For more than a century, families have been spending their summers at Lumina Resort, and many of them never stopped. The Hungerford family has owned and run this Lake of Bays resort since 1921, passing it down through four generations, and the guest book reads like a family reunion: grandparents who came as children now watch their own grandchildren learn to water-ski off the same dock.
Lumina is the largest cottage resort on Lake of Bays, spread across a 240-acre estate with more than a mile of shoreline and a long stretch of safe, sandy beach. The accommodation is classic cottage country: 36 chalet-style cottages tucked among the pines, many with balconies and fireplaces, plus rooms in the charming main lodge. Meals are a big part of the tradition here. Guests gather in the dining hall for chef-prepared breakfasts and dinners, so nobody has to cook or wash up on holiday, and light housekeeping keeps the cottages tidy.
Days at Lumina follow a gentle rhythm. Kids head off to the supervised children’s program while parents claim a Muskoka chair by the water or join in the lawn games. The waterfront is the heart of it all, with canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and sailboats ready to take out, plus water-ski instruction and tubing for the adventurous. The explorers can paddle over to Fire Island, the resort’s own little island sitting just offshore. On land there are tennis courts, shuffleboard, lawn bowling, basketball, volleyball and wooded walking trails.
Evenings tend to end the old-fashioned way, around a campfire or at one of the resort’s social gatherings where returning families catch up like old friends. Lumina also hosts weddings, handing the whole resort over to the wedding party for the weekend. Fair warning for the always-connected: this is happily an off-grid kind of place, so leave the video calls behind and let the lake set the pace.