🇨🇦 Squamish Spit
Canada · North America · All Canada spots →
Best directionS
Wind speed15–30kt
SeasonMay 15 – Sep 15
Skill levelAdvanced
WaterFlat
A glacier-fed river spit between towering coastal mountains, and one of the world's best freestyle spots for it — flat water below the launch and near-daily thermal wind all summer. Managed by a local windsports society with a day-use fee, rescue boats, and an official season running exactly May 15 to September 15. Not beginner-friendly — you need to ride upwind and self-rescue independently here.
View live 5-day wind forecast →Good to know
Getting thereAbout 1 hour north of Vancouver via the Sea to Sky Highway (Highway 99). A car is essential for the gravel access road through the industrial port area to the oceanfront parking lot. Access to the actual launch ('Spit Island') requires a paid membership with the Squamish Windsports Society, confirmed directly against their own site — this isn't optional or a simple shuttle fee, and you can walk across at low tide only if you already hold one.
HazardsWater is glacier-fed from the Pemberton Icefield and genuinely cold year-round — a thick wetsuit or drysuit matters. Wind character actually differs by side of the Spit, worth knowing rather than assuming one direction: the river side tends to run cross-offshore to offshore (upwind riding and self-rescue skills matter here), while the estuary side in the lee of the Spit is more onshore and hosts the sheltered flat-water zone locals call 'the honey hole.' True beginners should stick to lessons with boat support rather than the open river side, and know that outside the official May-October season there's no rescue coverage from the Spit at all.
Best time of dayAfternoon, May-September, when the Howe Sound thermal engine pulls cool coastal air against the hot interior. Wind typically switches southerly and builds fast between 8-10am, holding 20-25kt through the afternoon before dropping around 5pm.