Qualla: Earls Cove, British Columbia

Earls Cove, British Columbia: Introduction

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andrew (Tawker), CC BY 2.5. The apostrophe was removed on purpose. When the name of this small settlement at the north end of the Sechelt Peninsula was made official, the community asked that it be spelled Earls Cove rather than Earl's Cove - not because anyone was uncertain about the pioneer named Earl who inspired it, but because there were several Earl families in the area and singling out one of them seemed unfair. It is a very small correction. It is also a fairly precise portrait of the place: a settlement of a few dozen buildings where everyone knows whose name is on what.

Image: Andrew (Tawker) | CC BY 2.5

Earls Cove, British Columbia: The Highway That Keeps Getting Interrupted

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit No machine-readable author provided. Qyd assumed (based on copyright claims)., Public domain. British Columbia's Sunshine Coast is mainland, but you cannot drive to it. Mountains and fjords block the way, so the road network arrives by boat. From the Lower Mainland, BC Ferries runs from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale, where Highway 101 picks up and runs northwest toward the co...

Image: No machine-readable author provided. Qyd assumed (based on copyright claims). | Public domain

Earls Cove, British Columbia: Fifty Minutes Across the Mouth

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Redonebird, Public domain. The Earls Cove terminal has two berths and a single job: linking Highway 101 across the mouth of Jervis Inlet to Saltery Bay on the far shore, joining the Lower Sunshine Coast to the Upper. The route is about 9.5 nautical miles and takes around fifty minutes, worked by the MV Mal...

Image: Redonebird | Public domain

Earls Cove, British Columbia: Two Thousand Feet of Water

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andrew (Tawker), CC BY 2.5. Jervis Inlet is the deepest fjord on the British Columbia coast, reaching about 670 metres - some 2,200 feet - of water. That number is hard to hold in your head while looking at a channel that from the surface seems merely narrow. Glaciers gouged it, the sea filled it, and the r...

Image: Andrew (Tawker) | CC BY 2.5

Earls Cove, British Columbia: Lakes, Lagoon, and Trail

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andrew (Tawker), CC BY 2.5. Behind the cove the land opens into freshwater country. Sakinaw and Ruby lakes both hold trout in season and are quiet enough for canoes and kayaks to have the surface mostly to themselves. Ruby Lake Lagoon supports more than eighty bird species along with painted turtles, beaver...

Image: Andrew (Tawker) | CC BY 2.5

Earls Cove, British Columbia: Why People Stay

Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 GMT

Photo credit Andrew (Tawker), CC BY 2.5. The Sunshine Coast mostly earns its name. Winters here are mild and wet, summers noticeably drier than the rest of this coastline, with average temperatures running from about 4°C in January to 18°C in July. Annual rainfall is around 100 centimetres and snowfall is light enough t...

Image: Andrew (Tawker) | CC BY 2.5