Third Beach

One of several beaches lining Stanley Park, this one offers a nice view towards the W side. From here, one can see UBC, the North Shore, and the Gulf Islands.
Parking is available in a giant lot inland. To get to the beach from the lot, one has to walk down a flight of stairs. Of course, the beach is also accessible from the Seawall.
There’s a concession stand here where one can get food such as burgers and ice cream.
To be honest, the sand quality here isn’t the best. Parts of the ground are simply silt or clay. This makes the ground extremely slippery, especially in the areas farther away from the Seawall. It’s literally like walking on grease. As counter-​intuitive as it sounds, walking on the seaweed instead of the bare patches provides much more grip.

Once upon a summer’s night, my two best friends and I went on a mini adventure walking through the West End in search of Third Beach. We heard a little rumour that there was a drum circle event that happened every Tuesday evening and we were extremely curious to see what it was all about!
We arrived just after sunset at around 8:30pm… and it basically felt like we were transported to some foreign exotic land far far far from Vancouver. We heard loud drums beating, and saw people throwing fireworks and wielding staffs that were lit from both ends with fire. There was a huge crowd of people dancing on the beach, it was like one big episode of Survivor, meets Jumanji ! I was so in awe — I had to just stand there and sway and bob my head to the strong beat of the drums.
What an amazing experience, if you haven’t been to a drum circle event before, I strongly recommend you get your sense of adventure on and make the trek down there! You can easily walk, or even take your bike! You will need to see it to believe it.

best beach in Vancouver

This is a gorgeous beach. Unlike all of the other beaches in the city the sand is thick and isn’t full or rocks. This used to be isolated enough to not draw big crowds but times change.
I don’t go out in the water often and this beach doesn’t change that. The ocean floor drops off close to shore and the water is cold. That’s the one complaint and it’s no biggie.

Third Beach is my «I don’t want to cycle for an hour» beach. It’s pretty easy to get to via bus, bike or car.
The beach is long enough that I can always find some sand to call my own, but small enough that you can find your pals easily. The concession/​bathrooms are up a set of stairs, so you’re getting some extra cardio in.
The view’s fantastic: mountains, big ships, sunsets and a lot of attractive people!

When it is sunny like today, the beauty of Vancouver is the beaches and parks, this being one of them. It gets busy when we have days like these, 23 degrees, however, everyone is happy. I like having pic nics and listening to the music of the ice cream truck. I am not a beach person but I am a sun person. One of the gems that this city holds on a nice day. Lots of dogs to pet (with permission) etc. When I get into one of those bitching about Vancouver moods, I think about our lovely beaches and parks and how spoiled we are.

I have always thought they should rename it the place bicycle beach because that it by far the best to access this wonderful underused beach with some of the best views of Sunsets and English Bay in the area.

Pretty chill place to stop and rest while biking around the park perimeter. The views are calming and expansive and it’s not too crowded or noisy. Great place for a picnic or a nap.

Such an awesome beach. It can get very random here, coming from around the corner, you don’t expect to see the beach, but here it is! Great place to stop by and get some sun in between bike ride around the seawall. Just get your beach towel, find a spot and there you go. You might be sitting in between two topless ladies if you were like me.

This beach is pretty cool, it’s kinda like an all purpose beach, quite a variety of people from families to older people etc. It’s also cool if ya like to bike or rollerblade or walk around the seawall as well. yeah it’s ok…

Pass the sunblock SPF 100, I may be a freaky gothic bitch, but I do love me some beaches! At third beach, I am at home — this beach is filled with young people that are tattooed, pierced, and hiding their alcohol from the lifeguards on duty. You’ll find lots of good-​looking half-​naked people here showing off their ass (ets), so if you are single and still looking for that summer lovin, this is probably a good place to start!
There aren’t any snack bars or bathrooms close by, you’ll have to keep trecking over to second beach for those ammenities, and if you want to lock up your bike if you rode the seawall, better get there early as the bike racks fill up super fast. Otherwise if you’re with a friend (like I was) you can lock your bikes together so they can’t really go anywhere.

