Map provided courtesy of Muskoka Tourism and InDepth Soultutions

Georgian Bay is the next stop on our journey through cottage country in the Talking with Your Realtor series.
A large bay of Lake Huron, measuring 320 by 80 kilokilometres, Georgian Bay lies south of Killarney and north of Collingwood. The towns of Midland and Penetanguishene are found at the southern end.
“Georgian Bay is almost as large as Lake Ontario,” states Ike Kelneck of Bowes and Cocks. “And if it were a lake unto itself, it would be in the top 20 lakes for size in the world.”
“You could probably spend most of the rest of your life on Georgian Bay and not see it all,” states John Dixon of Coldwell Banker. “It’s a bay and an enormous lake called Huron which is attached to Michigan. It’s all on the same level so you can just put in at Parry Sound and whip over to Chicago and see Oprah!”
“Georgian Bay offers access to the globe,” says Ross McLean of Re/Max. “It’s great for those who like big water boating.”
“You can go through the whole lake system . . . all the way to Florida,” adds Ray Brown of Coldwell Banker. “You can go to England – as long as you have enough gas!”
Landscape
The beauty of the Georgian Bay area has inspired landscapes by artists like the Group of Seven. There are tens of thousands of islands in Georgian Bay.
“It’s rugged, unspoiled, wild and natural, windswept and rocky,” says Peter Steele of Re/Max. “From Honey Harbour to Manitoulin the area is vast.”
“Dramatic in terms of its scenery, granite outcroppings and pine trees clinging to rock, this area is very appealing from the aesthetic point of view,” says McLean.
“It’s a place for committed cottagers – people who really love the outdoors and big weather. Close to Muskoka, Georgian Bay is big rock, big water. Go south to Midland, Collingwood and Thornbury and find sandy beaches, including Wasaga Beach.”
Killarney Provincial Park offers campgrounds, canoe routes and the 100-kilometre long La Cloche Silhouette Trail. Dating back three and a half billion years, La Cloche’s white quartzite cliffs gleam like snowy peaks.
“La Cloche Mountains are now just hills but they were at one time equal to the Rockies,” explains Dixon. “When you see those white quartzite cliffs off in the distance you would swear it was snow.”
“We get a lot of inquiries about vacant lots on lakes,” states Ray Brown of Coldwell Banker. “In the Georgian Bay area we have land-locked lakes, two-lake systems such as Crane and Blackstone and three-lake systems such as Little Whitefish Lake, Clear Lake, and Big Whitefish Lake between Foot’s Bay and Parry Sound, accessed off old Highway 69.”

Different market, different atmosphere
“Georgian Bay is an entirely different market, with a different environment, as compared to Muskoka,” claims Brown. “A cottage in Georgian Bay is a cottage where you boat, fish and watch the loons and the beavers. It’s more laid-back. Some specifically search for a location out in the open where they can see the sun sink into the water.”
“The area is very friendly and family-oriented,” adds Wendy Godfrey of Sutton Real Estate. “Little towns here and there have their grocery, hardware store, gas station, liquor store all in one.
“The hustle and bustle often found in cottage country in the summer just doesn’t seem to exist. It’s quiet compared to many of the busy centres,” she says. “Those attracted to Georgian Bay want more of the ‘cottage-cottage.’ However, while it can be said that Georgian Bay is ‘true cottaging’ there are still the big cottages with tons of waterfront.”

Ross McLean Re/Max		Peter Steele Re/Max
	Ike Kelneck Bowes & Cocks

Activities
“Cottagers barbecue, sit out on the deck and watch the sunset rather than head out to a restaurant for dinner,” states Brown. “Some sail to a destination, have a picnic, anchor overnight and sail back. Others prefer fishing. You can’t get better fishing than in Georgian Bay. You get all species.”
“You’ll find bass (large and smallmouth), pike, salmon and trout,” says Laurie Belsey of Coldwell Banker. “In the fall, they fish for muskie.”
“You could spend the summer on a 60-foot sailboat or stay in some of the more sheltered areas and use your canoe or kayak,” says Steele.
“Georgian Bay is by far my favourite place to go boating,” adds Dixon. “It’s an adventure but can be dangerous. No one should venture out without charts.”
Georgian Bay country also offers trails for biking, hiking, ATVing, horseback riding, Nordic skiing, and snowmobiling.
“Some of the best canoe-trip trails are through the Georgian Bay, Sans Souci, Parry Sound area. People come from all over the world to trip Georgian Bay and the 30 Thousand Islands,” states McLean.
In the town of Parry Sound, a waterfront walking trail links public beaches and boat launches with restaurants and marinas, the Charles W. Stockey Centre for the Performing Arts and the Bobby Orr Hall of Fame.

