Park overview
Located just south of Summerland, Sun-Oka Beach Park has one of the most superb beaches in the entire Okanagan. The name is shortened version of “Sunny Okanagan.”
The park provides outstanding beach, waterplay, and picnic opportunities as well as fantastic views down Okanagan Lake.
For your convenience, during the summer season this park has a concession managed by the park operator.
Advisories
Dates of operation
The park gate is open year-round
- Facility type
- Picnic areas
- Main operating season
- 2024: year-round
- 2025: year-round
- Winter season
- No services
- Winter season note
- Gates are locked during the off-season.
- Winter season note
- Gates are locked during the off-season
Safety info
- Use caution when swimming near the buoys since there are often many motorboats and jet skis in the area.
- There are no lifeguards on duty.
Facilities
Accessibility information is available for this park.
The park uses water from a well. There are taps in the change building as well two fountains beside it and another on the beach to the east. Another tap is on the beach to the west.
The park has a playground with an engineered soft fall base surrounded by grass. It is located just off the beach on the western side of the change building.
This playground contains a slide, monkey bars, and other exciting playground climbing features. It is designed for ages five to 12. There is a bench at the playground for use by parents supervising their children. The bench looks south past the beach towards the lake.
Campfires are permitted in the designated fire pits. Bring your own firewood.
To preserve vegetation and ground cover, please don’t gather firewood from the area around your campsite or elsewhere in the park. Dead wood is an important habitat element for many plants and animals and it adds organic matter to the soil.
You can conserve firewood and air quality by keeping your campfire small. Be prepared to bring a portable stove for cooking.
Campfire bans may be in place. Before lighting a fire, check for bans or restrictions on BC Wildfire Service and on local or Indigenous government websites.
This park has a group picnic site just off the eastern parking lot. It consists of 10 picnic tables in a large circle. They are on cement pads which, in turn, are on gravel. There is a central fire ring and also a tap. The area is away from the beach, shaded by trees and backed by thick shrubs.
This park has a wonderful day-use and picnic area, with some 90 picnic tables and 500 m of fine sand beach, that is very popular with area residents. There are five adjoining parking lots for 200 cars separated by irrigated lawn and large shade trees to keep most vehicles from getting to hot while parked. There is a separate parking area for trailers and RVs.
A 30 m walk along paved access leads from the parking area to the cement changehouse and toilet building, as well as a concession and then the beach. A paved path parallels the beach to the west of the building for roughly 150 m. It accesses the beach and a strip of picnic tables. The tables on the beach are set on cement pads as well as the tables on the lawn are shaded by trees. Some of the tables have BBQ attachments and there are two fire rings.
The beach is very popular with boaters and a large section of it has been designated for their use: from roughly 100 m along the path to the western end of the beach is for boaters only. There are picnic tables, two fire rings and a volleyball net in this area. Ski boats are reminded to enter and exit the beach in a clockwise direction. No anchors within 100 m of the beach due to the water intake pipe; boats can beach.
Two pit toilets, one of them the wheelchair-accessible toilet, are located by the adventure playground to the west of the change building and beyond that in the area designated for boaters. Flush toilets are located in the change building. Pit toilet use only after September 30 (or sooner due to weather conditions).
Activities
The large, south facing bay at Sun-Oka is great for swimming. The sandy lake bottom makes getting in and out of the water easy. The large area is marked with swim buoys. Use caution when swimming near the buoys since there are often many motorboats and jet skis in the area.
There are no lifeguards on duty in BC Parks.
Paddle boats are available on site for public rental. For more information, please contact the park operator.
Kayaking is welcome at this park.
Anyone fishing in British Columbia must have an appropriate licence. To learn more, see the fishing and hunting guide.
Find fun summer outdoor learning experiences with Discover Parks Ambassadors here all summer long. For specific dates, along with many more seasonal and year-round activities, visit discoverparks.ca.
Pets and domestic animals must be on a leash at all times and are not allowed in the main beach areas or park buildings.
There is a separate pet beach around the point, east of the main beach. It is accessed by a 200 m trail through a strand of old-growth cottonwoods. Access is also possible from a trail along Trout Creek.
The pebbly, dog friendly beach extends east to where Trout Creek enters the lake. It does not continue across Trout Creek. There are no facilities.
Dogs are not permitted on the beach on the north side of the creek. You are responsible for your pet’s behaviour and must dispose of their excrement.
The designated boating beach is a great spot to start waterskiing from.
There are snorkelling opportunities at the beach.
This park is located 3 km south of Summerland off Highway 97.
Learn more about this park
Park details
- Date established: July 7, 1969
- Size: 30 hectares
Park contact
This park is proudly operated by:
Kaloya Contracting Ltd.
camping@campokanagan.ca
236-970-7815
- This is not a campsite reservations number.
- Please specify the park name when leaving a message.
Nature and culture
Conservation
A small portion of rare old growth cottonwood riparian habitat adjacent to Trout Creek is protected.
Old-growth cottonwood is rapidly disappearing in the Okanagan Valley. The remnant protected in the park is important. Trails along Trout Creek access the edges of the old-growth.
The cottonwoods and associated wetland thickets provide food and shelter for a variety of birds, insects, and small mammals. Bird seen in the area include the northern oriole, warbling vireos and the blue-listed Lewis’s woodpecker. The park also conserves 558 m of shoreline and 100 m of Okanagan Lake foreshore.
Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples
BC Parks honours Indigenous Peoples’ connection to the land and respects the importance of their diverse teachings, traditions, and practices within these territories. This park webpage may not adequately represent the full history of this park and the connection of Indigenous Peoples to this land. We are working in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to update our websites so that they better reflect the history and cultures of these special places.