sanbanks beach? - partial facilities reopening...

They have reduced bathroom capacity (and overall park capacity)
Avoid, if it's anything like last year, they have no parking capacity. Unless you are in the area, you will most likely take a 2+ hour drive for a daytrip to nowhere as you will either be disappointed, or be turned away at the gate because they are full.
So far this summer, it seems like most provincial parks within a 2-3 hour drive of the GTA are full on weekends by 10-11a (Sibbald Point, Sandbanks, etc).

realtycoon wrote: ↑ They have reduced bathroom capacity (and overall park capacity)
Avoid, if it's anything like last year, they have no parking capacity. Unless you are in the area, you will most likely take a 2+ hour drive for a daytrip to nowhere as you will either be disappointed, or be turned away at the gate because they are full.
So far this summer, it seems like most provincial parks within a 2-3 hour drive of the GTA are full on weekends by 10-11a (Sibbald Point, Sandbanks, etc).

thanks for the heads up.

on another note not sure why this thread got a down vote.... was a sincere question.

realtycoon wrote: ↑ They have reduced bathroom capacity (and overall park capacity)
Avoid, if it's anything like last year, they have no parking capacity. Unless you are in the area, you will most likely take a 2+ hour drive for a daytrip to nowhere as you will either be disappointed, or be turned away at the gate because they are full.
So far this summer, it seems like most provincial parks within a 2-3 hour drive of the GTA are full on weekends by 10-11a (Sibbald Point, Sandbanks, etc).

Yes, it is bad. I checked with Nickel Beach in Port Colborne, one of our favourite Lake Erie Beaches. They are now charging $50 per car to park on the beach if you are not a Niagara Resident. All comers used to be $10. And of course they are also spacing out the parking on the beach to allow social distancing and that will cut the space down by a large percentage. I understand where they are coming from, so we won't driving down this year.

If you hope to go to any beach or park tomorrow, you had better be lined up at opening time if you want a place.

Dealmaker1945 wrote: ↑ Yes, it is bad. I checked with Nickel Beach in Port Colborne, one of our favourite Lake Erie Beaches. They are now charging $50 per car to park on the beach if you are not a Niagara Resident. All comers used to be $10. And of course they are also spacing out the parking on the beach to allow social distancing and that will cut the space down by a large percentage. I understand where they are coming from, so we won't driving down this year.

If you hope to go to any beach or park tomorrow, you had better be lined up at opening time if you want a place.

I camped there this past weekend. Weather was good and it was not 'crazy'. The beach and parking availability is huge. It's just more inconvenient for many people to get to and there's less immediate amenities close by for hanging out, food, etc.

Washrooms were open regularly, but showers weren't.

at1212b wrote: ↑ I camped there this past weekend. ....

Washrooms were open regularly, but showers weren't.

With showers closed, what did u do? Just swim in the lake? Sponge bath? What were others doing? Will be there over long weekend.

mrweather wrote: ↑ Unless you’re a clean freak, not showering for a couple of days isn’t the end of the world.

This

Lol showering everyday, or twice a day is a modern “city” concept

Our farming ancestors were just happy when it was Bath Day (usually the weekend ... when time would allow to boil up the water, and get cleaned up for Church on Sunday )

I grew up in the country ... so very familiar with the challenges of being on a well

Camping is not a hardship ... we just swim in the lake & call it a day ... “clean enough”

Only time you need a shower when camping, is if you are @ the ocean ... then it’s nice to rinse off the salt, and all the beach sand

Then an outdoor campers shower works great

If @tempperm is so concerned he should buy one of those for his campsite
https://www.sail.ca/en/reliance-solar-s ... 3148360001

tempperm wrote: ↑ With showers closed, what did u do? Just swim in the lake? Sponge bath? What were others doing? Will be there over long weekend.

We did swim at the beach, but I was there just 2 nights, and it was a 'guys' trip. I saw plenty of families there. I guess you could just use the tap water there and pour it on yourself to rinse off.

Now I went camping there at the end of June so it wasn't crazy busy yet. My wife just went to a cottage in the area this past weekend, and was able to go Sandbanks beach early Sunday. The traffic to the park was rammed by 9 am basically. They were turning cars away all weekend.

PointsHubby wrote: ↑
Camping is not a hardship ... we just swim in the lake & call it a day ... “clean enough”

Yup it wasn t so bad after all. I though i would feel sticky but i felt fine after a dip in the lake. Didn t even use that bio soap. And 2 nights is not much.

