Porteau Cove is the smallest of BC's south-coast marine parks and one of its busiest — a sixty-site campground, a pebble day-use beach, and a sunken-ship dive program all packed into a few hectares of shoreline on Highway 99. It became a protected park in 1981, partly to safeguard the artificial-reef program that had already turned the cove into one of the best shore dives in the province.
Day-use is free. Camping isn't. The campground splits cleanly in two: forty-four drive-in sites set back from the highway and tucked into the trees, and sixteen walk-in tent sites on a small bluff above the beach. Both fill the Discover Camping window the second it opens. Below the surface, the HMCS Whitethroat and a pair of smaller wrecks sit in 12–20 metres of water within easy fin-kick of the shore. Above, the picnic shelters fill with families by lunchtime and the pebble beach turns into the quietest playground on the corridor.
16 walk-in tent + 44 drive-in. Flush toilets, hot water at the central washhouse.
Three covered shelters at the day-use area. First come, first claimed.
The lot fills by 9 a.m. summer weekends. Arrive early or come Tuesday.
Walk-in entry off the pebble beach to the HMCS Whitethroat and other reefs.
Smooth grey stones, no surf, calm enough for toddlers when the wind isn't up.
Flush toilets at both ends. Cold-water taps for rinsing dive gear or kid feet.
The campground splits into two zones, and which one you book matters more than most first-timers realise. Reservations open through Discover Camping in a rolling window — for summer weekends, the slots evaporate within the first hour they're released. Set a calendar reminder for the moment your dates open.
Porteau Cove's reputation as a dive destination predates its park status. In the late 1970s, a community group started intentionally sinking decommissioned vessels in the cove to create artificial reefs. The biggest and best-known of these is the HMCS Whitethroat, a Royal Canadian Navy minesweeper scuttled here in 1986. Over the decades, marine life has done the rest: rockfish, lingcod, the occasional wolf eel, fields of plumose anemones blanketing the steel.
What makes the diving here remarkable isn't the depth or the visibility — both are average for Howe Sound. It's the accessibility. You park, walk down the pebble beach, kit up, and you're on the wreck inside ten minutes. No boat charter, no surface swim across an open channel. For a working diver on a tight day off, that's a serious draw.
Brought to the day-use launch for the morning window. A stable family option for a short paddle along the protected shoreline before the wind comes up.
Book a canoeBoards dropped at the launch. Best paired with a quiet camping morning and a high-tide window. PFD required — the cove is cold even in August.
Book a boardFor visitors who want a guide on the water for the family trip — tide window, safe route around the dive flags, the spots that matter. Useful if it's your first time on saltwater.
Book a guideThis guide covers the park infrastructure — camping, diving, day-use. For tide windows, wind reads, paddle routes and saltwater launch tactics, head to our sister site.
“Snagged a walk-in tent site the morning the window opened. Worth every alarm. The path from the lot is short, the view over Anvil Island at sunset is the best campsite view we've had in BC. Pack earplugs for the trains and you'll sleep fine.”
“Did my open-water cert on the Whitethroat last summer and came back this year as a certified diver. Visibility was 6–8 m, cold even in 7mm, but seeing the wreck through clear water is something I'll think about all winter. Easiest shore dive setup anywhere on the south coast.”
“Brought the kids for a day-use picnic. Got a covered shelter by 10am, set up for the afternoon. They spent four hours making piles of pebbles and chasing crabs in the tide pools. Cheaper than any zoo, prettier than any beach near the city.”
“Lovely small park but go in with expectations set. The day-use lot was full at 9:15 on a Saturday. We circled, parked on the highway shoulder (which is sketchy), walked in. If you can come mid-week, do.”
“Shoulder-season camping in late September is the move. Half the campground was empty, no dive flags to navigate, watched the moon rise over the sound with a fire going. The park feels twice as big once the summer crowd is gone.”
“Drive-in site #22, second weekend in May, perfect. We're new to BC camping and worried about the walk-in haul with two toddlers. The drive-in side was the right call — quiet at night, close to the washhouse, and we could load the car in the rain without ruining the trip.”
Porteau Cove is small. Very small. On a summer weekend, the day-use lot is full by 9 a.m. and the unofficial shoulder parking on Highway 99 is both unsafe and increasingly ticketed. If you don't have a campsite reservation, treat this as a weekday park or a shoulder-season one. Saturday-in-August Porteau is a different experience than its reviews suggest.
Walk-in tent sites book out roughly four months ahead through the Discover Camping window. Drive-in sites hold a little longer but not much. If you want a summer weekend, set a calendar reminder for the moment your dates open and book within the first hour. There is no waitlist worth waiting on.
The scuba is world-class for the price of admission, but it isn't warm-water diving. Howe Sound runs 7–9°C at depth even in August. A 7 mm wetsuit with hood and gloves is the minimum local divers recommend — many switch to drysuits by October. Don't underestimate the temperature drop on a second dive.
The park sits on Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) Nation territory. The shoreline, the seafloor, and the wrecks are all protected. Look, photograph, don't touch.