Smugglers Cove

SMUGGLERS COVE, HALFMOON BAY, LOWER SUNSHINE COAST

VIEWS FROM SMUGGLERS COVE PROVINCIAL MARINE PARK
WALKWAY OVER A WILDLIFE FILLED POND AT SMUGGLERS COVE PROVINCIAL MARINE PARK

The origin of the name Smugglers Cove is subject to much speculation. One theory holds that the bay was used by one Larry "Pig Iron" Kelly to pick up Chinese labourers to be smuggled into the United States after the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Many Chinese labourers had been brought into the country to build the railway, then when it was completed they were abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Another story is that the concealed cove was used as a location for the smuggling of bootleg alchohol, produced on neighbouring Texada Island, into the US during the prohibition era.

Now however, Smugglers Cove is a 182 hectare marine park that is a great place for hiking, swimming, fishing and seeing wildlife - there were many bald eagles circling high above the tree tops.

A & D