Canada

Dog Park

Lots of white and light blue seaglass. The odd rare one too.

Sea Glass Bay, Blacks Harbour

What the locals call Glass Beach: a cove on the shore trail between the Grand Manan ferry terminal and the Pea Point lighthouse, inside the Connors Bros. Nature Preserve. The glass carpet here is dense enough to look unreal in photos, mostly white with greens and ambers through it, and the likely source is a century of company-town life around what was once the world's largest sardine cannery. Park at the preserve entrance on Wallace Cove Road and walk the loop toward the lighthouse. Two cautions: Fundy tides are high and fast, so don't linger on the bar to Pea Point island, and don't confuse this with the small cove behind the ferry parking lot, which is the consolation stop while you wait for the boat.

Inverness Beach, Cape Breton

The best loved sea glass beach on Cape Breton, on the island's west coast along the Ceilidh Trail. The abundance has a plain origin: the town tipped its waste near this shore for decades from the late 1800s, the dump closed more than fifty years ago, and the ocean has been rounding the pieces ever since. Whites and greens turn up easily on the fine sand, and a dig through the stone piles brings up browns and the odd blue. There is a long boardwalk and it is one of the easiest beaches on the island to walk on. Come early before it is picked over, and work both directions from the boardwalk at low tide.

Big Glace Bay Beach, Cape Breton

A mile of sand on Cape Breton's industrial coast, well off the beaten path near Glace Bay. This is old coal country, and the shore around Table Head carries that history: the black coal sand frosts the glass in its own way, and a local collector has traced yellow shards here to Marconi's wireless station, which sent the first transatlantic signal from Table Head in 1902. Whites, greens and browns are the common finds along the tide line. The productive stretches are a walk from the road, so give yourself time and go at low tide.

Spencer's Island, Nova Scotia

A quiet drive-up beach on the Minas Channel, where the Bay of Fundy tides are among the highest in the world and turn the shore over twice a day. Spencer's Island was a serious shipbuilding port in the 1800s, the birthplace of the Mary Celeste, so the whites, greens and browns here can carry real age from old bottle glass. The lighthouse and a small picnic park sit right by the beach. Go at low tide or after a storm, when the big Fundy range has just reworked the shore, and watch your footing on the rocks.

Souris Beach, PEI

The heart of sea glass on Prince Edward Island, on the calm Northumberland shore in the east. Souris wears it proudly, with a sea glass museum in the lighthouse, a shop in town and an annual festival. The glass here is unusually smooth and frosty, whites and greens and browns mostly, and the island's long rum-running past means the odd heavy black shard from a bottle two centuries old still turns up. Walk out along the points for the better stretches, two hours either side of low tide.

Glass Beach, Sidney

A tiny pocket beach right on the Sidney waterfront, named Glass Beach by the town itself. The glass comes from the days when Sidney barged its rubbish into the channel, plus a waterfront glass factory that burnt down in the 1950s. White and amber are still plentiful along the waterline at low tide, though locals will tell you the rare colours get picked over quickly these days. Twelve steps down from the Waterfront Walkway, between Beacon Park and the fishing pier.

West Point Beach, PEI

Miles of beach on Prince Edward Island's southwest tip, beside the West Point lighthouse in Cedar Dunes Provincial Park. Local collectors call it a beach where you do not have to look hard, and the pieces run larger than elsewhere, helped along by the lobster wharves nearby. Whites, greens and browns on the calm Northumberland Strait side. The beach stretches for miles, so walk to spread out from the busy end, and come at low tide or the morning after a storm.

John's Cove, Cape Forchu

A pair of rocky coves about a kilometre before the Cape Forchu lighthouse, on the windswept headland outside Yarmouth. John's Cove and False Harbour face each other and are named by local collectors among the best beach glass spots in southwest Nova Scotia. Whites, greens and browns work up along the rocks and tide line on the walk out to the point. It is exposed and rocky, so wear proper shoes, keep an eye on the sea, and work the coves at low tide.

Tea Hill, PEI

A rocky red sand shore just east of Charlottetown, on the calm Northumberland side. Tea Hill is the island's current favourite among collectors, credited to its spot near Charlottetown Harbour, and at low tide the water pulls far back across the sandbars to open up plenty of shore. Whites, greens and browns are the everyday find. Go at low tide, watch your step on the rocks under the red sand, and try Keppoch beach right next door on the same shore.

Clover Point, Victoria BC

A stony point on Victoria's Dallas Road waterfront, looking out over the Strait of Juan de Fuca, a few minutes from downtown. The driftwood strewn beaches below the point are an easy city beachcombing stop, where whites, frosted whites and browns turn up among the stones. Park up on the point and pick your way down to the stony beach at low tide. It is an easy urban stop to pair with the Sidney glass beach up-island.

Panmure Island, PEI

A barrier island on Prince Edward Island's east shore, reached by a short causeway, with a historic lighthouse and beaches on both sides. The sheltered red sand bay side, on St Mary's Bay, is the calmer water where the glass gathers. Whites, greens and browns along the tide line. Work the sheltered bay side rather than the open ocean beach, two hours either side of low tide.

Lower Cove Beach, Joggins

The southern end of Lower Cove Beach seems to be a good place to look, especially after the huge tides have moved everything around. I’ve found white, green and a nice pale seafoam piece here. Just keep in mind that the fossils are protected, and it’s best to leave the beach at least two hours before high tide.

Seal Cove Sand Beach

Best at low-tide and lots of seaglass on the side of the beach closest to the harbour.

White rock pier

when looking at the pier from the road go towards the right side of the pier

Chalet Beach

Private property

Gimli Beach