Last week my mum came to visit on a spur of the moment trip. She was only here for a week, so I wanted to make sure that we made the most of her time here. She has been to visit me here in Vancouver many times before, and so is familiar with all the “tourist” things to do. It’s now a nice challenge to find new exciting adventures for when she is here, we already did a seaplane tour earlier in the week, so we chose to explore Gibsons, which is a tiny little town on the Sunshine Coast towards the end of her stay.

*disclaimer, I experienced no sunshine on the Sunshine Coast*

Gibsons isn’t somewhere people tend to flock to, even people who live in the lower mainland. It has a very small population and is a popular retirement destination. Although part of the mainland, Gibsons is not accessible by car, so after a short 45 minute ride on a BC Ferry to Langdale, from Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, we jumped on the first bus which took us right to Gibsons Landing in around 10 minutes, easy peasy!

Gibsons is pretty tiny so it is easy to have a stroll around and see the town by foot. We looked in some of the cute and quaint shops, and then wandered over to Molly’s Reach (most famous for its part in the CBC show The Beachcombers) for lunch with a view of the water. Afterwards we walked down to the marina to look around and admire the beautiful scenery before jumping back on the bus and ferry to head back to Horseshoe Bay.

We knew this wasn’t going to be a huge adventure, and  didn’t stay and explore for too long because the weather was pretty dismal, and honestly there isn’t a ton to do in Gibsons. That said, I would definitely go back, preferably in the summer when the weather is a bit nicer, and explore further, and even head up the Sunshine Coast to Sechelt. All in all it was a nice way to spend an afternoon and explore somewhere that is definitely off the beaten track. I would definitely recommend Gibsons as a day trip for those looking for something a little different to do without having to travel far.