Keats Island is an inhabited island located in Howe Sound near Vancouver, British Columbia. Fewer than fifty people live on Keats Island year-round.
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Physical geography, settlements and climate
Keats Island is one of the smaller islands in Howe Sound, located offshore from the community of Gibsons on the Sechelt Peninsula of the Sunshine Coast and directly west of Bowen Island. The Sunshine Coast is split into two portions on either side of Jervis Inlet. The southern half includes the Sechelt Peninsula, while the northern half is on the Malaspina Peninsula. The beautiful coastline is deeply indented at Jervis Inlet, Desolation Sound and Howe Sound. The Sunshine Coast is so named because of the frequency of fair-weather days (annual total of between 1,400 and 2,400 hours of sunshine, an average of 4 to 6 hours per day).
History
Keats Island is named after Sir Richard Goodwin Keats, a British Admiral. Admiral Keats served under Admiral Nelson and was famous for sailing the HMS Superb through a blockade at Gibraltar in 1801 during the Napoleonic wars. In 1813 Admiral Keats was also a governor of the Island of Newfoundland.
Settlement and services
The small settlement on Keats Island is mostly summer cabins with about 50 full-time residents. Most residents shop and obtain other services in the nearby community of Gibsons. The communities on Keats Island (8 square kilometres) are clustered around the two government wharves; Keats Landing on the west coast facing Gibsons is the larger community and has a view of Shoal Channel separating the island from the mainland. The other community is known as Eastbourne and is located on the southeast shore.
Access
Keats Island can be accessed from Gibsons by foot passenger ferry or water taxi service from Vancouver. The island is not accessible by car. Residents often travel on the island by golf cart. Visitors to Keats Island can take a BC Ferry vessel from Horseshoe Bay north of Vancouver to Langdale Ferry Terminal on the Sunshine Coast. Keats Island and nearby Gambier Island are served by foot passenger ferry from the ferry terminal at Langdale, and by Keats is accessible by water taxi from Gibsons and Horseshoe Bay.
Amenities
Keats Island has one of the oldest marine parks in B.C. (Plumper Cove Provincial Marine Park), which is a popular overnight destination for boats from nearby Gibsons, and Vancouver.
Plumper Cove Marine Park
Plumper Cove Provincial Marine Park is one of the oldest marine parks on the BC coast, and a popular anchorage in the summer months. The 57-hectare park is located on the northwest shore of Keats Island. The park has a well maintained hiking trail system, a grassy upland picnic area and forested walk-in campsites.
Housing
Keats Island has permanent residents and recreation properties. Since the mid-1980s, new housing construction has mainly been for highly-crafted and unique homes. Homes are clustered around the two wharves on the Island - Keats Landing, and Eastbourne.
Links
The Keats Island Website BC Ferry schedule for Langdale-Keats Island BC Government website for Plumper Cover Marine Provincial Park Information about camping on Keats Island
