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All you need to know
to plan your visit to Galiano Island
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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.

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