Having a cottage on the ocean means not having to go anywhere to find a beach. However, I love to explore. Nova Scotia is rich in so many ways and there is certainly no shortage of beaches and types of beaches. This one is only about a half an hour away from where we park ourselves during the summer: Heather Beach.
Heather Beach is surrounded by cottages, and the last part of the drive in is along a well-maintained dirt road through summer residences, but it is an “official” beach. It has parking lot, change houses, washrooms, an outside tap to wash off sand and salt, and on-duty lifeguards. There is a little rocky area along the high tide line, but after that, it is a marvellous red sand beach. Wade, swim, sit, lay, it’s a lovely place to pass time. When the tide is out, it goes out a very long way, meaning that this is a fairly shallow beach much of the time, ideal for children. The waters here are part of the Northumberland Strait, so are much warmer than typical Atlantic waters. Because it’s a supervised beach, it can be crowded on hot summer days by local standards, though if you are from densely populated areas, you’ll find that “busy” still means lots of room.
The tide has turned and is now going out. The dark sand shows where the high tide line is. Those people standing off in the distance indicate the shallowness of this beach. Great for swimming, wonderful for wading, perfect for children.
