by Keith and Heather Nicol
Paddling boarding is a popular summer activity in the Comox Valley and for good reason- there are many places to put your board in the water from the Ocean to Comox Lake to the Puntledge River. We have just started to get into this activity since we usually go sea kayaking but a paddle board is so much easier to launch that sometimes it is the preferred option. One place where we went recently is perfect for paddle boarding and that is launching from the Comox Dam Recreation site. You can type Comox Dam Recreation Area into to google maps and it will get you there. It took us about 20 minutes to get there from our location in Courtenay. There is a reasonable sized parking area with picnic tables and a small swimming area . To launch you need to get your board down some rock steps. Launching with a kayak or canoe would be much more difficult due to the steep entry to the launch point.
We were mainly there to test out a new board and to see the area so only paddled down the river about 1.5 km. We found there was little current in the river as far as we went and this area was nicely protected from the wind on July 24 when we went there. The water is very clear and we saw people using there boards to swimming from in some of the deeper areas. It appears from the maps that you could paddle down about 3 km or so before you hit the next dam. Next time we will definitely explore further. Check this area out for paddle boarding if you haven't already. Of course wear your lift jacket and bring along appropriate safety gear like a whistle and tow line . Also note water flow can vary so use common sense when exploring this area. Let us know your favourite places to paddle board in the Comox Valley. See you on the water.
No comments:
Post a Comment