Before I ever visited the Comox Valley, I had never heard of the Royston Wrecks. I had come across a small blurb in a visitor’s guide to Courtenay and Comox describing this collection of ship wrecks. Royston is a small town minutes south of Courtenay along the Old Island Highway. I would never think of stopping here, but I found a little road that leads down to the water and this collection of gigantic rusting steel skeletons.
The Royston Wrecks were originally part of the Comox Harbour Breakwater. Logging was once a big industry in the Comox Valley and they would load up ships in Royston. However, the waters were really rough. So it was decided to start using old decommissioned ships to form a breakwater to calm the waters. The first of the shipwrecks were placed there in the 1930’s and then added to over time.
Apart from the eerie beauty of the wrecks, there was plenty of beach and nature to enjoy in Royston. There were the tiny little crabs that could seen in the pools stranded along the beach. Dogs ran freely along the beach if their owners could find the place. The gem of my visit to Royston was stumbling upon a collection of freshly eaten scallops. The open shells lay prone in the sunshine. They glistened in the midday sun. The shells were likely the remnants of some seagull’s lunch. I couldn’t have staged a more beautiful moment.
External Links:
- Wikimapia: The Royston Wrecks
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