Hotels in White Rock, British Columbia

A little about White Rock...

With a population of 19,735, White Rock is located in the southwest corner of the Lower Mainland of British Columbia, Canada, forty-five kilometers from Vancouver and is flanked on the south by the Canada/US border and Blaine, Washington. It is a seaside community clustered around an eight kilometer sandy beach and the warm shallow waters of Semiahmoo Bay. It is famous for its 1,500 ft. long pier, its 2.5km long beach promenade, being the home of the Walrus, and of course the large white rock.

Every year in July, the city hosts the Tour de White Rock, bicycle road race that attracts over 150 local and international riders. In 2005, the event was part of the Canadian Cycling Association's national Road Race Series. Every year in late summer, the city celebrates the Spirit of the Sea Festival, which usually includes a parade, fireworks, a sandcastle competition, and various other beach related activities over the course of two days.

Because of its moderate, almost Mediterrean climate, White Rock is a preferred place to live. The average summer temperature is twenty-three degrees Celsius while the average winter temperature is six degrees Celsius. White Rock is often referred to as either 'the gem' or 'one of the gems' of the Lower Mainland, in local real estate advertising. Pilots accustomed to flying around the area often refer to it as 'the hole in the sky', referring to the fact that White Rock is often bright and sunny, while the rest of the Lower Mainland peers through rain and cloud.

White Rock is named for a distinctive large white boulder found on its beach near the promenade. A glacial erratic that migrated from Hudson Bay in past ice ages due to continental glaciation, the 486-ton granite boulder was kept white by shellfish-eating seabirds, whose guano covered the rock, so much that sailors in the 19th century used it as a beacon. However, it now remains white through frequent applications of white paint by the city parks department, as it has been a popular graffiti target for over thirty years.