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How to Get To Hanlan's Point
BeachHow do you get there? You have to take the ferry from the mainland. You'll find the ferry docks at the south end of Bay Street, on Queens Quay West. (If you are coming by subway, you can walk the few blocks south from Union Station, or take the LRT one stop.) Walk south around the Harbour Castle hotel. The sign indicating the ferry docks is pretty small, so you might miss it.
On hot weekends, there may be long lines at the ticket gates. If you buy a strip of ten pre-paid tickets (from the "Prepaid Tickets Only" booth), you can sail past the lines. Ten tickets cost $45, a five dollar savings.
The ferry costs $5 return for adults, $2 for kids/seniors. Take the Hanlan's Point ferry at gate four. The big crowds are usually for the Centre Island ferry, so just walk around them.
The Hanlan's Point ferries leave every 30 minutes at quarter after and quarter to the hour (:15 and :45). (The city has a good web site with complete ferry schedules and directions.)
Once you land on the island, follow the roadway south, away from the ferry docks. When it splits, take the right (western) branch. At the tennis courts, you'll see a break in the trees to the west. This leads to the supervised (clothed) swimming area. Once you reach the beach, turn left (south) and walk past the barrier screen to get to the nude beach. There are signs up, and a big fence around the nude part, so it's pretty hard to miss once you are on the beach.
The concession stands were not open last weekend; I don't know if they will be open this weekend or not, so bring plenty of water just in case. There are washrooms not too far away, and even showers, though again I'm not certain they will be open this weekend.
The sun is really intense this year, so PLEASE wear a lot of sunblock with SPF 15 or higher. You might also want to bring an umbrella if you have one because there is no shade from the afternoon sun.
If you see anyone getting naked outside the approved area, you might want to warn them that they will be ticketed. I expect the cops will be paying a LOT of attention to Hanlan's Point this season, so keep your eyes open and help make this pilot project a success!