Life's a beach

Maybe the Caribbean is the first thing that comes to mind when you think beaches. But don't forget about Canada — you'll be pleasantly surprised at the lovely shorelines there are in the True North. Here's your starter list.

Cox Bay, Tofino, BC

The last cove of a chain of beaches at the end of Long Beach (as in 25 kilometres or 15.5 miles long). This is Canada's surfing paradise. Storm-tossed in winter, unbeatable razor-clam digging, beach-walking paradise in summer. Just outside Pacific Rim National Park Reserve.

Big Tribune, Hornby Island, BC

The best — OK, really the only — fine sand beach in the Gulf Islands. Shallow bay, warm water, cool left-coast vibe, altogether magical island.

Rose Spit, Haida Gwaiii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands), BC

In the mythology of the local Haida First Nations, this vast sand beach, within sight of Alaska, is the cradle of civilisation. Remote, but worth every air mile.

Devonshire Beach, Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, AB

Where once fur traders from the Hudson's Bay Company dipped their wicks, this one today is home to high-level sand-sculpture competitions. Also, it's one of the few great beaches where there's a chance of seeing a moose.

Manitou Beach, SK

It's the swimming, not strictly the beaching, that's so noteworthy here. The underground spring-fed lake is so rich in dissolved salts and minerals that you float — even if you're skinny (its gravity is 10 per cent higher than normal water). The shallow-pan-warmed water soothes the bones as the minerals do their work. "Healing waters," anyone?

Grand Beach, Grand Beach Provincial Park, MB

Three kilometres (1.9 miles) of fine white sand sugaring the eastern shore of Lake Winnipeg. It's a Daytona-like escape valve for summering Winnipeggers. Beach volleyball games and a certain amount of cutting loose with 10,000 of your closest friends. Good bars and restaurants are just a beach-walk away.

Coney Island North, Sauble Beach, ON

Near Owen Sound. What Reader's Digest Canada once called Canada's best freshwater beach, is also part of the Niagara Escarpment UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. 11 kilometres (6.8 miles) of sand and snappy beach life, plus an amusement park just a few minutes away.

Dunewalk, Îles de la Madeleine, QC

Take your pick from 300 kilometres (186 miles) of white-sand beaches in this archipelago of a dozen islands (en anglais, the Magdalen Islands) amoeba-ing into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, which produce some of the best dune walking experiences in Canada.

Melmerby Beach, NS

A two km-long (1.24 mile) sandy beach folds into some of the warmest water in Canada. It is affectionately known by Nova Scotians as "The Merb."

Basin Head Beach, PEI

The dunes are alive with the sound of… quartz. The windborne rubbing together of individual grains is what makes the famous sound that serenades beach-walkers and squeaks when they walk on it.

Honourable mentions

Rathtrevor Beach Provincial Park, Vancouver Island, BC; Kluane National Park and Reserve, YT; Wasaga Beach, ON; Point Pelee National Park, ON; Parlee Beach Provincial Park, NB; Brackley Beach, PEI.

- Article courtesy of the Canada Tourism Commission. The text has been modified from the original.