Also known as Twin Beaches, Gabriol Sands Provincial Park is two beaches in one. Get our most important tip for visiting this beach before you go.

Twin Beaches is the most accessible sandy beach on Gabriola Island. Perfect for young kids.

But the best thing about Gabriola Sands is that it’s actually 2 beaches in 1. Gabriola Sands Provincial Park is located on a peninsula with a beach on both sides of the road.

The locals call it Twin Beach and it’s easy to see why. The beach to the right, or east side, is quite shallow and allows you to walk out incredibly far at high tide.

The ocean water will be warmer on this side of the beach as the shallower water has an easier time getting warmed up by the sun. If you have 4 or 5 days of hot Summer weather with warm nights the ocean water will feel like bath water. All it takes is 1 or 2 cold nights and the water temperature seems to plummet. Brrrrrrrr!

During low tide, sand is exposed and there’s a great sand bar about 100 metres out that’s perfect for sand castle building.

This beach does have many sand fleas, so be sure to bring beach blankets or chairs to help protect you from the annoying hopping pests. Watch the tip in the video on how to handle any pesky sand bugs bothering you.

If you like lots of sun then just move beaches when one becomes shady! Problem solved.

The beach to the left, or west side, is just across a playing field. There are sand fleas here too, but they hang out just around the logs and any seaweed. The soft sand here is great for building and the water is sheltered and perfect fun for all ages to play in.

Explore off to the sides of the bay to find baby crabs under the rocks. Kids love that! My kids even made a beach hotel complete with a pool, shade sticks, and rooms.

How do you decide on which Gabriola Sands beach is better? We like to make that decision based on how much sun we are wanting and at what time of day we visit.

Note: Both Twin beaches have picnic tables and pit toilets, but be sure to pack plenty of your own drinking water.

Google Map Directions To Gabriola Sands Provincial Park: