We are considering the Penders, but wondering if it's the best choice. Would like to be able to keep a young child busy for a few days....perhaps kayaking, whale watching, biking. Can all of these activities be done on/from Penders? Or would another Gulf be better choice? Thanks.

I'm not an expert in the islands, but Saltspring does have lots of facilities.

We've been to most but not with a little kid, but I'll give you some thoughts. I hope others chime in.

Pender has a beautiful resort on it on the water, Poet's Cove, but it is expensive. I don't think Pender is the best for bicycling. It has one extremely dangerous curve on it. A car that passed me actually waited at the bottom of the hill to make sure I made it in one piece. You can rent kayaks there, I believe.

Gabriola might be the best for bicycling. There are lots of artists (not that your child would be interested).

Galiano Island has a beautiful park at Montague Harbor. You can rent kayaks there and go on very cool trips with wonderful guides. We bicycled there and it was good (not easy but not too bad). There are galleries.

Salt Spring is the big one, of course. I haven't bicycled there. It's got a lot of different attractions, including lakes, a little town, lots of galleries, bakeries, cheese making farms, wineries, interesting spots to visit.

So, in sum of my brief info, I'd say Galiano Island for Montague Harbor, Salt Spring if you want more civilization, or Gabriola for the bicycling. My favorite place in the Gulf Islands is Montague Harbor.

I hope others can give you more detailed suggestions.

Just FYI, another incredible day trip (or camping) is Sidney Spit off of Sidney on Vancouver Island. It is only accessible by boat, but you can go by water taxi in the summer. The spit is teaming with interesting sea life; there are forests and grasslands. It is totally undeveloped but for campgrounds and paths. It's really beautiful.

I spent my childhood summers camping on Galiano, so I'd naturally opt for that. Sure, it's been 20 odd years since I had the perspective of an 8 year old, but I remember those vacations fondly.

What I like about Galiano is that there are lots of public beach access. Saltspring, while it has a lot of harbours and parks, it surprisingly has a lack of beaches.

On the east coast of the island there are really neat sandstone rock formations on the beaches with tidal pools full of starfish, sea anemones, and such - I spent hours just staring into those tidal pools. You can access these from Cable Bay.

On the west coast of the island around Montague Harbour, the beaches are old shell middens - the trash heaps from natives that lived there for thousands of years. The white shells of the coarse sand makes the water look tropical. With the red bark of the arbutus trees along those beaches, it's really quite spectacular. Montague Harbour is a provincial park with some easy hiking trails through the forest... it's one of my favourite places.

Of course, Galiano's not all about beaches. There are several places with sandstone caves, you can hike up Mount Galiano or the Bluffs for some amazing views.

Even Bellhouse Provincial Park, which used to be a farm, has great views of the ferries passing by.

Whale watching isn't an activity you can do from any Gulf Island... there are no whale watching operators that I know of, although you can probably see whales if you're at the right place at the right time, as orcas pass by through Active Pass, and such.

Sturdies Bay, which is the little village at the ferry terminal, has a great book store, an ice cream shop, and a burger shack - popular with families. There are other restaurants throughout the island, but I guess I'm saying is that if I were to take young children to an island, Galiano would be great.

Side note: I've been back to Galiano Island many times since.

I've also explored the Pender Islands... not with kids, however. I found Pender Island more pastoral... more people living in acreages, less wild. Yet, there are beaches and areas to explore with children, so it would also be appropriate.

Here's an article on Galiano Island from the Seattle Times, written in 2004:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...galiano13.html

We visited the Hummingbird Pub. It's an experience not to be missed. They have a free pub bus that goes to the marina with wild drivers. I wouldn't recommend doing that with a little kid, though we took our kids on it and laughed as they thought we were trying to do them in (and they're the ones that were always saying, "Faster, faster!&quot.

Sorry for the double post. We went kayaking on Galiano with Gulf Island Kayaking at Montague Harbor. They are a great outfit. They run kayaking trips out of Costa Rica in the winter. Going with them kayaking in Costa Rica is on my "bucket list."

http://www.seakayak.ca/