Tunstall Bay

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Tunstall Bay is a sandy and rocky beach known for its sunsets. It was originally a retirement community in the 1950s, now it is a popular beach for swimming, kayaking, or sailing. Washrooms are available.

Sunbathe and admire the shimmering green-blue ocean waters, or watch kids taking sailing lessons and kayakers paddling around the island. Bowen residents rave about the awe-inspiring sunsets that can be seen at Tunstall Bay.

WATER QUALITY:
Sampling results from Tunstall Bay have not exceeded Health Canada's guideline values for primary water use at all in the last two years (200 E.coli bacteria/100 ml)

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COVID-19

Keep your distance from other people.

Practicing social distancing is essential right now. Follow the advice of the health experts. If your community has asked that you remain indoors and away from others, do so. Heading to the beach should only be considered an option if social distancing practices can be followed. Spending a day in any crowded place is the worst thing we can do for our most vulnerable right now and will counter the efforts to curb the virus’ spread.

For more information, please visit the World Health Organization public resource on COVID-19.

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests at least 95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on October 1st, 2020. Fraser Riverkeeper updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on October 4th, 2020 at 3:05 PM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

14°C

Clear

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Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Vancouver Coastal Health Authority monitors the water quality at 6 Bowen Island beaches. Sampling is conducted during the height of swim season (May – September).

VCH follows the Canadian Recreational Water Guidelines. Recreational water is considered safe if the geometric mean result is under 200 E.coli/100mL based on the previous last five samples or a single sample limit of under 400 E.coli/100mL. Should the results exceed the guidelines or in the event of a known hazard or spill, the Medical Health Officer will make an assessment of the risk to human health. If there is a risk to human health, a warning sign will be posted at the beach stating “This Water is Contaminated and Unsafe for Swimming.” Results are communicated on the Vancouver Coastal Health Beach Samples Results website. Fraser Riverkeeper updates Swim Guide according to these results, as soon as they become available.

A beach is marked Green when geometric mean results are under 200 E.coli/100 mL and single sample results are below 400 E.coli/100mL.

A beach is marked Red when the geometric mean results are equal to or above 200 E.coli/100 mL water or single sample results are above 400 E.coli/100 mL.

A beach is marked Grey when there are no current results or there is no available information.

Water Quality Graph