49°N · Sightseeing & Activities
How do you time the drying bar at Roscoe Bay?
Roscoe Bay is a tide-gated fjord on West Redonda Island — a drying bar at the entrance sets the crowd, with all-weather anchoring, moon-jelly congregations, and Black Lake swimming rocks inside.
Quick facts
- Where
- SE corner of West Redonda Island, off Waddington Channel (Roscoe Bay Provincial Park, 247 ha)
- The gate
- Entrance bar dries at zero tide (~0.8 m) — plan entry and exit near high water
- Anchoring
- 4–14 m, mud, good holding, all-round protection; stern-tie in season
- Rules
- Federal no-discharge zone — sewage stays in holding tanks
- Swim
- Black Lake (short trail, swimming rocks) — not the bay
- Special
- Annual moon-jelly congregations (BC Parks special feature)
Every visit starts the same way: hove-to off the entrance, chart in one hand, tide table in the other, giving it "five more minutes." The bar dries at zero tide, so deep keels wait for a high, rising tide — but with 4–5 metres of typical range, the window is friendlier than the first-timer jitters suggest. Slip through favouring the south shore, watch the sandy bottom glide close beneath the keel, and the fjord opens into a fully protected pool. The gate is also the bay's mood-setter: when high water falls at convenient hours it fills like Prideaux; when it doesn't, you may have the whole fjord to yourself.
Inside
Anchor anywhere over good mud; the shelter is genuinely all-weather. The show is often in the water itself: Roscoe is famous for its annual congregations of moon jellies, thousands pulsing together in a ritual biologists haven't fully decoded. On shore, the short trail from the bay's west end climbs to Black Lake — much bigger than the bay, with popular swimming rocks up the left-hand path and a lookout beyond; the ambitious continue up Llanover Mountain for the postcard view down the fjord (sections occasionally closed by logging — obey signs). The lake still holds its sunken logs — probe before you leap.
Mind the rules
Roscoe's poor tidal flushing led to summer water-quality problems, so it is now a federal no-discharge zone: holding tanks stay sealed, and swimming in the bay is not recommended — the lake is the pool, and no soap in either. Pack everything out; the park offers pit toilets and nothing else. That care is the price of the hideaway — pay it gladly. Time the bar for both entry and exit. Final navigation decisions rest with each captain.
Verified against BC Parks, cruising guides and first-person accounts, July 2026. Captain's judgment is final.
Common questions
How much water is over the bar?
It dries ~0.8 m at zero tide — do your own math from the day's tables, and verify against official CHS data.
Will it be busy or empty?
It depends on when high water falls — the tide curates the guest list.
Where do I swim?
Black Lake. The bay is a no-discharge zone with a swimming advisory.