There is a particular kind of summer afternoon in White Rock that asks for a cone, the sort of day when the tide is out and the light comes off Semiahmoo Bay in a soft silver wash, and the smartest thing you can do is buy a scoop on Marine Drive and carry it across to the promenade. We have spent a lot of warm evenings doing exactly that, walking the long flat path between East Beach and West Beach with something melting gently in hand, and over the years we have worked out which shops are worth the stop and which treats are worth the small ache of indecision at the counter.
White Rock keeps most of its frozen treats on or just off the beachfront strip rather than up in the uptown area around Johnston Road, which leans more toward cafes and a chocolatier than dedicated scoop shops. That concentration is part of the charm, because you can park once, wander the waterfront, and pass several family-run gelato and ice cream counters in the space of a few hundred metres. There are more parlours and stands along the beach than any one guide can cover, so here is where we send friends, what we order, and the practical details that make a treat walk go smoothly.
The Waterfront Scoop Shops We Keep Going Back To
The heart of the strip for us is the cluster of family-run counters along Marine Drive, and a good place to begin is Famous ROME Ice Cream at 15543 Marine Drive, where you will find gelato, traditional ice cream, and a vegan sorbetto in a generous range of flavours, along with waffle cones, milkshakes, coffee, and a few handmade bakery items. There is a kids’ zone and outdoor seating, and it tends to keep long hours through the week and into the evening, which makes it an easy stop on a slow summer night, and the sorbetto is a kind option for anyone in your group who is skipping dairy.
A short stroll along the same stretch brings you to Crazy Cows Ice Cream at 14971 Marine Drive, which makes its premium ice cream and gelato on the premises and leans heavily on organic ingredients. The flavour list is where this one earns its loyal following, with matcha, saffron, pistachio, and tiramisu turning up alongside a raspberry guava sorbet, and the counter also pours espresso drinks and bakes its own cookies and macarons, with pies from Krause Berry Farms rounding things out. It is the spot we point people toward when they want a scoop that tastes made rather than scooped from a tub.
Closer to the foot of the pier, Maya’s Ice Cream at 15045 Marine Drive looks straight out over the pier and Semiahmoo Bay, which is hard to beat for a view with your cone. This family-owned shop makes fresh gelato on site, runs an espresso bar, and turns out a soft serve and a few vegan and dairy-free options, and the pistachio gelato is the one our friends mention most. The location is the draw as much as the menu, because you can carry your order a few steps and be looking down the pier in a moment.
Beachfront Cafes and Rolled Gelato Made to Order
Not every sweet stop on the waterfront is a pure scoop counter, and one of our favourites for a longer sit is Ocean Rock Cafe at 14909 Marine Drive, a beachfront spot that has been scooping in White Rock for years. The homemade gelato and ice cream come with dairy-free, vegan, and sugar-free options, which makes it the place we recommend when someone in the group has a restriction and does not want to be the one left out, and the kitchen also does fish and chips, burgers, and waffles if a treat turns into a small meal.
For something a little more theatrical, Thai Affair Rolled Gelato at 15505 Marine Drive makes Thai-style rolled gelato fresh to order on a cold plate while you watch, which is genuinely fun for kids and just as satisfying for the rest of us. There are several signature flavours, from cookies and cream and tiramisu to salted caramel and Kinder Bueno, and every one of them can be made vegan, which is a quietly generous touch. The concept began as a food truck after the owners travelled in Thailand, and the permanent White Rock storefront has been open year-round since opening.
Between these two you have a good sense of how the strip works, because the rolled gelato is the spot for the experience and the show of it, and Ocean Rock is the one for settling in beachside with a bowl and watching the tide. Both sit within easy walking distance of the pier, so neither requires a second parking decision, and both are comfortable choices for families who want to make an afternoon of it rather than grab and go.
Eating Your Cone on the Promenade and Pier
The reason all of these shops sit where they do is the waterfront itself, because Marine Drive fronts the beach and the shops line the inland side of the road while the pier, the promenade, and the sand wait directly across. The pattern is simple and it is the whole pleasure of the place, in that you buy a cone on Marine Drive, cross the road, and eat it looking out over the water, and you can read more about the lay of the land in our White Rock beach guide if you are planning a full day.
The pier is the centrepiece, a long walkway reopened in 2019 after a December 2018 windstorm tore out a section and a careful reconstruction put it back to modern standards. It is fully walkable today, and walking the length of it with a slowly melting cone is one of those small grounded rituals that makes White Rock feel like itself, with the bay on both sides and the town climbing the hill behind you. A sign on the pier calls it Canada’s longest, and while that title is disputed, it remains a remarkable thing to stroll.
Linking the beaches is a long promenade that runs almost the entire foreshore from East Beach to West Beach, flat and paved and easy with a stroller, which makes it the natural route for a treat walk. The pier sits about midway along, so you can pick a direction, amble until the cone is gone, and turn back, and on a warm evening the timing of all this tends to land near sunset, which is the moment the whole waterfront seems to settle and glow.
