Roadtripping: Swimming at Sandbanks

Monday, July 18, 2016





White sand beaches, turquoise water and only 2.5h from Toronto. It seems almost impossible, but it's not. Sandbanks is a truly exceptional place, and the site of one of my very favourite swims of all time.  Sandbanks is the world's largest baymouth barrier dune formation (and as the step-daughter of a geomorphologist who studies sand dunes, it's kind of a big deal), but mostly it's the Caribbean Sea-like water that has my heart.

A step-by-step guide to Sandbanks swimming:

Step 1: Make sure you've got cash. And by cash, I mean $5s, loonies and twoonies (See Step 11!) And if you're as impatient as I am, put your suit on under your clothes. You never know when there'll be a swimming hole along the way.

Step 2: Leave the city as early as possible. No seriously, we left at 2:20pm and *still* got caught in Friday afternoon traffic. Either way, make sure you're stocked with wine gums and if you've been able to get your mom to watch your kid, take advantage of baby seat-free space and revel in all that leg room. Crank the tunes. Google the directions.

Step 3: When you turn into the Sandbanks road, the trees will dapple the road and your windshield. (Note: a day-use permit is $11.25, but I promise it's so, so worth it!)

Step 4: If you don't already have your suit on under your clothes, there are change rooms and washrooms in the parking lots.

Step 5: Make sure you've got your sunscreen, water, post-swim snacks, sun hat, towels, reading material...



Step 6: Climb the sandy hill (a dune!) up from the parking lot. The first glimpse of that white sand and the blue-blue lake will be breathtaking. Pause. Revel. Pinch yourself – yes, you are still in Ontario!




Step 7: Spread out your towel(s). Have some water, some chips, read a few pages of your book/magazine. Get so hot you can't possibly stand the sun any longer. Start wading into the lake.

Step 8: Keep wading. You can walk for 200m and still only be up to your thighs!

Step 9: Dive under. Float. Front crawl. Blow bubbles. Be amazed by how clear the water is. Pinch yourself again, yes, this is Lake Ontario.

Step 10: Repeat steps 7-9 over and over again.



Step 11: Once you've decided it's time to pack up, start scanning the side of the road for honour-system eggs/asparagus/strawberries. Pull over every single time. Be grateful you loaded your pockets with coins.

Step 11.5: Stop at every barn sale and antique shop and yard sale. You never know when you'll find a tupperware container filled with swim badges*



Step 12: Celebrate your lake swim with wine and pizza at Norman Hardie. Toast your stroke with oysters and sparkling rosé (and food truck donuts!) at Rosehall Run.

Step 13: If it's G&T time (and when is it not?) I recommend a gin-tasting at the 66 Gilead Distillery. Say hi to the chickens, and marvel at the antique quilts and coupes and tablecloths. I'd also recommend a swing on the tree swing, your lake-wet hair drying in the breeze. (Note: it closes at 5pm. Happy hour comes early in The County).

Step 14: There are lots of places to stay in The County and staying the night means you get to go back to Sandbanks in the morning... (fuelled by Tall Poppy coffee and/or brunch at The Drake Devonshire).


Step 15: As you drive home, with your hair still smelling like lake, continue to stop at every barn sale/honour-system produce stand. The vintage 10kg sugar sack you will maybe one day will sew into something useful will always remind you of that brilliant turquoise swim.

P.S.: More swim roadtripping: to Harold Quarry!


* Note: I did not find a container full of swim badges, though I wish I had. I did find a jar of Scout badges, but it's not quite the same...

