 planning
your visit to Galiano Island
The island is as rich in history as it is in beauty. Long before
Dionisio Galiano came here from Spain in 1792, aboriginal people made their homes here and gathered a rich variety of foods
from its forests and shores. Montague Harbour is now a provincial park but for thousands of years it was a major centre of
aboriginal life. People of the Coast Salish nation watched eagles ride updrafts from Active Pass, saw otters swimming off
the shores, shared their fishing grounds with great blue herons and watched sea lions and killer whales play in Trincomali
Channel. As a visitor to Galiano, you can walk the same white-shell beaches and enjoy the same sights and sounds.
Galiano is glorious in spring, especially for naturalists and bird watchers. Wild flowers flourish in the forests and above
the shores, and migrating birds visit on their way to summer nesting grounds. Fall is a time of golden light, ripe berries
and the northern birds returning south. The days are still warm, the air is fragrant and rain is rare before November.
Galiano has more than its share of sand, white-shell
and pebble beaches. There are seven parks. A new 141-acre park has been created at Dionisio Point Provincial Park (accessible
by water only). It includes spectacular mature forests, rocky points, sandy beaches and a tidal lagoon. The community and
its supporters have purchased several areas as ecological reserves: first, Mt. Galiano and Mt. Sutil and, more recently, Bodega
Ridge, whose rocky bluff is unique in Western Canada. These eco-sensitive areas will be kept as forests in perpetuity by the
Galiano community for the enjoyment of all.
More about Galiano Island from British Columbia Tourism
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