Armours Beach

BEACH INFO:
The fine sand and pebbled rock beach destination enjoys a roped off area for swimming and a ton of marine scenery and activity as the beach is not far from the marina and wharf in the Gibsons harbour. This site was originally occupied by the Squamish First Nation. It is a sand and pebble beach with a picnic area. The marked swimming area and small wharf make this a safe place to swim.

The local clubhouse is home to the local populations' annual Polar Bear Swim. This beach is accessible via the Gibsons seawalk, and the best access to the Seawalk is located at the Government Wharf found in the hub of Gibsons BC, right next to the very recognizable "Molly's Reach Restaurant". Take the stairway down by Molly's Reach to the pathway. At the bottom of the stairs - take a left turn, the seawalk strolls underneath some shops and eventually leads down to Armours Beach.

There are no washroom facilities, and parking is limited.

Get directions to this beach

Water Quality

Passed water quality tests 60-95% of the time
Historical Status
This status is based on the latest sample, taken on August 29th, 2022. Swim Guide - Main updates the status of this beach as soon as test results become available. These results were posted to Swim Guide on September 2nd, 2022 at 11:06 AM.

For water quality icon legend, click:

Current Weather

13°C

Mostly clear

Report Pollution

Monitoring Frequency

Source Information

Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) monitors the water quality at 50 Coast Garibaldi 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. Should the geometric mean exceed 200 E.coli/100 mL, 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 website (http://www.healthspace.ca/vch). Fraser Riverkeeper updates Swim Guide according to these results, as soon as they become available.

Sampling for this region is dependent on available resources and assistance from local government and other agencies. The VCH employs a ‘risk management approach’ to water quality monitoring of this region, based on the knowledge that the majority of beaches have good to excellent historic water quality in the past.

Local governments or community organizations are encouraged to contact VCH if they would like to collect samples from public beaches in their community. VCH will offer assistance with training, lab services, and the posting of results.

Test results are not consistently posted – we will continue to work with VCH to ensure public safety. Recreational water quality for a beach is determined by E. coli counts from a laboratory approved by the BC Provincial Health Officer for Provincial Drinking Water and Microbiology Testing.

A beach is marked Green when single sample results are under 200 E.coli / 100 ML water.

A beach is marked Red when the results are equal to or above 200 E.coli / 100 ML water.

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

Water Quality Graph