As mentioned, summer time is SHORT. You have roughly eight weeks to jam in as much fun in the sun as possible. And though my Trini friend who just moved to Canada keeps insisting that freshwater beaches are, quote, “not beaches”, the fact is in the summer time you’ve just got to go jump in those lakes, even if they don’t have any salt. (I admit, it does take some getting used to… I am accustomed to floating around in salt water but in fresh water it takes a lot of effort!) Either way, I believe in making the best with what’s around.

This summer has been exceedingly hot and dry. Island Lake’s water level is so low you can’t even go paddling. We went camping and lay down all night in the tent sweating as the temperature never dropped below 27’C, even overnight. The only thing that saved us was the cold lake water.

Come to think of it, this scorching summer was the perfect summer for exploring Ontario’s most popular beaches. So here I’ll introduce some of the best beaches I found this year around the GTA for summer swims.

Wasaga Beach

First up, my go-to beach, Wasaga. It’s the closest to my house (roughly a one hour drive each way) and no doubt one of the most popular in the province. It’s the longest freshwater beach IN THE WORLD with 14km of sandy shores. I find that the very shallow part can be a bit gucky or brown with silt and pieces of leaves, but once you get past the shallow it’s crystal clear and amazing swimming. Every summer we swim out to the buoys and hold on tight. It’s become a summer tradition. We end up here usually once a week.

Sauble Beach

This one is further – roughly two hours each way – but in my opinion worth it for a day trip. The water is PERFECT, super clean, but often a bit cold compared to Wasaga. Not nearly as busy as Wasaga, Sauble has soft silky sand and hardly any crowds. Parking is very limited so buy the beach parking pass in advance. Take lots of food as there’s nowhere to buy stuff, compared to Wasaga.

Grand Bend

A new addition to my family’s beach collection, discovered this during a road trip to Sarnia. Located on the west coast of Georgian Bay, this funky little beach town gave some serious Florida vibes with lively bars playing fun music, teenagers milling about in bikinis, lifeguards in red bathing suits like Baywatch, and lots of students. Water was, of course, very cold. Sorry to burst your bubble. Looks like Florida, feels like Canada.

Turkey Point

This beach was our saviour during a camping trip at Turkey Point Provincial Park, which is on Lake Erie. Technically the beach is part of the provincial park so you can drive from the park to the beach and park for free. Loads and loads of people. This was my first time to visit Lake Erie and what a HUGE difference! The water was WARM! Like lounge-all-day-in-the-water kind of warm. What a relief to not be chilled to the bone while swimming! This beach I would return to for the warm water.

Little River Beach Park

This little gem of a beach in Thornbury has its pros and cons. Pros: it’s a beautiful and scenic bay, the water is super clear and clean, there are huge boulders in the water you can stand up on, and you can jump off the nearby dock into the water (which is a lot of fun even for adults – I jumped like a hundred times and I wasn’t the only adult acting like a big kid!). Cons: the beach is pretty much all rocks so you need water shoes or crocs to get in, and IT’S F***ING FREEZING. NO JOKE. Still, I found myself drawn here this summer, mostly because of the dock jumping.

If you’re a water baby like me, and you NEED to swim as much as you can while the weather allows, there’s no shortage of beaches to check out around the GTA. If I can get used to the cold, then anyone can!