Cox Bay

Cox Bay is a popular beach and surf break just outside the boundary of Pacific Rim National Park, a few minutes south of Tofino. While not nearly as expansive or seemingly endless as Long Beach, Cox Bay is a 1.5-kilometer-long stretch of soft sand scattered with a typically West Coast assortment of driftwood, kelp, and other tidal debris. Since it is located just outside of Pacific Rim National Park, there are a few resorts along the beachfront. The beach still has public access with free parking, and for the most part the lodgings are set back behind the row of driftwood piles deposited by the last king tide so as to allow beach-goers a sense of unspoiled natural beauty.

Surfers flock to Cox Bay during the summer months because this west-facing beach seems to catch the smaller swells and tends to produce decent-sized waves while neighboring, Long Beach and Chesterman Beach are mostly flat. Another advantage offered by Cox are the webcams at Pacific Sands Resort and Long Beach Lodge, which provide an opportunity to monitor the conditions from afar.