Aquattro’s Secrets of the Neighbourhood


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1. Royal Bay Bakery

3337 Metchosin Road.
Victoria, B.C.
V9C 3C5
Tel: (250) 478-3717

The best-kept secret in Colwood.
This small, independent bakery is known for its organic breads, mouth-watering Danishes and handmade sausage rolls. In fact, they sell more than 100 sausage rolls per day! Owner David Grove walks to work early in the morning to start mixing yeast doughs, and is joined later by his partner Gwen Snyder and other staff who run the shop until closing time.

2. Royal Roads University and Hatley Castle

2005 Sooke Rd.
Victoria, B.C.
V9B 5Y2
Tel: 1-800-788-8028

An historic, ivy-covered campus set against the Pacific Ocean.
Royal Roads University is located in Hatley Park National Historic Site in Colwood. All programs and research focus on applied, real-world experience. Hatley Castle dates back to 1908 and from 1941 to 1943 it served as dormitory and mess hall for cadets and staff officers at Royal Roads Military College. The imperial, ivy-covered building and stunningly landscaped gardens now serve as the administrative centre for Royal Roads University.

3. Fort Rodd Hill National Park and Fisgard Lighthouse

603 Fort Rodd Hill Rd.
Victoria, B.C.
V9C 2W8
Tel: (250) 478-5849

Go back in time.
Fort Rodd Hill was built by the British in the 1890s to defend Victoria and the Esquimalt Naval Base. The Fort includes three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. Built in 1860, Fisgard Lighthouse marks home base for the Royal Canadian Navy. Once a beacon for the British Royal Navy’s Pacific Squadron, it now serves as a museum exhibiting past shipwrecks, storms, and the light keeper’s century-old working equipment.

4. Esquimalt Lagoon

Located at the base of the Royal Roads property, next to Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Sites.

A bird-watching experience that’s out of this world.
Esquimalt Lagoon is an important stopover for birds migrating on the Pacific Flyway: a “bird highway” between North and South America. This shallow lagoon is enclosed by a spit, and is connected to the ocean by a tidal channel. Visitors are sure to spot a number of sea-faring and forest-dwelling birds as the lagoon is bordered by some of the oldest Coastal Douglas Fir in the Victoria area.

5. Royal Colwood Golf Club

629 Goldstream Ave.
Victoria, B.C.
V9B 2W9
Tel: (250) 478-8331

Golf like royalty.
Royal Colwood Golf Club dates back to 1913, and offers a traditional championship course set among 450-year-old Douglas firs and majestic Garry oaks. One of a select few in the world, Royal Colwood received its Royal designation from King George V in 1931. Since then, the private club has hosted royalty, celebrities, sports stars, and the general golfing public.

6. West Shore Parks and Recreation

1767 Island Hwy.
Victoria, B.C.
V9B 1J1
Tel: (250) 478-8384

Get out and play.
West Shore Parks and Recreation has something for everyone: a swimming pool, two arenas, a curling rink, a golf course, as well as several ball fields and jogging trails. They offer several dozens of recreation activities, arts and crafts courses and health and wellness programs. The Juan de Fuca Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library is even located right onsite.

7. Wittys Lagoon

Adjacent to the Strait of Juan de Fuca, in the Bilston Creek Watershed

Bring binoculars, and prepare for discovery.
A spectacular waterfall, mixed woodland, tidal lagoon, sandy beach, and rocky shore are all home to an impressive variety of coastal birds at Witty’s Lagoon Regional Park. The park contains over 160 documented species and is considered one of the best places in the region to bird watch.

8. Everything Wine – Millstream Village

Unit 131 – 2401 Millstream Rd.
Langford, B.C.
V9B 3R5
Tel: 250-474-3959

Where wine-lovers live.
This specialty wine store features nearly 3000 different wines from all over the globe. Visit the Vintages premium room: a classroom for wine education and events as well as the tasting bar open everyday from 2 – 6 p.m. They also have one of the largest selections of Riedel glassware in the country as well as a vast assortment of wine accessories, books and magazines.

9. Goldstream Salmon Spawning Channel

Located 16 km northwest of Victoria on the Trans Canada Hwy. The entrance to the day-use area is near the junction of Hwy 1 and Finlayson Arm Rd.

Watch the salmon life cycle unfold.
Goldstream River is the site of major salmon runs from late October through to December. Salmon return to Goldstream to spawn in the river following a four-year lifespan that includes a journey of thousands of kilometres. Each year, visitors watch salmon work their way upstream along the spawning channel in the day-use area. In addition, the nearby Freeman King Visitor Centre provides information on the yearly salmon spawn, and even has an underwater salmon cam for easy viewing!

10. Galloping Goose Trail

The trail begins at the south end of the Selkirk Trestle, at the foot of Alston Street in Vic West. Access points are found along the entire trail route. Parking areas are located at Atkins Avenue in View Royal, Aldeane Avenue in Colwood, the Luxton Fairgrounds on Sooke Road in Luxton, Rocky Point Road in Metchosin, and Roche Cove Regional Park in East Sooke.

Nature, amplified.
This picturesque multi-use trail was formerly a railway line, and moves through urban, rural and wilderness scenery on its 55 kilometre journey from Victoria to Sooke. Visitors can cycle, stroll, run, or even ride a horse through the rural sections. The trail winds past a quiet cove, a hidden lake, rocky outcrops, marshland, canyon land, skunk cabbage swampland, tall Douglas-fir forest, Garry oak and arbutus forest, as well as rural farmland and waterways.