Long Beach is the largest and longest beach

Beach

A beach is a geological landform along the shoreline of an ocean, sea, lake or river. It usually consists of loose particles which are often composed of rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles or cobblestones...

 in the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve is a Canadian national park reserve in British Columbia made up of three separate regions: Long Beach, the Broken Group Islands, and the West Coast Trail. The entire park encompasses 511 km² of land and ocean. The park is characterized by rugged coasts and...

 on the west coast of Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island is a large island in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several North American locations named after George Vancouver, the British Royal Navy officer who explored the Pacific Northwest coast of North America between 1791 and 1794...

, British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. It is located on Wickanninish Bay between Tofino (NW) and Ucluelet (SE) and is adjoined by campgrounds and picnic areas. The unofficially-named community of Long Beach is just north, while the Wickaninnish Inn is located at Chesterman Beach, just beyond its south end. The Tofino-Ucluelet highway

British Columbia provincial highway 4

British Columbia Highway 4, known locally as the Alberni Highway to the east of Port Alberni and the Pacific Rim Highway to the west, is the longest east-west main vehicle route on Vancouver Island, with a total length of 163 km...

 parallels the entirety of the beach. The beaches' consistent surf, exposed to the open Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, established it as one of the earliest and most popular surfing

Surfing

Surfing' is a surface water sport in which the surfer rides a surfboard on the crest and face of a wave which is carrying the surfer towards the shore...

locations in British Columbia.

Long Beach features rocky 'islands' in the mid-tidal zone of the beach that are accessible only at low tide; when the tide is high, these islands are either surrounded by water or thrashed by ocean swells. In addition, dangerous rip-currents exist around the larger islands, and to some extent in the open sea farther out. Unsupervised swimming is considered extremely hazardous, and park visitors have been swept from shorebound rocks during storm season; for this reason, beach access is restricted during heavy storm weather. Prominently-posted signs warn about the danger of visiting the beach during high tide, as shorebound logs can be shifted unexpectedly by swells that wash onto the higher reaches of the beach.

External links

• Pacific Rim National Park Reserve at the Parks Canada web site
• Long Beach trails information