Metro Vancouver parks staff are asking Mounties for more support patrolling Wreck Beach as it gets more and more visitors.
In addition to requesting more police patrols, parks staff have also installed more signs about rules, Indigenous history, and the street addresses of various staircases — to assist those calling taxis or to call for help. Emergency responders often rely on the Coast Guard’s hovercraft, an air-cushioned vehicle that can approach the beach from the ocean. The clothing-optional beach in Pacific Spirit Park, next to the University of British Columbia’s Vancouver campus, drew nearly 840,000 visitors in 2022, according to Metro Vancouver.
Metro Vancouver agency wants more RCMP at Vancouver's Wreck Beach to deal with incidents involving drugs and alcohol; Wreck is a clothing-optional beach.
"For the 2022 beach season from May to September, the number of shifts were fewer than the previous year," Manseau said in an email Tuesday. It served as a fortified lookout and an encampment from which the Musqueam coordinated defence of their territory. It’s one of the largest clothing-optional beaches in the world. Unlike most of the city’s beaches, Wreck Beach is isolated and is generally reached by descending a trail of an estimated 500 steps from Northwest Marine Drive. Those measures include a solar-powered security light that was installed at the top of Trail 6 to improve visibility and assist public access after sunset. Staff have shared these concerns with the RCMP [UBC Detachment] and have requested for additional RCMP support in 2023.”