Ambleside vs Dundarave: which West Vancouver village fits you
Last reviewed 2 October 2026 · next review January 2027Ambleside is West Vancouver’s town centre: a long Marine Drive shopping strip, mostly apartments, and since April 2026 a provincially adopted plan for taller buildings. Dundarave, a few blocks west, is a small low-rise village around its beach and pier, with more houses and far fewer homes for sale. Pick Ambleside for apartments and doing everything on foot; pick Dundarave for a quieter village and a house on a smaller lot.
Zoning, school catchments and bus routes change, sometimes without notice. Everything below is subject to change. Phone or email the people who decide before you write an offer.
| District of West Vancouver | 604-925-7000 · info@westvancouver.ca · 750 17th Street, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays |
| Planning and Development Services | 604-925-7055 |
| Permits and Inspections | 604-925-7040 |
| West Vancouver Schools (catchments) | 604-981-1000 |
| West Vancouver Blue Bus | 604-985-7777 |
Side by side
| What decides it | Ambleside | Dundarave |
|---|---|---|
| Where it is | The flat blocks between Marine Drive and the water, the Marine Drive shopping strip, and the apartments on the slope above. It has no legal boundary. | Roughly 24th to 27th Street, from the water up to Palmerston Avenue, with the village centre on Marine Drive at 24th and 25th. |
| What you mostly buy | Apartments. The District counts more than 80 buildings over four storeys here, most of them five to nine. | Houses on smaller lots, low-rise apartment buildings and some newer duplexes. |
| Homes for sale today | … | … |
| Median asking price, apartment | … | … |
| Median asking price, house | … | … |
| What can be built | On 7 April 2026 the Province adopted the Ambleside Centre Local Area Plan by order, which allows taller buildings in the commercial area than the old zoning did. | A low-rise commercial village. The height limits are in the Dundarave guide. |
| Shops | West Vancouver’s main shopping street, mostly independent shops rather than chains. | A short village strip of shops, coffee and restaurants. |
| Beach | Ambleside Park and its beach at the east end. | Dundarave Park, its sandy beach and the pier. The Centennial Seawalk starts here and runs east along the water. |
| Elementary schools nearby | Hollyburn and Ridgeview; École Pauline Johnson for French immersion. | Irwin Park, inside the village. No French immersion there. |
| Bus to downtown | The 250 runs along Marine Drive through both and over the Lions Gate Bridge to downtown Vancouver without a transfer. The 253 and 255 also serve Marine Drive. Every route south crosses the same bridge, so the afternoon peak is slow from both. | |
| What to check in the building | Older envelopes, original galvanized plumbing, aluminum wiring, single glazing and thin reserve funds in the 1960s and 1970s blocks. | Buried oil tanks in pre-war houses; the depreciation report and rainscreen history in low-rise apartments. |
Homes for sale and median asking prices are counted live from MLS® listings. Neither village has an official boundary, so homes are grouped by address: Ambleside is the 1300 to 2200 blocks and Dundarave the 2400 to 2700 blocks, below the Upper Levels Highway. A median is shown only when at least five homes of that type are for sale.
If you are…
Downsizing and staying in West Vancouver
Ambleside if you want an apartment with groceries, the library, the community centre and the bus on foot. Dundarave if you would rather keep a small house or a low-rise near the beach, and can live with far fewer choices.
Buying your first apartment
Ambleside. That is where the apartment supply is. Read the depreciation report and the last two years of strata minutes before you remove subjects, because the reserve fund matters more than the view in these buildings.
A family that needs a school
Dundarave has Irwin Park inside the village. Ambleside has more schools around it, including French immersion at École Pauline Johnson. Being close to a school is not the same as being in its catchment, so call 604-981-1000 with the exact address.
Buying for what could be built later
Ambleside’s rules changed in April 2026 and the details depend on the exact lot. Phone Planning on 604-925-7055 with the address before you pay for potential. Dundarave’s village is designed to stay low.
What I would check before an offer in either one
- The permit history for the address, so you know what was built with a permit and what was not. How to check it.
- For a house built before the 1960s, whether there is a buried oil tank. What to do about it.
- For an apartment, the depreciation report, the strata minutes and the rainscreen history. How to read them.
- The catchment school for the exact address, from West Vancouver Schools.
- For a view, what can be built in front of it. How views are protected, and when they are not.
This page is a starting point, not advice on a specific property. Call the District on 604-925-7000 and West Vancouver Schools on 604-981-1000 with the exact address before you rely on any of it.
- District of West Vancouver, Provincial order to implement the Ambleside Centre Local Area Plan, 7 April 2026. Checked 2 October 2026.
- District of West Vancouver, Ambleside Local Area Plan (buildings over four storeys). Checked 2 October 2026.
- Province of British Columbia, news release 2026HMA0038-000377. Checked 2 October 2026.
- District of West Vancouver, contact page. Checked 2 October 2026.
- West Vancouver Schools, contact and school list. Checked 2 October 2026.
- TransLink, route 250 Horseshoe Bay/Dundarave/Vancouver. Checked 2 October 2026.
- Homes for sale and asking prices: MLS® listings supplied by REALTOR.ca (CREA DDF®), counted live when this page loads.