Jervis Inlet - Geography

Geography

It stretches 77 kilometres (48 mi) from its head at the mouth of the short (18 km or 11 mi) Skwakwa River to its opening into the Strait of Georgia near Texada Island. It is the deepest fjord on the British Columbia coast with a maximum depth of 732 metres (2,402 ft).

The inlet is made up of three arms or reaches:

• Prince of Wales Reach
• Princess Royal Reach
• Queens Reach

At its uppermost stretch is Queens Reach, which takes a sharp right-angle often seen in fjord areas, to become Princess Royal Reach. Both reaches are about 20 kilometres (12 mi) in length. The flanks of the fjord and the valley of the Skwakwa River, which feeds the head of the inlet, are the site of two of Canada's highest waterfalls, James Bruce Falls (840m or 2,755 ft) and Alfred Creek Falls.

The most frequented and best known inlet in the area is Princess Louisa Inlet, with the Malibu Club and Young Life Camp at the entrance of the inlet and Princess Louisa Marine Provincial Park, including Chatterbox Falls, at its head.

At the mouth of Jervis Inlet a passenger and vehicle ferry operated by BC Ferries connects Earl's Cove (on the upper end of the Sechelt Peninsula and lower Sunshine Coast) with Saltery Bay (on the bottom end of the Malaspina Peninsula and upper Sunshine Coast).

The mouth of Sechelt Inlet connects with Jervis Inlet in the area of Earl's Cove.

Population is sparse on the shores of Jervis Inlet and there is no road access to the area. Industry includes small operations in aquaculture, commercial fishing and logging, but a substantial number of independent power projects are expected to develop in coming years.