Long Point, located on Lake Erie on Ontario's South Coast, is home to a World Biosphere & an excellent location for Sea Kayaking Adventures.
Long Point is the 2nd largest sand spit peninsula in the world. It juts into Lake Erie 32 kilometres on a south-east angle creating a sea kayaking paradise with 3 distinct paddling opportunities. Long Points Inner Bay, Long Point Marsh & Long Point's Ontario South Coast shoreline with 30 kilometres of sandy beaches.
We run our 2 Day Instructional Sea Kayaking course in Long Point's Inner Bay as it is the perfect place to learn & practise sea kayaking. Long Point Bay has an outer bay & a calmer Inner Bay. The inner bay has a 40 km circumference, large enough for an open water sea kayaking experience but small enough to be protected by the land on 3 sides. The bay's opens to the east while the prevailing winds & waves are from the west. This & the fact much of the inner bay is shallow keep's Long Point's Inner Bay unusually calm for large open water. A great location for a tranquil sea kayak experience
Long Point Marsh is an extensive area of marsh land bordering the bay. It includes Long Point National Wildlife Area & is next to Big Creek National Wildlife Area for more excellent marsh kayaking. You can encounter wildlife of all kinds. Shallow, warm Lake Erie encourages many species to thrive that couldn't elsewhere in the Great Lakes. It's unusual collection of Northern plus Southern flora & fauna is protected by the peninsula separating it from the mainland plus protected land including National Wildlife Areas & Long Point Provincial park. We've seen Trumpeter Swans, Bald Eagles & Sandhill Cranes in Long Point.
Paddling through the marsh land at Long Point, gliding past the tall reeds, spotting ducks, turtles & fish in the channels plus hearing the sound of frogs & a huge variety of birds is a near wilderness experience you’ll never forget.
To add a little more to the trip, the bay is ringed with quaint settlements like Long Point village, Booths Harbour & Port Rowan. There are B&B accommodations in Port Rowan and camping at Long Point Provincial Park.
Just a few minutes away on the other side of the Peninsula is the 30 km beach & big open Great Lake Erie of Ontario's South Coast. Here paddling conditions range from calm to challenging. And they call it Ontario's South Coast for a reason. The miles of beach & warm waters of Lake Erie literally give you the feeling you're paddling in the sunny south.
Why is Lake Erie warmer. Lake Erie is by far the warmest of the Great Lakes. Lake Ontario is 2nd warmest. Ont's September temperature chart has 5 cross sections of the lake by depth plus a chart of surface temperature. Red is warmer, yellow colder, green very cold, blue is below 40°F. Lake Ontario is in the 60° - 50°F range. The bottom is 40°F.
By comparison Lake Erie (below) is over 70°F in mid September & the whole lake is warm. 10° warmer makes a lot more comfortable paddle.
Why? Lake Erie is shallow, averaging 20 ft. (6m) deep but Ontario is 150 ft (45m) deep. Lake Ontario is 7x deeper than Erie. Shallow Lake Erie warms up much faster. By mid summer even the lake's bottom is warm. The other Great lakes never get fully warm.
Treat yourself to some of Southern Ontario's most beautiful sights and enjoy the area's best sandy beaches all the way! Long Point is a truly unforgettable experience.