Queen Charlotte Channel

The Bowen Island ferry travels between Snug Cove on Bowen Island, and Horseshoe Bay in the District of West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, a trip of three nautical miles across Queen Charlotte Channel. A scheduled ferry has been in operation since 1921, when Bowen Island was a popular holiday destination. Prior to that year, transportation to the island was by steamship from Vancouver, with only one trip daily. The Bowen Island ferry used a fleet of small passenger vessels until 1956, when a single car ferry began passenger service, and that ferry began carrying vehicles in 1958. In 2022 the route carried in excess of 1.2 million passengers plus 570,000 vehicles.The Bowen Island ferry has no official or common name, and is only numbered as route 8, though this is likely intended more for internal documentation. It is currently run with the use of a single vessel, the Queen of Capilano.

Whytecliff Park is located in West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, near the Horseshoe Bay neighbourhood, which was originally named White Cliff City when it was first settled in 1909. The park is currently home to more than 200 marine animal species and is the first Marine Protected Area in Canada. Sea lions can be seen sunbathing on the beach during summer.

Horseshoe Bay is a community of about 1,000 permanent residents in West Vancouver, in the Canadian province of British Columbia. Situated on the western tip of West Vancouver at the entrance to Howe Sound, the village marks the western end of Highway 1 on mainland British Columbia (and furthermore the main route of the Trans-Canada Highway on the Canadian mainland). It also serves as the southern end of the Sea-to-Sky Highway, with Lions Bay just 15 minutes north. Horseshoe Bay is the location of the third-busiest BC Ferries terminal, the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal. Because of the presence of the ferry terminal, it is considered a control city on the Upper Levels Highway westbound.

Snug Cove is a community on the east coast of Bowen Island, British Columbia, opposite Horseshoe Bay. The island is 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) wide by 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) long and 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) west of the mainland, and has a population of around 3,700 people. The Squamish hunters and fishermen were the first people to stay in the area using the site of the present community as a temporary camp. The Squamish name for this area was Xwilil Xhwm, which has been translated as "fast drumming ground" a name which has been connected to the Squamish story of how the black-tailed deer were created on the island. Early European settlers arriving in Snug Cove discovered shake dwellings and a smoke house.Snug Cove is noted for its marina and its buildings from the early 1900s, some of which (like the old post office and a group of cottages overlooking the marina) were built by the Union Steamship Company. In the 1920s some 5,000 people were known to arrive at Snug Cove and up to 800 couples could dance at what was then the largest dance hall in British Columbia. The resort was disbanded in the 1960s. Snug Cove is the location of The Bowen Island Public Library which is located in what is known as "The Old General Store".

Passage Island is a small island near West Vancouver, British Columbia, and across from Bowen Island in Canada. The island is mostly woodland and cliffs. It marks the entrance to Howe Sound, and the ferry between Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo regularly passes it. The island borrows a postal code, V7W 1V7, from the wealthiest community in Canada, West Vancouver. However, Passage Island is actually overseen by the Islands Trust and is part of the Metro Vancouver Regional District. It is isolated from West Vancouver by approximately two km (1.2 mi) of ocean. Prior to European colonization, the island was home to a Squamish village named Mi'tlmetle'lte. It was named by Captain Vancouver for the fact that it lies midway between Point Atkinson and Bowen Island, in the Queen Charlotte Channel.: 202 In 1893, the island was sold for a dollar an acre by a banker named Keith, and was later bought in the late 1960s by a developer named Phil Matty. "No utilities, no garbage trucks, no telephones, no fire stations, no policemen, no industry—just 32 acres of beautiful British Columbia. I escaped to that paradise for a few hours each week to move rocks, saw logs, watch the tide come in and go out—all in the name of therapeutic basket weaving. It was like having my own personal psychiatrist. I loved it. I loved it so much that I bought it."Today the island has 61 lots, almost half of which are developed. Although many lots consist of summer cottages, there are a few year-round homes with full-time residents. The island has views of downtown Vancouver, the University of British Columbia campus, Vancouver Island, and the snow-capped mountains of Howe Sound. There are no developed roads nor vehicles on the island. Most of the homes use solar photovoltaics, with a few complemented by wind turbines for electric power. Propane is used for heating and cooking, and rainwater is captured into cisterns from their roofs. Island residents either tie their boats to mooring buoys and row to shore, or provide their own private docks for island access. Public access onto the island is not provided. Off the southernmost tip is a small private island. Unnamed, the island is owned by a local family.

Horseshoe Bay is a major ferry terminal owned and operated by BC Ferries in British Columbia, Canada. Located in the community of Horseshoe Bay, a neighbourhood of West Vancouver, the terminal provides a vehicle ferry link from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island, the Sunshine Coast, and to Bowen Island, a small island in the southern part of Howe Sound. Comprising three berths, Horseshoe Bay is the third largest BC Ferries terminal, after Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay.

Apodaca Provincial Park is a provincial park located on the central eastern shoreline of Bowen Island, British Columbia, Canada.

Lighthouse Park is a neighbourhood park located in a residential area in West Vancouver, Canada. It is a popular tourist attraction for visitors to Vancouver as it is a National Historic Site of Canada. It is a well-maintained park, and is open year-round throughout all four seasons. The park is known for the Point Atkinson Lighthouse, located at the southernmost tip of the peninsula. The park is made up of 75 hectares (182 acres) of mostly virgin rainforest, and was founded in 1792. The District of West Vancouver maintains and operates the park and permits visitors from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Visitors to this park can enjoy the various beginner level hiking trails, as well as bring their dogs for a walk or have lunch along the rocks of the beach near the Lighthouse. There are various picnic benches scattered throughout the trails of the park, yet none near the beach and the lighthouse itself.

Bowyer Island is a small private island in Howe Sound. It comprises Kildare Estates, Bowyer Island Estates, and B and A Estates. It is located east of Bowen Island and Horseshoe Bay. BC Liberal politician, formerly Attorney-General of British Columbia, Geoff Plant is a seasonal resident.Bowyer Island was named by Capt. George Henry Richards of HMS Plumper between 1857 and 1861, after Rear-Admiral George Bowyer, (1740–1800), commander of HMS Barfleur during the Glorious First of June (all the names used in Howe Sound are in honour of the battle of the Glorious First of June).

Point Atkinson Lighthouse is a lighthouse erected on Point Atkinson, a headland in southwestern British Columbia named by Captain George Vancouver in 1792, when he was exploring the Pacific Northwest in the ship Discovery. The first wooden lighthouse went into service in 1875 and was replaced by a reinforced concrete structure in 1914.