Dunes Beach Day Use Area - Sandbanks Provincial Park — Attraction in Ontario

Sandbanks has been a family favourite and we visit every year, sometimes several times for the last 10+ years. It's much quieter, less traffic during the week than it is on the weekends, and paid reservation is required on the parks website. If you don't have a printer, the information gate could print it off for you.

It is shallow entry, so the water is warm, and calm little to no waves as the beach is protected by the cove, great for little ones and you would never guess this is Lake Ontario. The water is clear and clean, with lots of little fish. If I had to compare the cleanliness of the water I would say Sandbanks is like Sauble or Grand Bend but with less choppy waters. The beach is marked with signs and buoys where the Lake will begin to drop. The sand is actually soft, white sand and it was powdery and dry the day we went. It's not pebbly or rocky. Water shoes are not needed however we always have them handy just in case.

A word to the wise, that dogs are not allowed in the day use area. I had found out the hard way when park wardens came to patrol the beach and do their rounds when they approached me with a warning. Unlike Grand Bend, Sandbanks does allow the use of sun shelters which allowed us to take a break from the sun. We also brought beach umbrellas as well.

The day use area has restrooms and a little building where they sell refreshments and snacks. The restrooms are cleaned regularly, however people track a lot of sand into the restrooms so be sure to wear footwear. My family always packs a cooler with a cold lunch so we've never bought anything recently. They used to sell hot food but this year they've switched it up to snacks like hummus/deli and cheese packs etc.

The parking area is about a 5 min walk through the trees to the beach. We have always stayed in the cove although if you walk past towards a wooden boardwalk, it should take you to the sand dunes that are visible from the Beach. Sandbanks day area also has a playground for kids, off the side of the men's restroom there is a station where one could rinse their sandals or feet of sand and debris before heading back to the parking lot.

Between the playground and the parking lot is also a covered area with picnic tables, under the cover of trees that provide...

Visited in the Summer (August) on a Monday morning. Signs instructed us to sign-in at the gates before parking. Figured out that if your reservation is printed and you have your printed parking permit posted in your window when parking you don't need to check-in at the gates. Lot was less than half full when we came in just past 8am, and didn't fill up past that when we departed around noon. Did the Dunes Nature Trail which took about 30 minutes. Trail sand was nice and soft, but would highly recommend light water shoes for some kind of light feet protection as there was some broken glass near one of the lookouts. Beach was very chill - nice tall sand dunes to lay your beach towels down. There's a quick steep dropoff in the water at this beach - which is clearly defined by buoys, unlike Outlet beach which has a very gradual drop-off. Washrooms were kept very clean. There was also a canteen store connected to the washroom area selling chicken fingers, burgers, hotdogs, sunscreen, cold drinks - opened sometime around noon. Beach sand was superfine and pleasant. There were a few biting flies at the base of the dunes where the trail boardwalk is, but wasn't really a problem outside of that area near the water. Was a really nice beach option...

Amazing beach! This park is the place to be to spend the day with your family at the beach. The main one is incredibly long and the sand is baby powder fine. You can walk out for several meters before it starts to get deep.

The second beach is even nicer. It's called "dunes beach" and the name clearly comes from the several sand dunes you can walk out to. This beach is not quite as large, however, it's a nicer spot for sure.

The park itself does not seem so great for camping. It is very oddly spread out and the campsite groupings are very segregated. The lots are all rather small. Several sites offer very little by way of privacy. Most of them in fact are very wide open to your neighbours.

A bike is a must if you camp here. Staff were all very friendly and the park is very clean. It's just the strange layout of the grounds and lack of privacy that are deterrents for camping.

Of you just want to spend the day ont the water and take in an amazing beach, this is the...