FANNY BAY, VANCOUVER ISLAND, BC

The tiny oceanside community of Fanny Bay is situated on Baynes Sound, the sheltered narrow strait separating Vancouver Island and Denman Island. The tranquil setting of Fanny Bay overlooks the Strait of Georgia and the Gulf Islands, with the Coastal Mountains of the British Columbia mainland as the backdrop. None of the numerous explanations for the origin of the name Fanny Bay – comical, romantic, local or historical – can be regarded without a measure of skepticism. Fanny Bay first appeared in the 1864 edition of the Vancouver Island Pilot, based on surveys by Captain G.H. Richards of the Royal Navy, but exactly who Fanny was remains a mystery. Modern visitors are likely to be found with white plastic pails, surveying the silty shores in search of the oysters for which Fanny Bay is so well known. Fanny Bay is on the northern boundary of Lighthouse Country, a stretch of Highway 19A that runs along the oceanside from Qualicum Bay to Fanny Bay.