Esquimalt

Lifestyle & Recreation

Surrounded by water, Esquimalt is blessed with over 30 parks, beaches, and green spaces some of the most popular of which include Macaulay Point, Fleming Beach, the West Bay Walkway, Esquimalt Gorge Park, Saxe Point, Highrock park, and of course Esquimalt’s five historic walking tours.

Both the Archie Browning Sports Centre, as well as the Esquimalt Recreation centre offer residents access to many indoor recreational activities including curling, hockey, lacrosse, swimming, as well as convention spaces for meetings, conferences, events, and trade shows. 

Nearby golf courses include Olympic View Golf Club, Metchosin Golf Course, and the Royal Colwood Golf Club.

Amenities & Transportation

Centrally located, no more than 10 minutes from downtown Victoria by car or bike, Esquimalt boasts many public transit options, as well as easy access to the famous Galloping Goose Trail which connects inner Victoria to Sooke, as well as the Lochside trail which runs all the way north to Sidney.

History

Inhabited by the Coast Salish peoples for over four thousand years prior to the arrival of European settlers, the name Esquimalt is derived from an original first nation’s expression meaning “the place of shoaling waters”. First visited by the Spanish in 1790, established as a naval base for the British Royal Navy in 1837, and later visited by the Hudson’s Bay Company in 1843 who established a new fort on the shore of the Victoria Harbour, along with a series of treaties with the local peoples. The municipality was later used as an agricultural settlement and has been home to the Royal Canadian Naval Base since 1910.

Schools

Esquimalt falls within the Greater Victoria School District 61 and offers 3 public schools and a French first language school operated by the Conseil Scolaire Francophone. Given that Esquimalt is so central, access to nearby public and private schools prove to be easily capable.

Location

Esquimalt is located four kilometres (2.5 miles) west of Victoria's inner harbour on the southern tip of Vancouver Island. It borders Colwood to the west, with View Royal and Saanich to the north. Esquimalt’s southern shores are the banks of the Juan de Fuca Strait across which the state of Washington is ever visible.