You can forget about going nowadays unless you get there before 8 am, and even then, it's going to be a wait. The comments are interesting and hilarious.

https://www.facebook.com/SandbanksPP/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

To be fair, having to get there before 8AM really only applies during the weekend (and it is particularly bad this year). If you go Mon-Thurs, it's not usually a problem and the park doesn't usually close.

michelb wrote: ↑ To be fair, having to get there before 8AM really only applies during the weekend (and it is particularly bad this year). If you go Mon-Thurs, it's not usually a problem and the park doesn't usually close.

Its Monday, August 10th and they are predicting they will be closed before 11am according to their twitter. We were in the area July 25 to August 1 and they were closed almost every day before noon. Sandbanks is nice but there are probably 100s of beaches between Toronto and Sandbanks. Sandbanks is definitely not worth the wait.

zeddy wrote: ↑ Its Monday, August 10th and they are predicting they will be closed before 11am according to their twitter. We were in the area July 25 to August 1 and they were closed almost every day before noon. Sandbanks is nice but there are probably 100s of beaches between Toronto and Sandbanks. Sandbanks is definitely not worth the wait.

I don't know as I'm not there but it seems that lately they've been posting on FB every day when they reach capacity. This morning they posted that there was already a lot of traffic earlier but they don't appear to have posted that the park is at capacity and it's almost 3pm (if they haven't reached capacity yet, they probably won't reach it today).

The problem this year is a combination of the border closed and an overflow of Quebec visitors, it's tough to get in (even many weekdays they are full by 11a). They really should look into restricting the use of ONTARIO PARKS to ONTARIO RESIDENTS Only.
It's a great beach, but frustrating experience.
Furthermore, The Prince Edward County tourist marketing really should consult with their local residents. I've never been to a travel destination where the locals are so crusty, rude, arrogant, mean and generally unwelcoming to visitors. The County really needs to take a step back and figure out if they want to be a destination or not.

zeddy wrote: ↑ Its Monday, August 10th and they are predicting they will be closed before 11am according to their twitter. We were in the area July 25 to August 1 and they were closed almost every day before noon. Sandbanks is nice but there are probably 100s of beaches between Toronto and Sandbanks. Sandbanks is definitely not worth the wait.

I drove on the 401 last Thursday around 10AM and there was an electronic sign near the exit for Sandbanks saying that the park was closed.

realtycoon wrote: ↑ The problem this year is a combination of the border closed and an overflow of Quebec visitors, it's tough to get in (even many weekdays they are full by 11a). They really should look into restricting the use of ONTARIO PARKS to ONTARIO RESIDENTS Only.
It's a great beach, but frustrating experience.
Furthermore, The Prince Edward County tourist marketing really should consult with their local residents. I've never been to a travel destination where the locals are so crusty, rude, arrogant, mean and generally unwelcoming to visitors. The County really needs to take a step back and figure out if they want to be a destination or not.

They do typically, but not during a pandemic. All the locals I know want sandbanks either closed or restricted to locals only.

realtycoon wrote: ↑The problem this year is a combination of the border closed and an overflow of Quebec visitors, it's tough to get in (even many weekdays they are full by 11a). They really should look into restricting the use of ONTARIO PARKS to ONTARIO RESIDENTS Only.
It's a great beach, but frustrating experience.
Furthermore, The Prince Edward County tourist marketing really should consult with their local residents. I've never been to a travel destination where the locals are so crusty, rude, arrogant, mean and generally unwelcoming to visitors. The County really needs to take a step back and figure out if they want to be a destination or not.

Shaner wrote: ↑ They do typically, but not during a pandemic. All the locals I know want sandbanks either closed or restricted to locals only.

This...

During Covid ... Outside of the cities ... the amount of cases have been anywhere from ZERO to very few

Locals would like it to stay that way, so they aren’t too keen on local stuff (like Provincial Parks) reopening and then be OVER RUN by those who don’t live locally

It’s really a Catch 22 ... they want the businesses open again ... just not so keen on their small towns & villages (or hospitals) over run with POTENTIAL OUT OF AREA COVID Carriers.

I get it

We are encountering this issue all over Eastern Ontario ... Quebec Border thru to Kingston, Belleville, the 1000 Isands, Ottawa, the Rideau Canal system, all the way up to Algonquin Park.

I guess the only word I have ... is be respectful of others, and their feelings.

These are tough times ... some are feeling the stresses more than others.