Water-access only
“Many who live or cottage in the Georgian Bay area have water-access only property, which could be an island or mainland that doesn’t have a road,” explains Steele. “It could be a five-minute boat ride or it could take an hour. Some fly in.”
“For the most part, people purchasing properties on islands, or remote water-access only properties, are doing it for specific reasons,” adds Dixon. “One main reason is privacy. It is extremely difficult to get privacy. You can get sandy beaches. You can get southern exposure. But privacy is a harder thing to achieve and it is probably the most sought after.”
“People who come to Georgian Bay are interested in solitude and quiet,” agrees Belsey. “For the most part, they do their own thing out on the islands; spend time enjoying the water and the sun; and from time to time visit other cottagers.”
“People park in scattered parking lots or marinas and launch their boats,” explains Godfrey. “Water taxis are available as well. Ice cream, lumber – you name it – are delivered by barges traveling back and forth.”
“They’re happy to pat the car good bye in the marina and leave for the weekend, or the week, and never have to see it again,” adds Belsey.
“Everything can be done by boat. If you have company up you might run up the shore for an hour or so to Henry’s Fish House, have a meal and enjoy the water coming back and maybe go for a swim. And of course you can go to Midland or Penetang. Some people buzz over there and walk the main street and do a bit of shopping.”
“Most of the homes and cottages on the islands use hydro and are just as snug as something you drive to,” says Brown. “They have telephones and cell phones.”
There are more towers going up all the time improving cell phone service.
While there are far more cottages than year-round residences, several families live on Georgian Bay year round.
“They snowmobile, walk and use a ‘scoot,’ (which are) like Florida airboats,” explains Brown.
“Airboats are a popular form of transportation,” adds Steele. “It’s a boat with an airplane propeller on the back, safer than a snowmobile because if the ice breaks, no problem, it will go through the water. A lot of kids, especially First Nations, living on islands come to school everyday in the winter with an airboat.
As the ice freezes in the winter, trails are marked with pine bows and everybody starts to follow them.

Honey Harbour
“Honey Harbour primarily is an island community, as is most of our Georgian Bay property,” explains Belsey. “I would say between 80 and 85, even 90 per cent of cottages are on islands.
“Some are close-by and some of them are a fair piece out,” he continues. “Most have deep water and smooth rock with wind swept pines – all of those things that Georgian Bay is known and loved for.
“While there are private islands available, most of the cottages close to Honey Harbour are situated on the four big islands – Roberts, Little Beausoleil, Mermaid and Deer Island. These islands have between 50 and 100 cottages with lots starting at 150 feet.”

Wendy Godfrey Sutton		Laurie Belsey Coldwell Banker

Ready to buy
Dixon suggests, “Before talking to an agent, home buyers should sit down with their partner and discuss priorities open heartedly.”
Brown adds, “I ask people to come up and sit here with me in the office. I have information on the lakes, the acreage, shoreline, the fish.
“I suggest they start to drive, see what they like, what they don’t like. Check out the shopping. Stop at the gas station. Talk to people and get their impressions. I will also suggest they go on the Island Queen, the three-hour boat cruise around the 30,000 islands.
“If buyers are looking for mortgages I suggest they go to a bank up here,” he continues. “The same applies to other professionals such as lawyers. They’re familiar with recreational properties.”

Conclusion
“Accessible by Highway 400, Georgian Bay is only an hour or two from the GTA, depending on your destination,” states Godfrey.
“There’s a huge range of property available and all tastes can be satisfied,” adds McLean. “Whether it’s beach or rock, deep water or shallow, protected or open – it is all available.”

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