Parksville’s bustling downtown is the business hub of Vancouver Island's Oceanside region as well as a favourite destination for romantic weekends and extended family vacations. A full range of shops and services can be found here, including a few that can’t be found anywhere else! How about a restaurant that caters specifically to left-handers? Or a mini-golf course that might have been dreamed up by the makers of Pirates of the Caribbean?

Local arts, crafts and produce are sold in downtown stores, galleries and gift shops. Parksville accommodation caters to budgets from modest to maximum, a string of resorts, hotels, cabins and campgrounds line-up smartly along Parksville’s scenic waterfront.

Parksville’s community spirit, combined with the climate that is so garden-friendly, earned the city “Five Blooms,” or first place for cities its size, at the 2006 Communities in Bloom National Award Ceremonies. This award adds to the accolades that Parksville and Qualicum Beach shared when they won the national Communities in Bloom “Canadian Classic” competition in 2004.

While definitely a four-season town, Parksville has long been renowned as one of Canada’s top summer vacation spots. Its fabled beachfront, located directly across the street from downtown, is now the site of the three week long Parksville Beach Festival each August. The event’s highlight is the Canadian Open Sand Sculpting Competition, which draws tens of thousands annually to see a jaw-dropping array of alternately whimsical, complicated and flat-out stunning creations.

When they’ve had their fill of throwing frisbees on the beach, youngsters flock to Lion’s Venture Land Playground, a cornucopia of wildly colourful slides, swings and tire spinners in addition to a water spray zone and massive jungle gym. The grounds also include a great Skateboard & BMX Park. Older kids looking for thrills and hopefully not too many spills get their kicks at the Top Bridge Mountain Bike Park, an acclaimed network of trails built and maintained by the Arrowsmith Mountain Bike Club.

Mini-putt fanatics are in heaven here thanks to a series of wonderfully fanciful and challenging miniature golf courses. And nature buffs can wander for hours throughout Rathtrevor Provincial Park, strolling along the picture-perfect beachfront or exploring a delightful forest that begins at the very edge of the pebble, wave-lashed foreshore.