Newcastle Island

Take the little foot ferry from Swy a Lana park. It’s about $9 return, prices change. Take a lunch or buy lunch at the little cafe on the island. Dogs and bicycles can go on the little ferry, also. This is a wilderness park, with lots of walking trails, lovely beaches, and complete serenity, once you have left the camping area. Plan on spending at least four hours there, it takes between two and four hours to walk around the island, depending on which trails you take. Trails are bark mulch, or forest, so not suitable for strollers or wheelchairs. You may see seals, otters, deer, rabbits or eagles. A wonderful day trip with children of all ages

WildPlay Element Parks Nanaimo

Minutes from Nanaimo, BC, people have taken to the trees to test their courage and unleash their wild. Nestled in spectacular natural settings, WildPlay Nanaimo’s Elements and games entertain and challenge kids, teens, and adults who love to climb, swing, jump, and zip into outdoor adventures. Playing on the ever-popular Monkido aerial obstacle course ignites primal screams of laughter. Guests bring out the monkey at heart while push their limits by traversing progressively higher and more challenging zip lines and suspended games. Each park has a different combination of skill-testing games, unleash them all!Want to push your bravery to the max? WildPlay Nanaimo also offers the thrilling Bungy Jump and King Swing Elements, launching the bravest of guests an unforgettable 150ft over a river canyon. For just as fun, but less spine-tingling, adventures the Canyon Zip line offers a gentle flight above the Nanaimo River. WildPlay Elements are suitable for all generations, and sizes of groups, to enjoy a personal adventure, celebration, or become an “Ultimate WildPlayer” by conquering all Park Elements

Nanaimo Museum

Nanaimo Museum: Discover Nanaimoís fascinating history in our new museum located in the VI Conference Centre. The main gallery offers a sense of what life was like for Nanaimo’s earliest settlers and the Snuneymuxw First Nation. Our award winning replica coal mine is a special treat. The museum also manages the Bastion, an original Hudson’s Bay Company post built in 1853. Donít miss the gift shop!Museum Hours: 10am – 5pm Monday to SaturdaySummer Hours: Open Daily 10am – 5pm

Scuba Diving

World-class Diving! Scuba diving in Nanaimo is second to none. Divers in search of an unforgettable experience should visit the HMCS Saskatchewan. This 366-foot navy destroyer was sunk off the shores of Nanaimo in June, 1997 to create an artificial diving reef. The Saskatchewan was joined on the ocean floor in October, 2001 by the HMCS Cape Breton, a retired Canadian Supply Ship, which is now recognized as the World’s Largest Artificial Upright Reef. In February of 2005, the Nanaimo Dive Association sank a third vessel, the RivTow Lion, a retired deep sea rescue tug. The Rivtow rests at a manageable depth of about 50 feet in Departure Bay, making it a great dive for beginners seeking some experience before plunging down deeper to the Cape Breton or Saskatchewan. To help you get ready for the dive, there are professional dive shops in Nanaimo and charter companies located throughout the city.

Bathtub Races

Bathtub racing started in Nanaimo and involves the use of a bathtub boat. The idea was conceived to showcase Nanaimo to the world, with the first races beginning with the “Nanaimo to Vancouver Great International World Championship Bathtub Race” in 1967. Until the 1990s, the race was held as a part of Vancouver’s annual Sea Festival,(aka Sea Fest), when tubbers raced from Nanaimo to Vancouver’s Kitsilano Beach. With the demise of the Vancouver Marine Festival in the mid-1990s, the race now involves a course beginning in Nanaimo Harbour and ending at Departure Bay. The race is held the last weekend of July every year.Because of the race, Nanaimo is sometimes known as the Hub, Pub, and Tub city.

The Bastion

The Hudsonís Bay Company completed the Bastion in 1853 as the centre of a settlement dedicated to coal mining. Fort Colvile, as it was known at that time, was the first Hudsonís Bay Company fort dedicated to coal mining. Cast iron pots and pans, beads, brass wire for snares, traps, vermillion (a red dye) and HBC blankets were traded. Costumed interpreters are onsite throughout the summer season to answer historical and tourist enquiries. The Bastion is open every day from May until the Labour Day long weekend from 10am to 5pm. Winter hours begin in September, where the Bastion is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10am to 5pm. Located at the corner of Bastion and Front Street on Pioneer Waterfront Plaza.

Nanaimo Waterfront Walk Way

A must attraction is Nanaimo’s Beautiful waterfront. The waterfront walkway takes you along a path that follows the oceanside with views of Newcastle and Protection Islands past waterfront condominiums, dockyards, small waterfront cafÈs, and a pub, eventually reaching Maffeo-Sutton Park.

Piper’s Lagoon Park

Pipers Lagoon, its beach, lagoon and island paths overlooking Shack Island and across Hammond Bay to Neck Point Park is the perfect stroll anytime and all seasons. No visit to Nanaimo is complete without a hike around Pipers Lagoon. Give yourself a good hour to walk around then make the circle loop through Garry oak forest, past the lagoon, Shack Island and the cliffs overlooking Georgia Strait. It’s simply Breathtaking. It’s one of the reasons Nanaimo is one of the most beautiful places to live. This park is Pet friendly.

Ammonite Falls

A beautiful and widely unknown piece of Nanaimo’s natural beauty and ancient history lies just beyond Jingle Pot Road, off Kilpatrick Road at the very end of Jameson. Ammonite Falls is one of three falls in a series of canyons carved into the sedimentary rock at the foothills of Mount Benson.

Small snail like creatures called Ammonites existed in the oceans of the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras and their fossils now dwell within the rock layers of this area, thus giving the Waterfall its name. Ammonite falls are located an approximate 45 minute hike into the lush woodland setting