Savary Island is an island off British Columbia's Sunshine Coast.

Understand

The south shore of Savary Island.

In the rainshadow of Vancouver Island, Savary receives between 950 and 1,300 mm of precipitation annually, with maximum amounts in late fall through mid-winter.

No permanent streams exist on the island, but at least one spring may be found mid-island called Indian Springs.

History

Archaeological evidence documents the occupation by Coast Salish peoples in this area of the Strait of Georgia for 4,000 years. They gave the island the name "Áyhus", meaning 'double-headed serpent'. The island was within the territory of the Tla'amin (Sliammon) First Nation. Shell middens (including a midden near Indian Springs), a former camp or village site by a small bay, a signal site atop the high south-southwesterly crest of the island, and ancestral remains reflect life in the pre-contact era.

In June 1792 the British ships Discovery and Chatham, under Captain Vancouver, sailed by the island on their way to Desolation Sound. Vancouver gave the name "Savary's Island". In early July a boat survey team led by Peter Puget and Joseph Whidbey charted Savary Island and spent at least one night on shore, meeting a group of indigenous people at island's eastern end. Puget did not refer to the island as Savary, instead simply calling it "Indian Island".

Permanent European settlement on the island began in the 19th century. In the 1870s the government subdivided the island into lots for homesteading.

Jack Green, the first non-aboriginal permanent resident, was an early settler who built a cabin and store in or about 1886. By the turn of the 20th century, CPR coastal ships and Union Steamships called in, popularizing the place. Savary has always been a popular island for clamming and swimming owing to the sandy beaches.

In 1910 Savary Island was subdivided into over 1400 lots. Savary became a favourite summer cabin location. Further subdivision resulted in a total of over 1700 (mostly 50 foot) lots on Savary. Roads were built and cabins established.

Over the years there have been several shipwrecks (including the Union Steamship Steamer Capilano in 1915) and aircraft crashes (including a small single engine crash in Seaweed Bay in the 1960s).

Flora

Common trees are Douglas fir, western hemlock, western red cedar, lodgepole pine, grand fir, red alder, bigleaf maple and arbutus. It is claimed that one of the largest arbutus trees in the world is on the island. A few western white pine are present. A tiny population of Garry oak occurs at the eastern end — the northernmost natural occurrence of this species along the coast. It has splendid beaches, arbutus groves, meadows, and sand cliffs. Salal is the most plentiful shrub in the forest understorey. Red huckleberry, evergreen huckleberry and red flowering currant are among the other shrubs present. Many of the open areas have been conquered by alien species such as Scotch broom, gorse and Himalayan blackberry.

Fauna

The animal population includes birds (bald eagles, owls, belted kingfishers, cliff and northern rough-winged swallows, seagulls, sandpipers, and herons), mammals (black-tailed deer, mink, harbour seals, otters, bats), reptiles (garter snakes and possibly northern alligator lizard), and numerous invertebrates. Surprisingly, the raccoon is absent; its failure to become established on the island has allowed ground-nesting birds to maintain their populations. Mink is the only native predatory mammal on land. Many mice as well.

Get in

• Access Point Marine Transportation, ☏ +1 250-277-1808. Operates seasonal scheduled service between Lund and Savary Island, operating up to four trips in each direction per day, departing up to every other hour in a given direction. Charter services are also available. This operator's terminal in Lund is about a 2 km drive north of Lund Marina. (updated May 2023)
• Lund Water Taxi, ☏ +1-604-483-9749. Small operator based out of Lund at Lund Marina. Can drop-off and pick-up to locations in the area including Cortes Island, Desolation Sound, and Savary Island. Offers bicycle and kayak transfer service. Advance reservation required for trips to and from Savary Island. During July and August, trips to and from Savary Island generally operate hourly throughout the day. Crossing time between Savary Island and Lund is about 15 minutes. (updated Apr 2022)
• Discovery Launch Water Taxi, ☏ +1 250-287-7577, info@discoverylaunch.com. Campbell River based service provider of water taxi services to the Discovery Islands, coastal inlets, as well as some of the northern Sunshine Coast and parts of Vancouver Island. There is a regular summer scheduled service between Campbell River, Cortes Island, and Savary Island. All of their boats are equipped to carry kayaks. They also offer some tours. (updated May 2023)
• Quest Water Taxi, ☏ +1 778-346-0021, toll-free: +1-855-659-2327. Campbell River based provider of water taxi service. Service area includes around Campbell River, Comox, Courtenay, Discovery Islands, Lund, Powell River, and Mainland Inlets. (updated May 2023)
• Way West Water Taxi, ☏ +1 250-286-3050. Campbell River based water taxi serving a number of the Discovery Islands, including Dent, Sonora, Read, Maurelle and East Thurlow. They will also go to many other locations within the islands and the coastal inlets, including the lodges. They also load kayaks and can drop you off/pick you up from locations within the islands. Between late June and early Sept, there are schedule departures between Campbell River, Cortes Island, and Savary Island. They can also arrange sight-seeing tours. $80 to one of the scheduled stops, more otherwise. (updated May 2023)

