A working harbour with 150 berths that runs roughly four months a season, behind an entrance hidden by Turnagain Island.
Where Secret Cove sits, and the other places we attend
around Halfmoon Bay. Every name on the map is a link.
The entrance sits behind Turnagain Island
Secret Cove is on the west side of the Sechelt Peninsula, northwest of Halfmoon Bay village, in Electoral Area B. BC Geographical Names carries two separate records. The water body, a "water area in a small indentation of the shoreline", was adopted on 10 August 1944 at 49°31'36" north, 123°57'05" west; the name had appeared on British Admiralty Chart 579 in 1860. The gazetteer states plainly that the entrance is hidden behind Turnagain Island. The shíshálh name for the place is Stl'ítl'kwu. The community is a second official record, at 49°31'59" north, 123°57'04" west, on map sheet 92G/12.
Access is from Highway 101. The roads that serve the harbour are Secret Cove Road, Buccaneer Road, Sans Souci Road, Riley Road and Wescan Road. Road routing on 12 September 2026 gave 19.9 kilometres and 24 minutes from Buccaneer Road to Sechelt Hospital. BC Transit Route 4 shows Secret Cove with a summer-service notation, which is a fair description of the place as a whole. Turnagain Island, the one that hides the entrance, sold for $13 million in August 2026.
Two marinas, and only one of them runs all year
Secret Cove Marina has 150 berths taking everything from sailboats to catamarans. Andreas and Kendra Tize bought it in November 2021 and reopened on the May 2022 long weekend. It runs roughly four months a season: a fuel dock, a store carrying marine parts and tackle, an oceanfront hot tub, paddle boards and kayaks, a renovated 5,000-square-foot four-bedroom float home let short term, and the 150-seat Upper Deck Restaurant operating May through autumn.
Buccaneer Marina and Resort at 5535 Sans Souci Road has been family owned since 1968 and stays open through the winter, with a year-round fuel dock selling premium gasoline and diesel, certified marine mechanics, haul-outs, hull cleaning and painting, and live bait. It also runs the water taxi and barge service to Thormanby Island and to private docks, which is how materials reach the water-access properties offshore.
The consequence for an owner is seasonal. From about October to April the boats are hauled, the restaurant and rental traffic has stopped, and the number of people who would notice an open door on a Tuesday in January falls sharply.
The plan puts the area's commercial land use in this one spot
Bylaw 675 states that "Tourist commercial facilities located in the Secret Cove area form the major service commercial land use" in the plan area (page 3), and designates the cove a community hub (page 34). The long arm of Secret Cove is Residential B, a 3,500 square metre minimum parcel (page 19). The Royal Vancouver Yacht Club holds property on Wescan Road (page 43).
The regional district's Chapman water system is described in the same plan as running through to Mercer Road (page 45). Properties beyond that line are served by independently operated wells and water licences, so on this side of Halfmoon Bay the question of whether a house has a pump or a pipe is decided lot by lot.
Fire came to the forest road above the cove in 2025
A 0.3 hectare fire burned in the Homesite Creek area above Secret Cove in mid-June 2025. In July 2025 a second Homesite Creek fire was measured at 0.95 hectares, just over two acres, first classified out of control and updated to held at 12:55 p.m. the same day. BC Wildfire Service sent two initial-attack crews and a water tender, and its incident map noted that crews "are making good progress on their objectives". Halfmoon Bay fire chief Kody Raymond confirmed the service was attending. A September 2025 fire on the Wood Bay forest service road was described in reporting as the fourth of the year on the forest service road above the highway between Secret Cove and Madeira Park. On 19 June 2026 a logging contractor spotted a further fire at 5:20 a.m. in the HM66 cutblock off Mason Road; it reached a hectare and was held by 12:30 p.m. No evacuation alert or order was issued for any of them.
Structures have burned here too. On a Saturday afternoon in January 2024 a building on Backhouse Road, near the Rockwater Secret Cove resort, was destroyed; fifteen Halfmoon Bay firefighters and a Sechelt crew attended. On 3 December 2024 a boat and trailer burned against a structure at Secret Cove.
What a check at Secret Cove covers
The dock, ramp, float and mooring lines, and the boat if it is left in the water over winter
Shoreline stairs and handrails after a southeast blow, checked from the top rather than guessed at
Heat on and holding, or the plumbing drained and the supply valve shut
The well and pressure tank on lots above the service line, or the regional district connection where there is one
The septic tank lid and the field, including standing water over the field after heavy rain
Brush, dead limbs and stacked firewood against the walls, given the 2025 and 2026 fires above the highway
Doors, windows, boat sheds and fuel stores, with the locks tried
Dated photographs covering all of the above, sent through the same day
Household policies generally cap the number of days an unoccupied dwelling may stand unchecked during the heating season, four in a row being the usual limit, and want a competent person doing the checking unless the water has been shut off and the pipes drained. The wording varies between insurers, so read your own.
What it costs
A scheduled check at Secret Cove is
$55 a visit, plus
$10 travel. The travel charge is the same
everywhere between Gibsons and Egmont. There is no minimum term and no joining fee.
See the full price list.
Where these facts come from
Every figure, date and quotation on this page was taken from one of these. They are
listed so you can read them yourself.
