The Skookumchuck Narrows are legendary. Located on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast–one of the most beautiful places on earth–the Skookumchuck isn’t a river. It is the entrance of an inlet called the Sechelt, and the tidal flow of two other inlets pours through it.
The Skookumchuck is a dangerous place. Water levels can shift nearly 10 feet, and currents can reach nearly 20 knots, making it one of the fastest tidal rapids on the planet. Skookumchuck, in fact, means “strong water” in Chinook, an old time trading language of the Pacific Northwest.
During the peak flow of 2015, a paddleboarder named Spencer Lacy gave a standing wave in the narrows a shot. He summed the experience up in one simple sentence: “It was the best paddling experience of my life.”
