One of the reasons that I absolutely LOVE living in Barrie is that we have a gorgeous lakefront…and it’s very accessible. There are four main public beaches in Barrie. Centennial Beach, Johnson’s Beach, Tyndale Beach, and Minet’s Point.

Wilkins Parkette and Beach is also lovely and features a small sandy natural beach, a great natural trail as well as some gardens. It’s located in the south end of Barrie close to Hewitt’s Creek. 

If you love a relaxing summer vacation with easy access to the waterfront and being able to swim, sail, paddleboard or rent some canoes or kayaks, then Barrie, Ontario is a great destination for a summer getaway. You’ll love being on the lake at the same time as enjoying all the amenities of city living including a great variety of fantastic restaurants, boutiques and shops, and a world-class art gallery, the MacLaren Art Centre.

Living in Barrie, we can be down at the beach by 5:30 or 6 pm every day after work enjoying a BBQ dinner at the Barrie Yacht Club & swimming, SUP’ing with our daughter who has loved the water since she was a baby.  This is one of the reasons that Barrie works for us. We LOVE living in Barrie and being on the water as much as we can throughout the summer. 

Barrie has a lot to offer the outdoor enthusiast. Its central location within Simcoe County offers a lot of options for hiking, camping, mountain biking, paddle boarding, windsurfing, sailing, boating, and the list goes on.

Let’s chat about the beautiful Barrie waterfront and how awesome it is for beach and water lovers. For one, it’s simply gorgeous. The city has done an incredible job with the landscape design on our beautiful waterfront at Centennial Beach.

Secondly, if you live in Barrie, it’s super easy to get to one of the five beaches that surround the bay. If you’re visiting from Toronto or south of Barrie, you can easily hop on the Go Train and arrive at the Allandale Waterfront Station which is walking distance from the Centennial Beach.

Thirdly, our downtown is filled with amazing restaurants and cafés like Bohemia, cute boutiques and shops such as J’Adore Fine Cheese and Chocolate and The Olive Oil Co., as well as our local Brewery, Flying Monkeys. The downtown is also within walking distance of the beach and the Go Station. It will take you about 30 minutes to walk downtown from Allandale Waterfront Station.

There are also outdoor public art installations such as the Spirit Catcher (in the photo above), a Military Heritage Park, as well as walking & biking trails around the bay. The new boardwalk is incredible. There is so much to do at Centennial Beach. You can walk the entire loop around Kempenfelt Bay. We have incredible festivals such as the highly popular Kempenfest.  

There are beach volleyball courts and basketball courts on the beach. There is a great park for kids and lots of areas to picnic and get some shade in the beautifully landscaped park on the Barrie waterfront. 

If you’re a boater, you can dock in the public marina and enjoy visiting downtown Barrie and the waterfront. If you’re lucky enough to own a boat and live in Barrie, the local marina is incredible. It’s truly a great lifestyle living on the lake.

Enjoy the luxury of lake living in Barrie, Ontario along the shores of Kempenfelt Bay.

As always, we love to keep to the conversation going here in the comments below. Tell us three things that you love most about the Barrie waterfront.

Cheers,

Jen