Protection Island / Newcastle Island

Protection Island shelters Nanaimo harbour from the waters of the Strait of Georgia. I visited the island via a small ferry from the harbour, a privately owned service not run by BC Ferries. The small boat takes around a dozen passengers on the 10-minute journey and the only vehicles allowed are bicycles, placed on the roof by their owners. The waiting room for the ferry is on another boat at the southern end of Nanaimo harbour. 

Protection Island has a history of coal mining, with an active mine on the island from the late 1800s until 1938. People knew the island as Douglas Island, named after James Douglas, the first Governor of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, until 1960 when they renamed it Protection Island. Today there are 350 full-time residents.

The boat from Nanaimo arrives at the Dinghy Dock Pub, Canada’s only floating public house. When I left the ferry and walked up the gangway, I picked up a map of the island. The map is detailed, showing all the roads, properties, parks, and access to beaches. As I proceeded, the first thing I saw was a collection of golf carts parked in orderly fashion in what I suppose you could call a cart park. The dominant mode of transportation on this island is the electric cart. I saw some cars and trucks around, but they are not used much as there is nowhere on the island for them to refuel as there is no petrol station. 

I headed to Pirate’s Park and admired the sea views over the harbour towards Nanaimo. I climbed up the robust set of steps through the trees to Pirate’s Lane, turned right, and then left on to Silver’s Terrace before heading along Captain Morgan Boulevard, past the Community Garden and headed into Smugglers Park for more views, this time eastwards towards the wooded Gabriola Island. I headed through the trees on what appeared a proper path and ended up on Pirate’s Lane again. I found Batchelor Point with more easterly views and then walked along Captain Morgan’s Boulevard to the southernmost tip of the island where Beacon House and the island’s museum are in Gallows Point Light Park. 

Beacon House is the community centre for the island and was under renovation when I visited. The Museum is behind Beacon House and presents a permanent display of historical artifacts, photographs, and maps plus a comprehensive archive of Protection Island history. The talented inhabitants of the island also present their art and collections here. 

Nearby is Newcastle Island. First Nations refer to it as Saysutshun. The island is a Marine Park and no one except park authorities live on it. The First Nations peoples who inhabited the island left in 1849 when the Hudson’s Bay Company started opening up coal mines. They renamed the island Newcastle Island after Newcastle-upon-Tyne in England because of the coal connection. The park has become extremely popular, catering to hikers, bird watchers, and kayakers alike where walk-in campsites are available on a first-come, first-served basis.

A little boat heads from Maffeo Park to Newcastle Island every 30 minutes costing $10 return. This boat is not part of BC Ferries. The island’s perimeter trail is around five miles in length and the only places where there seems to be any problems with the path are on the western side, nearer to Nanaimo and Vancouver Island, where there are some steep parts, requiring shoes with a good grip. These paths are found just south of the viewpoint for Departure Bay. Mallard Lake is a small stretch of water in the northern part of the island that is covered with weed and is not too picturesque as a result. Kanaka Bay is a lovely place to linger for a while as is the area just to the north of the disembarkation point where there are two separate totem poles. The view is across towards the mainland of British Columbia.