Where Netflix’s ‘Crew Girl’ Was Actually Filmed and How British Columbia Became an East Coast Prep School

Netflix’s new rowing drama ‘Crew Girl’ tells the story of a teenage athlete who trades sunny California for a fictional Massachusetts prep school, but the show’s postcard version of the East Coast was never filmed anywhere near New England. The series was filmed entirely in Victoria, British Columbia, and nearby communities on southern Vancouver Island, with production swapping the Canadian coastline for a fictional prep school setting. Now that the series has premiered, viewers are curious about the real places standing in for Teagan Tao’s new hometown.

‘Crew Girl’ follows Teagan Tao, played by Miku Martineau, a gifted teenage single sculler whose promising future is derailed after her father is caught in a financial scandal. Forced to relocate to the East Coast with her mother Ella, played by Jessica Paré, Teagan hopes for a fresh start, only to discover her new school has no girls rowing team, pushing her toward an unlikely role on the boys varsity crew. That premise plays out against scenery that looks like coastal New England but is actually rooted in one specific corner of Canada.

Hatley Castle Becomes the Fictional Easton Prep

The most recognizable location in ‘Crew Girl’ is Hatley Castle, located on the grounds of Royal Roads University in Colwood, just west of Victoria. Built in 1908 for industrialist James Dunsmuir, the castle’s stone exterior, formal gardens, and grand interiors provide the backdrop for the fictional Easton Prep. The production used the building’s exterior lawns and entryways along with several interior spaces for scenes set in classrooms, hallways, and student common areas.

This is far from the castle’s first turn on screen. Hatley Castle has previously appeared as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the ‘X-Men’ films, as Luthor Manor in ‘Smallville,’ and as Queen Manor in ‘Arrow.’ Its Gothic Revival architecture gives the show a sense of old money tradition that fits the elite prep school setting the story requires.

Beyond its screen credits, the estate remains a working piece of Vancouver Island tourism. The castle is one of the most visited heritage sites on the island and is open to the public during scheduled tours and events. For fans of ‘Crew Girl,’ that means the school gates Teagan walks through are a place they can actually visit.

Rowing Scenes Filmed on Elk Lake and the Gorge Waterway

Since rowing sits at the center of the show’s plot, the production needed real water to match the sport’s demands. Rowing scenes were shot on Elk and Beaver Lake Regional Park and the Gorge Waterway, with Hatley Castle used as the site of the fictional school. Both bodies of water gave the crew authentic training and racing conditions rather than relying entirely on visual effects.

To capture the races convincingly, the team relied on specialized equipment rather than simple handheld cameras. The production used a floating camera barge capable of towing the actors’ boat for close up shots, with drone photography used whenever the cast rowed independently. That combination let the show mix intimate character moments with sweeping shots of the crew gliding across open water.

The Gorge Waterway in particular carries a double meaning for the story. This stretch of the Gorge is also used by real local rowing crews, making it a practical filming location for training and transition scenes. A nearby landmark also made its way into the finished episodes. The Tillicum Road Bridge, which spans the Gorge Waterway in Victoria, appears as a visual landmark during rowing sequences and waterfront scenes.

Sidney and Greater Victoria Stand In for Massachusetts

Beyond the castle and the water, the production leaned on the wider Greater Victoria area to sell the illusion of a small New England town. Colwood’s Hatley Castle serves as the fictional school, while Elk Lake and the Gorge Waterway were used for rowing scenes, with the broader Greater Victoria region standing in for the show’s East Coast setting. The streets of Sidney also do double duty as the fictional Massachusetts prep school town at the center of the series.

That geographic sleight of hand is part of what makes the show fun for local audiences to watch. Fans are already digging into exactly where their favorite scenes were shot, since the show’s East Coast backdrop is not actually the East Coast at all. For residents of Vancouver Island, spotting familiar storefronts and waterfront paths standing in for ‘Eagle’s Cove’ has become part of the viewing experience.

The show’s fictional town of Eagle’s Cove exists only on the page and on screen. Teagan and her mother relocate to the fictional town of Eagle’s Cove, Massachusetts, a setting built almost entirely out of borrowed Vancouver Island scenery rather than any real New England community. That blending of a real Canadian coastline with an invented American setting is common in modern streaming production, but it rarely gets as much attention as it has with ‘Crew Girl.’

Production Details Behind the Vancouver Island Shoot

The shoot itself was a lengthy one by television standards. Principal photography for the first season began in September 2025 and continued for three months before wrapping in December of that year. Martineau marked the occasion publicly once filming concluded, writing that it had been 117 days on set and that she loved the people and the show.

The series carries a strong Canadian production pedigree behind the camera as well. ‘Crew Girl’ was created by Vivian Lin and developed by Lin along with Morwyn Brebner, with Lin serving as series writer, executive producer, and showrunner, and the series produced by Great Pacific Media and Blue Ant Studios. Simon Barry directed the pilot episode.

All of that groundwork has paid off in a series that critics have described as visually striking even where the storytelling divides opinion. One review noted that ‘Crew Girl’ is pretty to look at, even as its lack of realism and choppy dialogue held the show back. Whatever viewers make of the plot, the Vancouver Island scenery behind it has clearly made an impression.

With Hatley Castle standing in for an elite prep school and the Gorge Waterway doubling as a New England training ground, how many of these British Columbia landmarks did you recognize while watching ‘Crew Girl’ unfold on your screen.