White Rock’s Waterfront Sweet Stops at a Glance
The thing to remember is that everything good is within a short walk of the pier, so you do not have to plan a route so much as wander and let the counters present themselves. If you want a single recommendation, the made-on-site gelato at Crazy Cows and the pier view at Maya’s are the two we send first-timers to, with Famous ROME as the reliable long-hours option and Thai Affair as the one to save for when there are kids who will love the show.
Dairy-free and specialty needs are well covered along this strip, which is not always the case in a small beach town, and it is worth knowing in advance. Famous ROME pours a vegan sorbetto, Ocean Rock carries dairy-free, vegan, and sugar-free options, Maya’s keeps a few vegan and dairy-free choices, and Thai Affair can make any of its rolled flavours vegan, so almost no one in a mixed group has to go without.
One honest note belongs here as well, because listings and street numbers across directories occasionally disagree by a few digits along Marine Drive, and a couple of the older gelato names you may find online, including Dolce Gelato at 15045 Marine Drive, have closed, with that particular storefront now home to Maya’s. The shops above are ones we can confirm are operating, but they are far from the only scoops on the beach, so treat this as a starting point rather than the full list.
Parking and Practical Details for a Treat Walk
The one thing that catches visitors out is waterfront parking, which is paid and enforced, with higher rates in summer and a time maximum on much of the on-street parking outside the parkades. Payment is by space number through the PayByPhone app or the dispensers, so you note your numbered stall and pay rather than leaving a ticket on the dash, and the West Beach and Montecito parkades carry a day maximum if you plan to linger. Only vehicles with veteran or Memorial Cross plates park free.
Because the waterfront sits below the main part of town and is reached by some steep streets, one good local move is to park up the hill and walk down, which saves the parking fee and gives you a proper appetite for the climb back up afterward. If you are weaving the cones into a larger outing, our roundup of Marine Drive restaurants pairs naturally with a frozen treat to finish, and the whole strip is close enough that you can eat dinner and walk to dessert without moving the car.
Our Tips for the Best Cone on the Waterfront
Time your walk for the late afternoon and early evening if you can, because summer in White Rock runs warm and busy through the middle of the day, and the light near sunset over the pier is the part everyone remembers. Early mornings are the quietest if you would rather have the promenade to yourselves, and the shoulder season into autumn brings a calmer, more intimate waterfront, with the trade-off that some shops keep shorter hours once the crowds thin out.
If you are bringing a mixed group, ask at the counter about dairy-free and vegan choices rather than assuming, since several of these shops carry them but the selection rotates, and Thai Affair will make any of its rolled flavours vegan on request. Families do well anywhere along this strip, because the promenade is flat and stroller-friendly, the beach and playground are right there, and a melting cone is a fine reason to slow down and let the kids run for a while.
Keep an eye on the tide and the time on your parking, because the two together shape the visit more than anything else, and the beach is at its most spacious when the tide is out and the sand stretches wide. Plan for paid parking in summer, carry a few napkins, and give yourself longer than you think, since the simple pleasure of this place is that there is no reason to hurry a cone on the pier.
Questions Often Asked
Where are the best ice cream and gelato shops in White Rock?
Almost all of them sit along the Marine Drive waterfront within a short walk of the pier. We particularly like Famous ROME Ice Cream at 15543 Marine Drive, Crazy Cows Ice Cream at 14971 Marine Drive, Maya’s Ice Cream at 15045 Marine Drive by the foot of the pier, Ocean Rock Cafe at 14909 Marine Drive, and Thai Affair Rolled Gelato at 15505 Marine Drive. There are more parlours and stands along the beach as well, and there is no dedicated ice cream specialist up in the uptown area, so the beachfront strip is where you want to be.
Which White Rock shops have dairy-free and vegan options?
Several of them. Famous ROME pours a vegan sorbetto, Ocean Rock Cafe carries dairy-free, vegan, and sugar-free options, Maya’s keeps a few vegan and dairy-free choices, and Thai Affair can make any of its rolled flavours vegan on request. The selection rotates, so it is worth asking at the counter when you order.
Is there ice cream uptown near Johnston Road?
The uptown area around Johnston Road leans more toward cafes and a chocolatier, Chez Christophe, at 1558 Johnston Road, than dedicated scoop shops. For ice cream and gelato, the Marine Drive waterfront is the place to be, and the shops there sit close enough together that you can walk between several in a few minutes.
Where can I park to visit the ice cream shops?
Waterfront parking is paid and enforced, with higher rates in summer and a time maximum on much of the on-street parking outside the parkades. You pay by space number through the PayByPhone app or the dispensers, and the West Beach and Montecito parkades have a day maximum. A good local trick is to park up the hill and walk down to skip the fee and earn the climb back.