Get around

Southern Savary Island, seen from a floatplane

On foot

The island is 7 km wide, and takes about 2 hr to walk from end to end - the beach walks are spectacular.

By bike

The quickest way to travel around the island.

See

Its a great place to chill for a few days - specific sights are eroding sand cliffs, ancient dunes, wonderful beaches, all sorts of marine life. Bald eagles everywhere!

Do

• You can supposedly swim here. It is warmer than the rest of the water in the region though.
• Hiking is awesome.
• 1 Savary Island Bike Rentals, ☏ +1 604-483-7771. Rent a bike to get around the island. They rent scooters too. (updated May 2023)
• Kayak - Rentals are available in Lund.

Buy

There are a few artisan shops scattered around the island.

There is a general store which seems to be closed more often than its open with some very limited and expensive supplies.

For people who might want to stay a while, Silke's organic market in Powell River makes twice weekly deliveries (Wednesdays and Saturdays) of organic food. Delivery is free with a $120 minimum spend.

Eat

There are two places to eat on the island - the pub (see below) which has burgers and such (burgers $8-9, pizza slice $4.50) - kitchen closes at 9PM. A place on the other side of the island (corner of Tennyson and McLean) is delicious and open only for lunch (10AM-4PM). It has a boutique attached. Organic salads $5, local shrimp $10 and the to-die-for apple and plum cake $4 - they get a lot of their produce from Silke's organic in Powell River. They have espresso too ($2-4).

Back in Lund, the bakery is terrific and definitely the place to get some delicious read and baked goodies for your trip to Savary, after wolfing down some apple pie there. Its also not a bad place to chill, reasonable priced lunches (nothing over $10) and coffee with a sweet view with Rai music on the loudspeaker.

Drink

Bring as much water as you can carry! Many people who visit the island are known to enjoy beer; Lucky Lager is a particular favourite.

• 1 Rigger's. M-W Su 11:45AM-10PM; Th-Sa 11:45AM-midnight. Delicious Townsite Brewing beers on tap. It is the hub of activity on Savary, unless there is a party going on - but that's where you're likely as not to find out about it. (updated Sep 2016)

Sleep

Discreet feral camping is tolerated on the island - occasionally some island vigilante might say something negative (while accelerating their SUV in this pristine paradise), but most locals don't seem to care - emphasis is on 'discrete' here and please practice no-trace camping or else the situation will certainly change.

Free camping is an option. Most people choose the south beach for its proximity to the jetty so you don't have to lug your stuff half way across the island. Duck Bay has a couple of sites with shade right on the beach - and there really are possibilities on most parts of the island, except for the more residential areas (if you want to stay on the north -sunset- side, you can walk past all of the houses heading west from the ferry terminal for a kilometre or two). Remember to bring water and food - this is a remote island - and you'll also need to cart your trash off the island.

Rental accommodations are listed on Savary Island's website.

Connect

There are three public phones on the island, one on each end (1 west and 2 east) and one in the middle.

Rigger's also provide their Wi-Fi password for $5 and can charge your phone for $3.

Go next

Assuming you ever want to leave - or have to get back to work for some dumb reason - the water taxi, swimming and hitching on a private vessel are your only ways off the island.