History

Heather Beach was one of the original 15 beaches first supervised by the Nova Scotia Beach Supervision Program in 1973. The current NSLS Director, Paul D'Eon, began his NSLS career at Heather Beach in 1975.

Facilities

The beach offers a parking lot, boardwalks, washrooms, and has Department of Natural Resources maintenance staff to keep the area clean.

Beach Safety

Heather Beach boasts some of the warmest water in Nova Scotia. The water tempurature is usually over 22 degrees C, and conditions are generally calm, and safe. The sandbars at low tide are mostly exposed, leaving the buoys 200 metres from shore in water less than 0.5 metres deep. There is a very gradual slope, making for fairly safe conditions. The supervised area is approximately 200 metres long, and is generally located directly in front of the beach parking lot. The lifeguards advise patrons to always swim the supervised area. On days with offshore winds lifeguards ask that no inflatables or floatation devices be used. Boats and other hard-shell craft are also not permitted in the supervised swimming area.

Directions

Heather Beach is located 40 km southeast of Amherst on the Sunrise Trail, approximately 12 km north of Pugwash.