Coal Harbour, Vancouver

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Coal Harbour is downtown Vancouver's most recent residential area. High-rise glass buildings have sprouted like mushrooms over the past 15 years, thus creating quite a unique cityscape - at least for Canada. There is a nice boardwalk that goes all around the harbour, stretching between Stanley Park and Canada Place, which offers breathtaking views of North Vancouver and the surrounding mountains on a clear day. A few pieces of incomprehensible but rather interesting urban art add another touch of originality to the area which turned out to be another one of my favorite spots in downtown Vancouver. There are also quite a few good restaurants around Coal Habour which makes it the perfect place to go for a romantic evening or to have a few drinks in good company!

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The Coal Harbor Waterfront neighborhood of Vancouver is one of the city's most expensive and luxurious areas, and luckily for those of us who can't afford to live here, walking along Coal Harbor is free and open to the public. This area stretches just over a mile from Stanley Park to the edge of Gastown at the ferry terminal. It stretches along such city thoroughfares as Georgia Street, Bayshore Drive, Coal Harbor Quay, and Cordova Street.

During our visit, we spent some time at the north end of the Coal Harbor Waterfront as we walked from Stanley Park to our hotel on Broughton and Robson. We also walked from Broughton along the waterfront down to Gastown. This area is clean and safe, lined with marinas, expensive condos, nice hotels, piers, and the sea plane docks. The area was just developed in the 1990s and is now some of the most sought-after real estate in downtown Vancouver. It features several small park areas and a continuous pedestrian promenade connecting Stanley Park to False Creek. Some construction is still underway in the area including the The Vancouver Convention Center, a venue for the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Between the downtown waterfront area and Stanley Park is Coal Harbour. The Seawall Walkway links these two areas and makes an incredibly pleasant walking route. The buildings facing Coal Harbour, once west of downtown, are mainly apartments or, as North Americans call them, condominiums. The majority of buildings here can only be described as opulent. The Seawall Walkway meanders through the harbour front parks and passes some very nice looking restaurants and cafes. All in all, an evening stroll along here is something to savour and if you're passing through during the day, on your way to Stanley Park, as I did one sunny day, stop along the way at one of the cafes and enjoy the pleasant atmosphere of Coal Harbour for a bit longer.

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Ritzy, beautiful, glamorous. Coal Harbour draws in the rich and beautiful. Lots of urban development has caused an upspring of luxury high rise condos and apartments in this area between Stanley Park and Gastown. Added to this is a barrage of classy restaurants and bars catering to this gentrifying crowd. It's a beautiful place to walk along the waterfront, watch seaplanes take off and land with snow-capped mountain peaks dominating the background, stare at the luxury yachts that I will never in my life afford, and contemplate my future as a traveling nomad.

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If you walk along the Coal Harbour section of the Seawall, you'll find a wonderful combination of urban and natural beauty. The waterfront is being well-developed, methinks, and when it's all over we might give such amazing water walkways as San Francisco's and New York's a run for their money. I mean, the Stanley Park Seawall has always been charming, but you couldn't just go hang out there for half an hour while your friend hit on the coffee shop girl -- that wall's an afternoon adventure -- Coal Harbour, however, is as much about accessibility as it is about the walking itself.

This section of the Seawall is also renowned for the sheer number of kayakers, scullers and other rowers you see on a given day. The prominent Vancouver Rowing Club based out of Stanley Park, so many hobby and semi-professional teams workout along this bit of Burrard Inlet. While most Olympic rowers tend to row out at UBC and on Deer Lake in Burnaby, quite a few high profile rowers use this facility as well. If nothing else, it's a gorgeous building at the entrance to Stanley Park (at the end of the Coal Harbour portion of the Seawall) and a great chance to hobnob with some of the Vancouver's richer set.

The Seawall is a 20-kilometre stretch of walkway that makes its way from -- get out your map -- Waterfront Station through Coal Harbour, around the entirety of Stanley Park, along False Creek to Yaletown and all the way to Science World by Main Street SkyTrain.

30 minute Sea Plane was a great experience over the harhour and little islands.
The plane held 6 but there were just the four of us and the pilot. We took some good shots and video. Luckily we had a nice clear sunny day.

Coal Harbour is one of my favorite parts of Vancouver. Located in the Downtown area, stretching between Gastown and Stanley Park, Coal Harbour is the place to come roller bladding, walking, jogging.... The harbour is lined with shiny yachts from all over the world.

Though we were not in Vancouver very long, I know for a fact that the Harbor is a "must see". As harbors go, it's stunning to look at with the mountains as a backdrop. We got a picnic and sat by the water. Very relaxing and romantic if you can find a spot away from tourists.

Imagine holding a camera onto a fence cos I don't have a tripod and my fingers freezing cos itz zero degrees in January this year.
You can see all 3 ski resorts from this spot on Coal Harbour. The lights in the distance is on Seymour Mountain

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There's not much to do at Coal Harbor but walk around. And why else would you want to do anything else? It's gorgeous!