It's just a part of coastal life. Vancouver has a pretty kick ass playground in it's back yard. Mountains, valleys, lakes, rivers and ocean, and lots of it. Lots of pristine lakes too, outside of the city of course. I wouldn't even let my dog swim any of those toxic dumps in or near to the city. But an hours drive can get you to clean lakes. Go far enough and you can see the glacier lakes. It's really blue but foggy from the silt. It's funny, cause I can swim with my eyes open in the ocean all day, but 20 minutes in a pool and I'm rubbing them like crazy. There is something refreshing about swimming in water you can actually drink. The canyons are pretty sweet, cliff jumping and all that. But it's freakin' cold in the spring. You jump in and climb out. You'll get an ice cream headache if you swim around under water. In the summer it's much much warmer, but still cold by lake standards.