Kelowna Boating

Situated on beautiful Okanagan Lake, Kelowna, British Columbia is the perfect setting for a great boating experience. Carved out by glaciers during the ice age, this pristine mountain lake winds its way 80 miles up the scenic Okanagan Valley in the Southern Interior of BC. Kelowna is centrally located on the eastern shore, halfway up the lake.

Boating on Okanagan Lake, Kelowna, BC Photo by Alison Joy

Kelowna is a four season playground with mild spring and fall months. Summers are hot with lots of sunny dry days, great for all sorts of outdoor activities with the lake literally at your doorstep. The summer is a fantastic time to enjoy boating in this cosmopolitan mid sized city. The cold winters make for great snow skiing and other outside activities.

There are four waterfront hotels with restaurants/pubs that are easily boat accessible with four fueling docks also located in and around the Kelowna area. Several other gas docks are scattered up and down the lake.

City of Kelowna

Kelowna's Bernard Avenue circa 1920

Downtown Kelowna sits near City Park at the foot of Bernard Avenue (The Sails) and is where the city of Kelowna was born in the mid 1800's and incorporated back in 1905. You can still see some of the early heritage buildings and architecture from around the turn of the century.

The City’s lakefront has developed considerably over the years since the first settlers started to arrive, yet it still carries an old charm that warms the heart and pleases the eye.

Kelowna viewed from the Westside

The Downtown lakefront can get very busy during the summer months with lots of boating traffic. All sizes and varieties of runabouts, cruisers, sailboats, dragon boats, houseboats and charter boats create lots of boat chop that you really have to be aware of as a boater.

Kelowna has grown to a population of around 150,000 including the outlying districts and increases considerably from tourism during the summer months.

Kelowna's Floating Bridge

The original floating bridge which connected the Westside of the lake to the downtown and the Eastside of the lake, was completed in 1958 and eventually replaced in the summer of 2008 with a new floating bridge, named the William R. Bennett Bridge.

Kelowna's William R. Bennett Bridge

The first bridge had a metal lift span that would let the sailboats and train barges that were too tall, to pass under. The span only opened at certain set times of the day, to limit traffic delays. The new bridge has a tall sloping fixed span on the Westside that all boats can pass through at any time.

One of the original car ferries, the Fintry Queen, took passengers and vehicles across the lake before the first bridge was completed and is still moored near the foot of Bernard Avenue.

The Okanagan Valley has steep mountain ridges mixed with rolling slopes that are adorned with beautiful homes, cottages, and vineyards that slope down to the lake. The clean fresh water is enjoyable during all four seasons of the year.

A Four Season Playground

Sailing by the William R. Bennett Bridge Photo by Al Cotton

Spring, summer and fall offer a great deal to do and see on the lake like sailing, watersports, water skiing, wakeboarding, wakesurfing, paddle sports and fishing.

Wind surfers and kite boarders can be seen off Rotary beach on any given day of the year when the wind is blowing hard.

Most water sports usually get started when the lake warms up, often as early as April and May, but sometimes not until June because of the spring run off from the mountain rivers and creeks depositing ice cold water into the lake. Of course there are still a lot of water sports keeners out there with the proper gear willing to brave these 30 to 60 degree water conditions in the off season. For most of us though, June through October are the most desirable months to be out on the lake.

Wakesurfing on Okanagan Lake Photo by James Shalman

Okanagan Lake warms up to the mid 70’s in the middle of summer, with August usually being the warmest month of the year. July and August are very busy on Okanagan Lake especially around the city centers, but you can boat 15 minutes in any direction and find a hidden cove or a nice stretch of shoreline for some tranquility. September is a great month for the water skiers with glassy conditions, warm water and not too many boats on the lake.

You will typically see very little activity out on the lake during the winter months. With the exception of a few fishermen trolling for that elusive monster rainbow trout, some working tugs shuttling log booms across the lake and a few dock companies towing their pile drivers and lumber to the next job, it's usually pretty quiet on the lake.

The city of Kelowna and surrounding area have become one of the world's most desirable places to live in and to visit. Come check it out!

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