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| Crew Girl: Is Eagle’s Cove a Real Town in Massachusetts? Here’s Where Netflix Filmed It |
Netflix’s Crew Girl gives Teagan Tao a very convincing new home in Eagle’s Cove, Massachusetts, complete with coastal scenery, an elite prep school and enough small-town complications to make moving there look like a particularly questionable life choice. But while the fictional Massachusetts setting feels authentic on screen, Eagle’s Cove is not a real town, and Easton Prep is not an actual school. The story may take place in New England, but the production travelled much further north to create its version of the world.
Teagan begins the series as a talented young rower in California whose carefully planned future is suddenly thrown off course after her father gets into trouble with the law and disappears. With Ella left to pick up the pieces, mother and daughter relocate to Eagle’s Cove, where Teagan is enrolled at Easton Prep so she can continue pursuing rowing. Naturally, transferring to a new school in an unfamiliar town does not exactly solve everything overnight. In fact, it seems to open the door to an entirely new collection of problems.
Eagle’s Cove is fictional, despite the show presenting it as a Massachusetts community. The town was actually created on screen using locations around Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, which does a remarkably good job of standing in for an affluent New England setting. The production used the Gorge Waterway and areas around Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park to build the atmosphere of Eagle’s Cove, giving the fictional town its combination of water, greenery and picturesque surroundings.
The production also filmed in Sidney, British Columbia, using locations including the Sidney Waterfront Walkway. Viewers familiar with the Victoria area may spot other recognisable locations throughout the series, including Tillicum Road Bridge, Point Hope Maritime and Selkirk Trestle. So, if Eagle’s Cove looks suspiciously picturesque, that is probably because the production found some very useful Canadian scenery and simply gave it a Massachusetts makeover.
The same trick applies to Easton Prep, the prestigious private school that becomes such an important part of Teagan’s new life. The school itself is fictional, but its imposing appearance comes from a very real location: Hatley Castle in Colwood, British Columbia. The historic property, at 2005 Sooke Road, forms part of the Hatley Park National Historic Site at Royal Roads University and provides the sort of grand backdrop that immediately tells viewers this is not exactly the local comprehensive.
Hatley Castle dates back to 1908, when it was built for James Dunsmuir. The property later changed hands and was acquired by the Department of National Defence in 1940. It subsequently became associated with Royal Roads Military College, where the castle served as accommodation and a mess hall for staff and cadets until 1995. Today, the building and its surrounding grounds are used for visitors and events, offering a rather more peaceful existence than the fictional school drama unfolding in Crew Girl.
The location has also developed quite the screen résumé. Hatley Castle is perhaps best known to film and television fans as Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters in the X-Men films, while it has appeared as the Queen family mansion in Arrow and as a location connected with Lex Luthor in Smallville. It has also featured in Descendants and The Killing, among other productions. Apparently, one historic Canadian castle can have considerably more careers than most people.
For fans, the discovery that Eagle’s Cove and Easton Prep are fictional has produced a mixture of reactions. Some viewers enjoy finding out where the show was actually filmed, particularly when familiar Canadian locations are hiding behind supposedly Massachusetts scenery.
Others may be slightly disappointed that they cannot simply search for Eagle’s Cove, book a weekend away and dramatically stare across the water while contemplating their complicated teenage lives. The fictional setting nevertheless works because the production gives it enough real-world texture to feel believable.
There is also something amusing about how convincingly British Columbia becomes Massachusetts whenever television needs a scenic coastal town. The greenery, waterfront locations and grand architecture certainly sell the illusion, even if geography enthusiasts might raise an eyebrow. And Hatley Castle is such a striking building that it almost feels unfair to complain. If you are going to invent an elite prep school, you may as well put it in a castle and let everyone else deal with the consequences.
My take is that the fictional nature of Eagle’s Cove actually works in Crew Girl's favour. The series is not really asking viewers to visit a particular Massachusetts town; it is creating a contained world where Teagan's personal and rowing ambitions can collide.
Making Eagle’s Cove fictional gives the story room to invent its own rules, relationships and local history without worrying about whether every street corner makes geographical sense. Easton Prep being fictional makes even more sense, because its grand appearance immediately establishes the school as a place designed for heightened drama rather than a documentary about American education.
And honestly, discovering that the supposedly Massachusetts town was filmed in Canada makes the whole thing slightly more entertaining. British Columbia has once again been handed a completely different identity and apparently decided to go along with it.
Hatley Castle, meanwhile, continues its impressive tradition of pretending to be somewhere else entirely. From superhero schools to wealthy family mansions and now an elite rowing academy, the castle clearly has range. If anything, I am more curious about what it will be pretending to be next.
So, no, Eagle’s Cove is not a real Massachusetts town, and Easton Prep is not a real school. They are fictional elements of Crew Girl, brought to life largely through locations around Victoria, while Hatley Castle provides the memorable face of Teagan’s new school. Did you recognise any of the Canadian locations while watching, or were you completely convinced that Eagle’s Cove was somewhere in Massachusetts? Share your thoughts on the filming locations and tell us whether the reveal changed how you saw the series.