Salt Spring Island, located in the sheltered Gulf Islands on British Columbia’s West Coast, is well known for summer sunshine, scenery, lively weekly market, and the arts.
Galleries and artisan studios offer everything from paintings, sculptures, and prints, to weaving, pottery, stained glass, basketry, and ArtCraft, a summer-long exhibition and sale, showcases works by more than 250 Gulf Island artisans. The Saturday morning market in Ganges is another great place to find more arts and crafts and to meet, greet, and eat.
Salt Spring is home to the biggest Gulf Island provincial campground, Ruckle Provincial Park.
The park’s shoreline is varied and beautiful, offering rocky shores and tidal pools to explore, along with sand and shell beaches for beachcombing.
Hiking, kayaking, sailing and much more, Salt Spring is a wonderful place to find hidden spots along the coastline or high up a mountain.
Salt Spring Island also offers a full range of quality accommodations and many excellent restaurants.
Where are we?
Salt Spring Island is located in the Georgia Straight, between Vancouver and Victoria. The largest of the Gulf Islands, Salt Spring is also the most easily accessible.
Getting Here
There are a variety of ways to get here.
The most common is B.C. Ferries, with 3 points of entry:
- Vancouver/Tswwassen to Long Harbour
- Crofton/Vancouver Island to Vesuvius
- Victoria/Schwartz Bay/Vancouver Island to Vesuvius
BC Ferries schedule to Salt Spring Island:
http://www.bcferries.com
Float plane service is available on a scheduled daily basis from downtown Vancouver, Vancouver Airport or charter from where ever!
OR swim, kayak, canoe, row, sail or power your way here!
Getting Around
We have a regular bus service which meets some of the ferries. Click here for schedules.
There is also a taxi service as well as several gas stations if you bring your own car.
Services
Healthcare
Salt Spring has numerous doctors, dentists and therapists ranging from alternative to mainstream.
Lady Minto Hospital is the only hospital in the Gulf Islands. It is a 50 bed facility which has a fine reputation for care and attention. It has a helicopter link to hospitals in Vancouver and Victoria.
Emergency Services
Ambulance service is available 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
Salt Spring has a full time RCMP presence located in a new facility located on Lower Ganges Rd. The fire department has three firehalls with full time staff and a large dedicated force of volunteers
Schools
The public school system contains 3 elementary schools, a middle school and the high school. Gulf Island Secondary also serves the Outer Gulf Islands. Students travel daily from the outer islands by water taxi.
To visit the websites of these school, click here
There are also three alternative education facilities: the Salt Spring Centre School, the Waldorf School and the Phoenix School
Other Links
Saltspring Island Chamber of Commerce
Saltspring Weather – The Weather Network
The Gulf Islands Directory – Schools, Recreation, Churches, Arts & Crafts, Eating & Drinking, etc.
Salt Spring Island Saturday Market
ArtCraft – annual summer long exhibition by the artisans and artists of the Gulf Islands.
Map of Salt Spring Island
If you’re looking for a map of Salt Spring, as an alternative to Google Maps or others, we would like to recommend a local initiative by Kenneth Fersht from mapofsaltspring.com: he created a pdf map which contains original content, allows a great level of detail when zooming on the map, and includes useful links to local businesses. This has been going on for more than 7 years, and we are happy to inform you that this map is free to download!
We encourage you to regularly get the latest version directly from mapofsaltspring.com – for your convenience you can also download it by clicking here.
(you will be redirected to this external website in a different window)
Disclosure note: this website is completely independent from mapofsaltspring.com, and no money or incentive was received for this review – we are just happy to support Ken’s effort for Salt Spring!
Affordable Salt Spring Island Home
Sensational Waterfront, So Close To Town
