It’s been four years since Jeanne Fike last swam in the ocean. Fike has lived her life in Coastal B.C., nearly two decades of that on the Sunshine Coast. Now, the retiree visits the Gibsons and Sechelt pools almost daily – since she had spinal surgery, Fike says the pools have saved her life – but the call of the sea is never far from her mind.
“All the benefits of the salt water, being in nature instead of chlorine,” she said: there’s a yearning. “To be in nature is really special.”
Unfortunately, as Fike uses a walker, she can no longer touch the sea.
Every beach poses challenges
There are no fully accessible publicly managed ocean accesses on the Lower Sunshine Coast, to the knowledge of local governments and local advocates.
“Every beach is accessibly challenging. Some have picnic areas to sit at but the ocean access is not available,” Mishelle, a parent of a child with mobility challenges, told Coast Reporter through the Sunshine Coast Association for Community Living (SCACL). She said that Porpoise Bay, Roberts Creek picnic area and Klein Lake are the main spots they go, but they have to carry the wheelchair or their daughter to get her to the water.
Local government accesses
While Gibsons, Sechelt and the SCRD pointed to accessible wharves and viewpoints, actually getting to the water is an issue in each jurisdiction.
In Sechelt, there are waterfront trails that are wheelchair friendly, (including the Boulevard and Davis Bay seawall paths, as well as the piers at both those locations), but any paths stop at the beach. Where there’s a concrete ramp to the sand in Davis Bay, it too ends before the ocean, Sechelt communications manager, Lindsay Vickers, told Coast Reporter. A SCACL staff member pointed to Trail Bay and Snickett Park as “most accessible” but “not truly safe for those with physical (walking) issues and definitely not for those in wheelchairs.”
There are no plans in play to make fully accessible accesses, Vickers said. “I’ve asked around and a few staff recall some talks in the past, but nothing ever came to be.”
In Gibsons, Armours Beach has seen improvement over the past few years, director of infrastructure Trevor Rutley said in an email, but with stairs leading down to the ocean, it too is not fully accessible. Georgia and Pebbles Beach accesses are even more challenging because of the steepness and nature of the sites, he said.
“Accessibility can be a challenge, particularly at beach accesses,” noted Rutley. However, there may be hope, Gibsons recently received $2 million for foreshore work between Armours Beach and the public wharf.
While Sunshine Coast Regional District (SCRD) communications officer Cecilia Garcia confirmed that there are no fully accessible water accesses maintained by the regional district, she pointed to the User-Friendly Trails Guide & Log the SCRD partnered with other organizations to create in 2019 for recreational accessibility information in the region.
Gibsons, the SCRD and Sechelt have established a Sunshine Coast Regional Accessibility Advisory Committee to meet a provincial legislative requirement that each local government create a committee and plan to “identify, remove and prevent any barrier ‘that hinders the full and equal participation in society of a person with an impairment,’” by Sept. 1.
“This Committee may inform future [SCRD] Board priorities related to accessibility in parks,” Garcia told Coast Reporter, a sentiment echoed by Vickers and Rutley.
While BC Parks maintains several beach accesses on the Coast, it did not provide comment for this story.
Obstacles
While a concerted, multi-jurisdictional project for accessible beaches is not under way, there are some in the community pursuing such endeavours.
Figuring out which government has jurisdiction over a given access is one issue that Annie Wise, executive director of Sunshine Coast Tourism, points out. “From our perspective, who do we ask to implement these things?” For a couple of years, Wise has been working on trying to get mobility beach mats installed somewhere on the Coast. But it’s one thing to purchase the mats, it’s another thing to maintain them, take on liability, not to mention make sure the mat is installed in a way that is in and of itself accessible.
Sunshine Coast Tourism was looking at installing a mat at Porpoise Bay Provincial Park – which has accessible amenities and a fully accessible campsite – but it went from a $1,000 mat to costing tens of thousands in infrastructure like concrete sidewalks to access the mat. “A lot of times, this is the challenge that we’ve been up against,” said Wise. “It’s funding the infrastructure that’s really necessary to do that well.”
As well, the level of accommodation needed is going to differ from one user to another.
“In some places, a Mobi Mat or some sort of ramp might be enough, but for other folks, that might mean needing another kind of assistance device.”
Options
Where to look for alternatives? Wise points to Greece. The Mediterranean country has installed more than 180 Seatrac devices – solar-powered, remote-controlled chairs on a track into the ocean – the Washington Post reported in May.
Closer to home, Vancouver Parks Board in recent years has implemented a more thorough accessibility strategy for beaches, installing beach mats at English Bay and Kitsilano Beach, locations chosen for transit, accessible parking and accessible washroom considerations, a Board of Parks and Recreation spokesperson told Coast Reporter. However, slopes are a challenge and prevent direct access to the ocean using the mats, which were replaced and relocated higher up the beach following the king tide storm in 2021.
Floating wheelchairs, which need to be booked 48 hours in advance but are free to use, are available at several Vancouver Parks beaches and pools.
In the Surrey, Coquitlam and White Rock area, the Self-Advocates of Semiahmoo have partnered with organizations such as the City of Surrey and the Crescent Beach Swim Club, to fundraise and purchase wheelchairs built for beach terrain, some even able to go in the water.
Jeanne Fike, meanwhile, suggests a cement ramp, like a boat ramp, to the water and a platform to rest walkers or walking sticks.
Economic opportunity
It’s not just beaches Wise wants to see becoming more inclusive. “I would love to see the Sunshine Coast in general become a more accessible destination,” said Wise. “Beyond it just being the right thing to do, there’s huge economic incentive to do so.” She also points to the large and growing demographic of seniors in the region, some of whom will have accessibility concerns.
Sunshine Coast Tourism has been working with Destination BC and Spinal Cord Injury BC on an accessibility audit of the Coast looking at the accessibility features of tourism-focused businesses. “Many of those same amenities are being used by locals as well. So it all fits together.” She also pointed to Destination BC’s accessibility toolkit to make businesses more accessible (not just in terms of physical amenities but other accommodations as well).
“Accessibility affects everybody,” said Wise. “Even as a currently able-bodied person myself, that could change tomorrow.
“We have an aging population in Canada, and especially here on the Sunshine Coast,” she said. “It’s to all of our benefit to make more accessible communities, and that includes all of the types of places that we love and enjoy.”
There’s a group of women who congregate in the pool changing rooms says Jeanne Fike. “We hardly know each other’s names but there’s a camaraderie,” she said, a shared longing to get in the ocean. “Just meeting these other women – who are in the same demographic – with mobility issues, struggling with walkers, walking sticks, and who have explored amongst us all the beaches on the Coast. They’ve grown up here. And we just can’t find anything accessible.”
