This is the third and final post pertaining to our fascinating visit to Botanical Beach in Juan de Fuca Park near Port Renfrew on the west side of Vancouver Island. Part 1 and 2 showed our family exploring the rocky shoreline after the tide went out. This is not a place for those with mobility problems, so I gave my Nikon P950 to my son Nick and I stayed in the parking lot. All 5 members of the family contributed to an astounding array of photographs and I was given the hard task of choosing the most educational, eye-opening, and fun photos for this series about the Botanical Beach.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
The above photo shows a good view of the tidal pools in the foreground, and the rocky area closer to the trees which you'll see more of in this post.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
At some point, Nelson and the kids decided to head back inland as they didn't want to get caught far out when the tide rolled back. The above photo, shows JJ and Nick still encountering the craggy yet worn sandstone tidal pools as they get closer to the sandstone cliffs. The top left of the above photo shows the fallen, weathered tree I mentioned at the end of Part 2. It looks so small at this angle.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
This part of Botanical Beach isn't masked with seaweed, barnacles and mussels like we first encountered. We're closer to land and higher now, yet you still have to watch where you walk and discoveries are still to be made. Is it red dulce, also known as red kelp, in the above photo?
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
Nick and JJ climbed up into a sandstone alcove under a hangover of trees and greenery. It looks pretty, and it may be safe, but if I was there, I would probably have been yelling at them to climb back down in a hurry.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
The water-beaten rocks here are different. The tide is still out so there are other people exploring the shore, yet Crystal, JJ and Nick head for the fallen, weathered tree. It looks bigger now that they're closer.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
JJ has a great vantage point from the top of the fallen, weathered tree. He's got his phone ready and he's challenging Nick and Crystal to climb up, too. Check out this collage I created from the video he recorded while sitting up there.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
Yep, my rock climbing kiddos will climb anything and have fun doing it. From here, they commenced climbing rocks instead of trees.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
Now, you won't find any tidal pools this high up, but that doesn't mean there's nothing to see. In this next photo, can you see what living creature caught the eye of whoever was holding my camera at the time?
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
If you look real close at the centre of the above photo, you'll see the length of a common garter snake. Yes, there are more photos of the snake, some real close, and no, I don't want to post any more than what you see here. Trust me, you can see its full body in this shot better than all curled up tightly between rocks with its eyes glaring in your direction.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
Under the low cloud level, the beach looks menacing and quite treacherous if you don't mind your step. Our rock climbing offspring were quite tired as they headed back to the start up point.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
Meanwhile, Nelson and Jessie had headed back to where they first entered the beach. Struck by the magnificent sight of a sea stack, Nelson took this iconic photo without realizing that similar photos appear in almost every promotional photo collection of the park. The sea stack is an island when the tide is in, and very approachable when the tide is out. The shore is still hard to walk on as the gravel shifts beneath your feet, but it seems more peaceful here and there are still discoveries to be found.
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| Botanical Beach, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
While in the vicinity of the sea stack, Nelson took this photo of a seep monkeyflower, also known as the common yellow monkeyflower. It seems out of place so close to the tidal pools, yet lends a whisper of beauty to a different view of the shore.
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| Steller's Jay, 2025, Juan de Fuca Park, Vancouver Island, BC |
I was taking photos of a Steller's jay when Nelson and our happy, exhausted kids trooped back to the parking lot. I may not have been able to join them exploring Botanical Beach, but pouring through their photos for these 3 posts has been pure pleasure.
Jump if you ever get a chance to visit Juan de Fuca Park, but please keep in mind that it's huge and not suitable for the mobility challenged. Most importantly, check the tidal chart to see when the tide goes out and returns. It happens very fast.
This is Part 3 of 3 Botanical Beach posts describing our exploration of the Juan de Fuca Park tidal pools and shore of the Salish Sea on the west side of Vancouver Island. We loved it!
Botanical Beach posts correspond to the March calendar page.
If you enjoyed this adventure, join us in April when we head inland along a tsunami route and explore old growth forests and underground caves.
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