Located in the southern interior of the province, easily accessible by plane, or by car from Vancouver or by cafrom Vancouver or Calgary, the area is composed of Kamloops, Vernon, Kelowna, Penticton and Osoyoos and is known for its dramatic landscape of rugged mountains and clear lakes — which appear even more magical during the winter months.

The season also transforms the region into an outdoor playground with skiing, snowshoeing and skating, with equally welcoming businesses and restaurants to enjoy with your friends and loved ones after an energetic day outside.

Here is everything you need to know to discover this B.C. destination in the months ahead.The season also transforms the region into an outdoor playground with skiing, snowshoeing and skating, with equally welcoming businesses and restaurants to enjoy with your friends and loved ones after an energetic day outside.

Zipolite gained a small reputation as a countercultural destination in the 1960s. It was solidified in 1970 when a group of hippies came to watch a rare solar eclipse. Locals were tolerant of these visitors, and their desire to be naked, as long as they were spending money and not being too vulgar.

In my memory, my friend never mentioned that it was popular among gay men, so that could not have motivated my first visit. I just wanted 

a laidback beach town where I could relax, reflect and do my own thing, which disqualified Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and most of Mexico’s and the Caribbean’s major beach destinations. One of my favourite films is director Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, a sexy and melancholic road trip movie from 2001. I wanted to find a beach just like the film’s protagonists—played by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú—happened upon. In Cuarón’s fictional Boca del Cielo (“Mouth of Heaven”), shot on a beach not far from Zipolite, the characters bond with a local fisherman, watch fresh seafood being prepared for dinner, have beers in a thatch-roofed palapa and make out with each other (it’s a complicated lust triangle). I wanted those simple pleasures. I could see on maps that at the far east end of Zipolite’s large runway-like beach is a rocky promontory with rock steps leading to a small cliff-encircled cove called Playa del Amor (“Love Beach”). Playa del Amor must be as romantic as Mouth of Heaven, no?Zipolite gained a small reputation as a countercultural destination in the 1960s. It was solidified in 1970 when a group of hippies came to watch a rare solar eclipse. Locals were tolerant of these visitors, and their desire to be naked, as long as they were spending money and not being too vulgar.

In my memory, my friend never mentioned that it was popular among gay men, so that could not have motivated my first visit. I just wanted a laidback beach town where I could relax, reflect and do my own thing, which disqualified Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and most of Mexico’s and the Caribbean’s major beach destinations. One of my favourite films is director Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, a sexy and melancholic road trip movie from 2001. I wanted to find a beach just like the film’s protagonists—played by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú—happened upon. In Cuarón’s fictional Boca del Cielo (“Mouth of Heaven”), shot on a beach not far from Zipolite, the characters bond with a local fisherman, watch fresh seafood being prepared for dinner, have beers in a thatch-roofed palapa and make out with each other (it’s a complicated lust triangle). I wanted those simple pleasures. I could see on maps that at the far east end of Zipolite’s large runway-like beach is a rocky promontory with rock steps leading to a small cliff-encircled cove called Playa del Amor (“Love Beach”). Playa del Amor must be as romantic as Mouth of Heaven, no?Zipolite gained a small reputation as a countercultural destination in the 1960s. It was solidified in 1970 when a group of hippies came to watch a rare solar eclipse. Locals were tolerant of these visitors, and their desire to be naked, as long as they were spending money and not being too vulgar.

In my memory, my friend never mentioned that it was popular among gay men, so that could not have motivated my first visit. I just wanted a laidback beach town where I could relax, reflect and do my own thing, which disqualified Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and most of Mexico’s and the Caribbean’s major beach destinations. One of my favourite films is director Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, a sexy and melancholic road trip movie from 2001. I wanted to find a beach just like the film’s protagonists—played by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú—happened upon. In Cuarón’s fictional Boca del Cielo (“Mouth of Heaven”), shot on a beach not far from Zipolite, the characters bond with a local fisherman, watch fresh seafood being prepared for dinner, have beers in a thatch-roofed palapa and make out with each other (it’s a complicated lust triangle). I wanted those simple pleasures. I could see on maps that at the far east end of Zipolite’s large runway-like beach is a rocky promontory with rock steps leading to a small cliff-encircled cove called Playa del Amor (“Love Beach”). Playa del Amor must be as romantic as Mouth of Heaven, no?Zipolite gained a small reputation as a countercultural destination in the 1960s. It was solidified in 1970 when a group of hippies came to watch a rare solar eclipse. Locals were tolerant of these visitors, and their desire to be naked, as long as they were spending money and not being too vulgar.

In my memory, my friend never mentioned that it was popular among gay men, so that could not have motivated my first visit. I just wanted a laidback beach town where I could relax, reflect and do my own thing, which disqualified Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and most of Mexico’s and the Caribbean’s major beach destinations. One of my favourite films is director Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, a sexy and melancholic road trip movie from 2001. I wanted to find a beach just like the film’s protagonists—played by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú—happened upon. In Cuarón’s fictional Boca del Cielo (“Mouth of Heaven”), shot on a beach not far from Zipolite, the characters bond with a local fisherman, watch fresh seafood being prepared for dinner, have beers in a thatch-roofed palapa and make out with each other (it’s a complicated lust triangle). I wanted those simple pleasures. I could see on maps that at the far east end of Zipolite’s large runway-like beach is a rocky promontory with rock steps leading to a small cliff-encircled cove called Playa del Amor (“Love Beach”). Playa del Amor must be as romantic as Mouth of Heaven, no?Zipolite gained a small reputation as a countercultural destination in the 1960s. It was solidified in 1970 when a group of hippies came to watch a rare solar eclipse. Locals were tolerant of these visitors, and their desire to be naked, as long as they were spending money and not being too vulgar.

In my memory, my friend never mentioned that it was popular among gay men, so that could not have motivated my first visit. I just wanted a laidback beach town where I could relax, reflect and do my own thing, which disqualified Puerto Vallarta, Cancun and most of Mexico’s and the Caribbean’s major beach destinations. One of my favourite films is director Alfonso Cuarón’s Y Tu Mamá También, a sexy and melancholic road trip movie from 2001. I wanted to find a beach just like the film’s protagonists—played by Diego Luna, Gael García Bernal and Maribel Verdú—happened upon. In Cuarón’s fictional Boca del Cielo (“Mouth of Heaven”), shot on a beach not far from Zipolite, the characters bond with a local fisherman, watch fresh seafood being prepared for dinner, have beers in a thatch-roofed palapa and make out with each other (it’s a complicated lust triangle). I wanted those simple pleasures. I could see on maps that at the far east end of Zipolite’s large runway-like beach is a rocky promontory with rock steps leading to a small cliff-encircled cove called Playa del Amor (“Love Beach”). Playa del Amor must be as romantic as Mouth of Heaven, no?