I won’t be back to third beach.
I agree with Robin, the view is amazing and the Seawall bike there was a beautiful way to enjoy our city as well. However; the Rules on this beach are starting to get out of control. We were literally ejected from the water on our last trip for having flotation devices in the water, as a group of adults, 2 of which are former lifeguards we felt it a bit hard to swallow. There is also no ball play on the beach so we watched the most irritable lifeguard I’ve ever met chase around children and adults alike for a good portion of our day. Our fate was sealed when the obnoxious guard came back to us to tell us that flotation devices were the «leading cause of death in the world» and «have you ever seen a dead body?!!».
From what I can tell the once chill, laid back, less known beauty of third beach is starting to resemble something more of a Third Reich. I’ll stop at Sunset instead of making the trek to third next time I’m too lazy for the Wreck Trek.

Yes, there may be one fixie for every square metre of sand, and yes, at the same time, this once secluded beach is starting to become a bit overrun with big-​muscled tattooed types, but hell — where else am I going to go to work on my freckles whilst drinking my go-​to cheapo bottle of white in peace?
Really, I think a close friend (who will remain nameless) sums it best: «I go to drink beers while hanging around hot Tumblr-​worthy girls who are wearing next to nothing.»
Also: the view is pretty killer.

After a day at Grouse mountain, it was nice to drive around Stanley park. One of the main spots were 3^rd Beach/​Ferguson Point…
Very gorgeous place!!! Great view of N. Vancouver, the Bay, and the cargo ships out that way.
You can go down the beach and even jog on the trail that outlines the edge of the water.
Nice relaxing spot.

Third Beach, you are First in my books…
You may have difficulty finding parking here at the more busy times, but other options are available and suggested. Bike, hike, walk, stroll here. It is worth it.
The surrounding views, the wide open expanses of beach if you prefer a bit of quiet space to dig in the sand. A long and wide stretch of tidal area makes for some great exploring and sand castle and moat building during low tides. During the rising tide you can see if you have engineered your sand castle well, and during high tide, go for a snorkle and explore the ruins.
All in all a lovely way to spend the day, whatever the weather… (
)

Sun! Sand! Beers! Babes! Ocean!
What more can I say? I love this place.

It’s summer and you know what that means? Beach time!
Heading to third beach, walking from south to north, you’ll notice something interesting: Families, families… hipsters! Scads of bikes will line the logs and dot the sands, tattoos will be plentiful and you might even some topless girls. It’s amusing to see the contrast :)
Despite all the hipster-​dom, this beach is one of my favourites because it’s tucked away from the throngs of English Bay (First beach) and the kiddies at second beach.

It’s my first summer in Vancouver, so I’m relatively new to all the lovely swimming spots and sandy beaches that lucky Vancouverites get to play in for the 6 weeks of the year it’s not raining. (I kid, I kid).
The mister & I headed to Third Beach on a hot, sunny saturday afternoon… and it was… empty?! (Well, not completely, but we shared the entire beach with less than a dozen other people).
That’s right. It almost seemed a million miles away from the city, yet the packed, crowded beaches of English Bay & Kits were just a hop-​skip and a jump away.
Third Beach is beautiful, alot less busy and alot more relaxing than the other city beaches. I laid in the sun here for ages, just reading and relaxing and enjoying the quiet.
New favourite!

By far one of my favourite spots in Vancouver. Nestled on the west side of Stanley away from the rifraf of English Bay, this is the perfect spot to watch the sunset, have dinner, enjoy the sun or all of the above.
So on those amazing summer nights (and i know they are coming), get your dinner to go, grab a few beer or a bottle of wine and a blanket and just enjoy the fact that we’ve got these kinds of spots right in our city.

Guess what everyone? It’s picnic season again! :D
This beach is perfect for a gathering and meal because you can park right up the hill and hall your bbq down easily, or visit the snack shack right nearby.
On the water we watched a Sea Lion frolicking close to shore and the sun melted into a light cloud bank.
During the summer, you definitely want to bring sun block and a hat but off season you need to be prepared for a big temperature drop after sunset.
And bring your camera!