Discover Sooke

We had the pleasure of driving to Port Renfrew this long weekend to walk around the tidepools in the majestical Botanical Beach Provincial Park. We left Sooke around 11am as the lowest tides for the day at Botanical Beach were around 12:30pm. Before you do go, please make sure the tides are at 4 feet or less for the best viewing.

It takes just a little over an hour to drive from Sooke to Port Renfrew, possibly a little longer, depending on traffic and whether or not you get stuck behind an RV or two.

The drive is very scenic with narrow winding roads and a few one lane bridges. You’ll also pass all the entrances for the Juan de Fuca Marine Trail – China Beach, Sombrio Beach etc..

Once we arrived in Port Renfrew, we decided to stop in the little Bisto that we’ve made a habit of stopping at over the years. The San Juan Bistro is small with a lovely outdoor patio and plenty of parking. We most always order the smoked beef sandwich. Fresh shaved slices of smoked beef, mayo, pickle, onion and tomato. It’s a wonderful bite and the prices are very reasonable. Wash it all down with a fresh smoothie and you’re good to go exploring for the day.

The parking lot for Botanical Beach is a few kilometers from the village core. The parking lot was quite full when we went but we managed to quickly find room to park. It only cost us $3 to park the car for the full day.

The walk down to Botanical Beach is only a kilometer and a half, good trails and fairly easy in terms of difficulty. It’s more difficult walking back to the parking lot as you are dealing with uphill most of the way, but can be taken at a leisurely pace.

It was a fabulous day of weather and small finds. This is definitely one place you’ll want to see when you are in the Sooke Region.

Take a peek at our video and see what you can expect to find and explore at Botanical Beach, or, read more about it on the official Discover Sooke website, here: http://www.discoversooke.com/botanical-beach.php

Port Renfrew is a charming little seaside village with some great food options. The places we have eaten at have been fantastic. If you have time, check out the Pacific Marine Circle route as well. It will take you a long some old, but newly paved, logging roads all the way to Lake Cowichan. From there you can hit Duncan, turn south towards Victoria and come back around to Sooke. This trip would take a good few hours, but there are many things to see along the way.

For more information on the Sooke Region, please visit the official Discover Sooke website.

Filed under: Latest News, Questions and Comments on May 18th, 2009