You Might Also Like

0 comments

Blog Archive

Labels

2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 52 lakes A Big Deep Breath A Comparison a veritable miracle A-plus west end pools accessories alex duff pool algonquin park all the pools all the swimming holes aquafit Aquatic Centre in Regent Park argentina Art Art of the Swim atlantic ocean Awenda baby shampoo backyard pools Backyard wading pool badges bancroft bancroft and the Kawarthas bathing caps bathing suits Beach bears berlin bingo blogging blowing bubbles books Buckskin Lake buenos aires bunchfamily butterfly cambridge Camp Tanamakoon canoeing carilo Catskills CBC CBC Radio cheddar ontario Chicago Chlorine christie pits christmas claire cliff jumping coach dave Coaching insight cocktails cold water swimming Collecting Colouring cottage cottageing courage COVID-19 Covidcation Craft crowd-courced crowns ctv news dave ling Dawson's Pond docktail docktails Donald Summerville Pool dreaming of swimming driveway puddle earlscourt park edmonton elora elora quarry English Channel Etobicoke etsy Europe every single fast lane Extreme Heat Alert Fall 2017 fall swimming fast lane first swim Flesherton flipturns floating fouling French 75 Gallagher Centre gary clement gatineau Gatineau River Georgian Bay germany gifts Giovanni Caboto Giovanni Caboto pool goggles Great Lake great lakes Grey County guardian swim Guest blog guest swim Habermannsee Haliburton halloween Hampstead Heath Ladies' Pond Hanlan's Point heaven High Park high park pool highlight reel highlights homebody homemade badges Homstead hotel pool iceland illustration inclusive change rooms indoor pool Indoor Pools instagram Intercontinental Yorkville interview jack jessica j. lee jon klassen Joy julia zarankin jump jumping jumping in kate greene kate pugsley kawartha dairy kawarthas Kelso kerry clare kiddos kiki and polly Killbear Provincial Park kinmount Lake lake erie lake huron Lake Kennebec lake la peche Lake Louise Lake Ontario Lake Ontario and pools lake swimming Lake Temiskaming lakes lambton kingsway pool Laura Wills leanne shapton leeches length swim leo lionni lessons Letting Go lido lidos lifeguard towers lifeguarding Lindsay Lindsay Recreation Centre lindsay sutherland Lindsay Zier-Vogel lisa congdon lisa golightly local swimming hole london long distances long hair long hair caps Long point long point provincial park loons love love lettering project Lucky Peach manhattan pools margrit talpalaru Marilyn Bell mark tewksbury martha graham martingrove bears master swim club mat leave matisse Meaford meghan markle melodrama memoir Memory Mendoza Metro Morning michael phelps Michigan lakes Middle America Miles Nadal JCC minnow bathers miracle miranda july missing MoMA my local myvatn nature baths natural pools nebraska new pool new pools new year New Year's Eve new years new york city Newfoundland night swimming nightswimming norman hardie nova scotia novel ocean ocean swimming olympic pool olympics olympics 2016 ontario Oshawa Oshawa apartment pool outdoor pools outdoor swimming pack and play paddle paddling pam mcconnell aquatic centre pandemic pandemic swims papirmass park lawn pool parklawn pool parks and rec patrice hall pattern design PEC pells pool penny olesiak perfectionist PFDs photos picton pinehurst lake pisces poetry Polar Bear Dip pond Pondering Pool pool swimming Pool: Sunnyside pools poolsitting prairies pregnancy pregnant prince edward county prince harry PSA public pools quarry Quebec Radiohead railcar cottage rain reading recipe recipes relay report cards resolutions Rhya Tamasauskas Rio de la Plata River river swimming rivers road trip road trips roadtrip rocktails rosehall run royal wedding runner running salt water saltwater pool sandbanks Saskatchewan sauble beach Saugeen Schoolhouse Riviera sculpture seaweed secret swim shade's mills Shannon Litzenberger Shebeshekong Bay Sketchbook skimmer skinny dipping skinnydipping slow lane smores smythe park pool smythe pool snacks sprinting st. john's legends swim club stedmans Stirling submission suburbs summer summer 2016 Summer 2017 summer 2018 summer 2019 summer camp summerary sundhollin Sunnyside Sunnyside beach Sunnyside Pool sunrise sunsets superhero splash suzanne moreau swim swim art swim blog swim crown swim goals swim lit Swim Mantra Swim Meme Swim retreat Swim Rituals Swim Scenes swim tether swim weekend Swim-ventures swimiracle swimlit swimming swimming attire swimming caps swimming friends swimming hole swimming holes swimming hotel swimming lessons swimming pool swimming pools swimming song swimmy swimply Swimsuits tall poppy tanamakoon tanis rideout team mermaids Team Swim technique thanksgiving the 6ix The Beach The Beaches The Deep End this is not my hat tilley hat tips TMU toddler toddlers Toronto Toronto Island Toronto Masters of the Universe toronto pools trackpants transistor radio travel ontario Travel Stories travel writing triathlon turning twelve mile lake Twitter Two Lakes UK underpants uniform University of Toronto Uruguay user guide Varsity vicki smith wading pool warming stations Wasaga Beach Water water therapy waterfalls watermarks weeds Weisser See west end west end phoenix West End Toronto westview beach villas whip kick wild swimming Wilder Lake Wills Laura winery winter picnic winter stations winter swimming worlds smallest bookstore writing xmas Yorkton zier-vogel lindsay
©2016 Lindsay, Rhya & Laura.
... Powered by Blogger.