Ice Cream & Dessert
Cafe on the Bay
About Cafe on the Bay
Walking out along the wharf is the thing visitors do first in Salmon Arm, and the walk back tends to end in a search for somewhere to sit down with something cold. Cafe on the Bay is at 814 Marine Park Dr, right in the waterfront belt where the pier reaches out into the shallows and herons work the shoreline.
A stop like this is shaped by its setting more than most are. The bay is the centre of the city's summer, with boats heading out toward the houseboating water the Shuswap is known for, and the foreshore paths carrying a steady stream of walkers from June through September. Places along here run hardest in those months and quieten considerably once the weather turns, so a visit outside the season is worth a phone call first. It is also worth asking whether there is outdoor seating, since the view is most of the point.
Cold drinks and something sweet is the general shape of this trade, and what any particular counter keeps on hand differs. Families finishing an afternoon at the marine park, cyclists off the foreshore trail and people who have just come off the water all end up in the same short queue. Parking near the waterfront tightens on hot weekends and during the summer music festival, so leaving the car a block or two up the hill and walking down is usually faster than circling. From here the rest of the old downtown is only a few minutes on foot.
Visiting Cafe on the Bay
Getting there
In the Downtown Salmon Arm neighbourhood of Salmon Arm.
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