Woke up to a scalding hot Sunday, so decided to check out Toronto Islands! The ferry lineup was huge but moved quickly - the Hanlan ferry was very quick, and definitely had a lot of bikers on it. On the ride back the ferry even got a car on, which was pretty surprising to me. There's a little hut right off the ferry stop if you're in the mood for $4 soda or $8 beer.
The beach is a bit of a walk from the ferry stop, but it's a walk past the airport and really lush, grassy fields so it's not too annoying.
Maybe it's because I'm from California, but the beach itself wasn't very impressive. The waterline was very rocky, and once you started wading in you'd notice then ground was all rocks and no sand; water was greenish and cloudy, but you could see into the bottom even if you got quite deep. The lifeguards are all very friendly. There was a fair amount of litter, but nothing too sharp and overall it was a pretty clean beach.
We checked out the clothing optional portion of the beach too - there's a fence that separates it from the clothing mandatory beach. Drinking in the open seems fine - there were open bottles everywhere. Definitely a lot of sausage around, if you know what I mean. As a group of girls, we didn't feel more creeped on than at other beaches. People seem pretty friendly; we even saw some families, kids in tow, in the nude.
Fun place to check out! Don't let the clothing optional part scare you.