going but
Ben Johnson, the dock staff for Ocean River Sports got us out on the water as
quickly as he could. He gave us a map showing the best areas for kayaking for
our 2 hour rental. We paddled our 2 singles out of the marina and around a
small island. Here a blue heron was perched on the rocks along with some shore
birds including several greater yellow legs. We always like seeing shore birds
scampering along the water’s edge and sea kayaks are ideal vehicles for viewing
them.
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| Seals looking on with snow capped Mt Baker in the distance |
From there we
headed to Mary Tod Island and out to Emily Islets – 2 small rocky islands. The
smaller of these was covered in seals and with 3286 meter Mt Baker rising out
of the fog in the distance it made for a special siting. After getting some
pictures we headed north to Cattle Point.
Ben Johnson had told us not to head out to the outer islands in this
area because of strong currents. Cattle Point serves an entrance to Cadboro Bay
and we paddled along this rocky shoreline lined with large houses. We kayaked
well into Cadboro Bay before we checked our watches and decided to head back.
On the way back we paddle along Willows Beach which was lined with people
enjoying the sunny warm weather. This beach would be an ideal place to pull in
if you needed to stretch. Then all too soon we were back at our launch point.
We recommend checking out this area for its variety of scenic coastlines and
wildlife. Thanks Ben for doing a great job. For more information see: http://oceanriver.com/adventures/
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| Heather paddling past Emily Islets |
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