02 The story
More than an airport
Sea Island was farmland and a small fishing and farming community before the airport arrived in the 1930s. Over the following decades the airport grew to cover most of the island, and Vancouver International Airport is now one of the busiest in Canada. Bridges link the island to Vancouver via the Arthur Laing Bridge and to Lulu Island via the Sea Island Connector, Dinsmore, Moray and No. 2 Road bridges.
Burkeville, outlets and Iona Beach
Tucked beside the airport is Burkeville, a small village of wartime homes built in 1943 to house workers at a nearby Boeing plant. It was named after Stanley Burke, then president of Boeing Canada, and its streets still carry aircraft names. It is a quiet, close-knit pocket of houses and trees with planes overhead.
Near Templeton station, McArthurGlen Designer Outlet opened in 2015 as a joint venture with the airport. It is an outdoor village-style mall with brand-name outlet stores, and it is an easy stop on the way to or from a flight.
At the island’s northwest corner, Iona Beach Regional Park sits on a narrow spit with two long jetties reaching into the Strait of Georgia. It is a good place for bird watching, sunset walks and wide views of the water, with planes arriving overhead.
Plane spotters like Larry Berg Flight Path Park near the south runway, where aircraft pass low on approach. The dyke trails along the Middle Arm also give good views of the river and planes.
Tips: YVR’s terminals have art worth seeing, including large Indigenous works. If you are staying near the airport, the Canada Line gets you downtown without a car, but bring a bike or car for Iona Beach.
