Newfoundland DOES Have Beaches!

My second day as a Newfoundland tourist, my friends and I road tripped to Eastport, Salvage, and Happy Adventure. We Newfs have a lot of fun with naming our towns and roads. I have the most amazing video clip of Raelene belting out “Wagon Wheel” during our sing-along, but I don’t think she’d be happy with me sharing it. She does have the voice of an angel, just the same.

Steph had told us about a gorgeous beach in Eastport. We were sceptical—Newfoundland has incredible coastline, but every beach I had seen so far was rocky and less than pleasant. I had long been subjected to my roommate’s sly remarks about how Nova Scotia just has the very best beaches ever, and I had to agree with him.

And then we pulled up at Sandy Cove Beach. A real, sandy beach. A beach with sand. A GORGEOUS beach with sand! My goodness, it was enough to make me cry. The weather wasn’t exactly ideal for wading in the water, but we ran around anyway like a bunch of kids.

sandy cove beach

Sand!

We then explored Salvage, a tiny town where a lot of rich American folks stay during the summer. It was pretty quiet, so we snapped some photos and went on our merry way. And don’t mispronounce the name: it isn’t Sal-VAG, it’s Sal-vaaaage. All fancy, en Francais. Sal-vagggg.

But I think we were happiest when we pulled up at Rosie’s Bakery & Restaurant, and found that the day’s special was Sunday Dinner, aka Jigg’s Dinner, a Newfoundland delicacy. Salt beef, peas pudding, dressing, veggies, and mashed potatoes all smothered in a healthy coat of gravy.

Mm, healthy.

I opted for a smaller meal of beans and homemade bread, hoping to offset the amount of booze I had consumed the night before, but then decided the Newfoundland sundae with partridgeberry, bakeapple and blueberry sauce was too good to pass up. The things we travel writers have to do in the name of research, right?

The owners invited us to stay at one of their cabins in the summer, one with a hot tub. Uh, hell yes?

Do you know of any other lovely, sandy beaches in the province? Let me know!

  • May 24 2011

    Wuck? Sandy beaches in NL? I never knew…. Will definitely have to check this out. And that jiggs dinner is making me sleepy just looking at it. I love salt beef and the dressing and the gravy. Oh so good.

    • June 09 2011

      Hahaha, you are a real Newf at heart!

  • May 24 2011

    On a scarcely related note, I knew I guy who fell into a golf course sand-trap late one night after consuming a large and unbalanced amount of booze.
    It was a nice place!
    Or… so I’ve HEARD.
    From that ‘other guy’.
    :)

  • May 24 2011
    Myrtle Walsh

    The most beautiful beach I’ve ever seen in Nfld. was in Burgeo! All white sand!

    • May 26 2011

      Someone else said Burgeo too, I haven’t seen it! Where is Burgeo?!

  • May 24 2011

    Very pretty beach although no sun which perpetuates the joke that newfies tan grey :P

  • May 24 2011

    I WANT TO GO BACK!
    ugh. I’m having a pb&j sammie for supper. looking at that picture of that delicious meal again makes this so unsatisfying…
    (one day I’ll take you to my favourite beaches in PEI, though :) always #1 in my heart. . . )

  • May 25 2011

    That beach is absolutely gorgeous. How big was it? Is it long enough to be jog-able?

    • May 26 2011

      Definitely jog-able! We didn’t go around the bend, but a lady was walking it so I can only assume. When it’s warmer, I’ll explore further!

  • May 25 2011

    that meal looks delicious…

  • May 26 2011

    I also do thumbs up when I pose with plates of food — what’s up with us?

  • May 30 2011

    If you can manage to see them through the fog, there are a few beautiful beaches on the Burin Peninsula! A few favourites of mine are around Lawn and St. Lawrence, Shoal Cove or Little Lawn. Definitely worth a visit. Also, in the summer Golden Sands is pretty great too, it’s in Winterland.

    Have fun with your traveling!

    • June 03 2011

      Awesome! I’ve heard of Golden Sands, but I’ve never seen it. I should make this summer all about finding awesome beaches, haha.

  • June 05 2011
    Jaime

    There are quite a few sandy beaches in Newfoundland, actually. And you don’t have to go as far as Eastport to get to them. There is Salmon Cove Sands which is just outside of Victoria (you know, the community after Carbonear). It’s dark grey sand, but it’s a lovely beach.

    Of course everyone knows about Northern Bay Sands, but that’s not a favourite of mine. It’s always too crowded.

    The beach in Burgeo is absolutely gorgeous, but it’s quite the trek to get there. You have to drive past Corner Brook, and then it’s a 2 hour drive down a highway that isn’t in the greatest shape (with absolutely nothing on the road till you hit Burgeo). However, the beach is spectacular. Gorgeous white sand like you’d find in the tropics. There is also a provincial park there – http://www.env.gov.nl.ca/env/parks/parks/p_sp/index.html

    In fact, out my way in Port Aux Basques, there is another beautiful sandy beach at Cheeseman’s Park, and Grand Bay Beach as well. Only problem with the beaches here is the fact that it’s Port Aux Basques and typically cold, wet, and windy in the summer from what I can gather.

    • June 05 2011

      Thanks, Jaime! Hahaha, I love the discussion that this post has generated. I feel like it’s my mission now to document all these places. Love the info.

    • June 05 2011

      Also a few great beaches in the Harbour Breton area…

  • July 08 2011
    Josh

    I find it amazing that Musgrave Harbour’s beach is still one of Newfoundland’s best kept secrets. The white sand beach starts in the community itself at the Fishermans Museum and continues for over 9 kilometers of coastline (I don’t know the actual distance. I just made a quick estimate using a ruler and google earth) passing through Banting Memorial Municipal Park.

    There are a few points with large rocks that break up the sandy beach at places but it’s possibly the only place on the island where you can walk a few kilometers in white sand then pass a rocky out cropping for a couple hundred meters to discover another sandy beach to walk. It’s as nice as any beach I have ever been on in Florida.

    Besides, without these rocky areas where would you pick your mussells to boil on the beach fire?

    • July 11 2011

      Ahh, nice! Have never actually heard of that one. The mussels plus beach fire thing is something that needs to be done. THis summer, preferably.

  • July 22 2011

    Cape Freels has my favourite white sand beaches… Come out for a visit and I’ll show you where to go.

  • July 10 2012
    Family in Pound Cove

    Pretty nice sand beach at Lumsden just up the road from Cape Freels – already mentioned. I am told the beach on the back of the road is nicer than the one visible when you drive in. Pretty wide beach and usually empty. Aqua blue water in summer, thought probably 50 degrees on the old scale.
    There is another sand beach between Lumsden and Cap Freels (Lumsdend South?). Pretty sure it might be a small provincial park, but I have not visited in ages.
    If you are out that way, there is a pretty nice heritage musuem in Newtown, and they do a decent fish and chips, last time I was there.

  • June 17 2014
    Brandon Hynes

    If you are ever on the West Coast, check out the small community of Piccadilly. White sandy beach everywhere :)

  • October 20 2017
    Denise

    I know this is an old thread. But the beaches at Sandbanks Provincial park in Burgeo are absolutely spectacular. Yes it’s quite a trek to get there but the reward is worth it. There are more than one beach, 7 actually. Not sure if you had visited yet but it’s worth it

    • October 25 2017
      Candice

      I’ve heard that from a few people! But no I’ve never been to Burgeo. Perhaps worth the trek.

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