VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Been addicted to windsurfing for only the past three years. Would like to find a place to live in Canada that offers close to year round access to decent windsurfing locations. Victoria seems to be tops on my list so far. Any other ideas? A city with good locations within an hours drive would be ideal...

Great forum & site. Learned a lot from it.

not only is vic great for windsurfing, its the best place for everything else we enjoy in our lives (year round)!!

and our property taxes and cost of living confirm this...IF you can afford to live here, it's the place to be in Canada, Parksville-Courtenay close second I would think, them's got the white stuff nearby too

this sounds like the Squamish/Vic thread tho, check it.

don't overlook Nanaimo. Close to CB and Pipers, and Nitinat. Cost of living even lower tha Victoria, and a passenger ferry trip away from the big smoke if you get lonely.

Probably the most centrally located city - hour and a half to Victoria and Mnt Washington.

We love it. Hey, anywhere on the Island is better than most anywhere in the world.

Check the sailing log from the home page to see the whens, wheres and how muches. Moved here from Vancouver a couple of years ago and it's like night and day - night there, day here. Pretty rare for temperature to be too cold to sail.

Ssshhh... Don't tell everyone about Victoria.

I moved to Parksville from Vancouver 2 1/2 years ago and don't miss the big smoke one bit. a 4-lane divided highway with virtually no traffic gets you around quick to access by far the best wind and ocean conditions in Canada !

ive heard that halifax is really nice, Nova scotia has tons of surf spots.

believe it or not Port McNeill/Port Hardy can dish out wind like a mutha and it's all right at your doorstep

the southeast is relentless in the winter, it blows for weeks on end ... you can sail it right in town, but i recommend the spot by hardy airport for bigger swell(only a 20-25 min drive from McNeill) ... and then there's the summertime northwesterlies that light up nimpkish lake nicely(again, only a 20-25 min drive) ... also this freshwater lake has a long fetch providing big swell that makes nitnat look like tha kiddie-pool ... even during a strong high pressure knight inlet's outflows turn into southeasters in front of McNeill
Cain offers up sick un-groomed terrain(pow pow gnar) on weekends/holidays and is within striking distance

hands down, the North I. kicks a$$ on the South I. for how many windy days you will get in a year, especially the winter season ... so if you're seriously 'core' you should live there

Youbou (u-bow)
What can I say I kite almost every sunny day and then some ! Lake cowichan or Nitinat close by. Cheap houses, no noise, 1 hr to nanaimo or Vic. and of course the coon creek cafe.........right.