A while ago, I wrote about the road trip I to Vancouver Island with my school mates from the Business school. That was meant to be more of a feel good piece about the great sights of Vancouver Island, so I left the more technical details out. Technical details like “How do I get to Vancouver Island from Vancouver?”
Vancouver Island, while being relatively near to the greater metro area of Vancouver compared to the vast British Columbia province, is actually not some place you can get to with a snap of your fingers. While there is a multitude of ways to get to Vancouver Island from Vancouver, like flying on a commercial flight, chartering a private flight or taking a whaling tour, the more popular, affordable “mass” transport will most likely be taking a ferry using BC Ferries.
BC Ferries – The Basics
BC Ferries is the company that operates ferry services in and around the region. Since the Greater Vancouver area is basically a coastal metropolis, it is also logical that there is more than one port in Metro Vancouver that BC Ferries operate from.
Ferry Terminals to Know
I keep using the term “Greater Vancouver”, because the ferry terminals that one can take a BC Ferries ferry to Vancouver Island are located in Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal and Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, in West Vancouver and Delta respectively. Both are technically not in the city of Vancouver.
To get to Vancouver Island from Greater Vancouver via ferry, there are 3 routes:
- Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay
- Tsawwassen-Duke Point
- Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay
Where Tsawwassen is in Delta, south of Vancouver downtown, Horsehoe Bay is in West Vancouver, north of Vancouver downtown, Swartz Bay is in Victoria, the capital of Vancouver Island (and capital of British Columbia), Duke Point is in Nanaimo’s downtown, a city on the east coast of Vancouver Island, and Departure Bay is also in Nanaimo, but north of Duke Point.
Both Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay are not the most accessible spots in Metro Vancouver. Yes, one can technically take a bus to the ferry terminals; Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal, for example, can be reached with on bus 620, but not without first taking the Canada Line (skytrain) from downtown Vancouver to Bridgeport Station, notwithstanding that one may need to commute from other parts of Greater Vancouver to downtown Vancouver first.
Both journeys take well over 1 hour from downtown Vancouver via public transport, which makes driving the option that does not drive anyone crazy even before boarding the ferry.
On the other end of Georgia Strait, Victoria is a 1.5-hour drive from Nanaimo, which is a considerable long time when we only had 20 hours on the island. Duke Point and Departure Bay themselves are, ironically more than half an hour bus ride apart. Like I also mentioned in my earlier post, bus services to and from the ferry terminals aren’t exactly passenger-centric and car rentals aren’t located right outside the ferry terminals.
Therefore, a pre-trip planning would include deciding which ferry terminal to depart from Vancouver, which to arrive and which car rental to take.
Ferry Times
I mentioned in my post “Vancouver Island in 20 Hours” that we did a great deal of research, mainly to work around the constraint that we had to return to Vancouver on the same day. That research included reading up on the schedules of the ferries plying between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island. That is on top of the 3 different ferry routes mentioned above.
Since the schedules change every season and are subject to weather conditions, I would just leave the link to the ferry schedule here:
https://www.bcferries.com/schedules/
One thing to note was that the timings were different even between days.
For a while, we had discussed how we would catch the 10:10pm ferry from Departure Bay Ferry Terminal to conclude our road trip. Only days before did it occur to us that the 10:10pm ferry timing was only available on Fri – Sun and our Vancouver Island road trip was on a Tuesday! Oops! We would have been stranded on the island overnight if we had overlooked that!
Rates and Crossing Time
One of the reasons why the ferries are the more common way to reach Vancouver Island has got to be the low fares. I mean, why would I want to pay hundreds of dollars to fly to Vancouver Island under an hour, when I can spend under $40 (tax inclusive) for a return ferry trip?
What’s more, the crossing time is barely 2 hours, which, if you consider the security checks and what not for taking flight, could take one more time.
It is also possible to “drive” across Georgia Strait, since the ferry is large enough to accommodate even goods trucks. However, considering the rates they charge for a normal sedan, I would say those looking for just a weekend getaway should just rent a car only when they reach Vancouver Island.
Here’s an overview of the numbers related to the ferry crossing between Metro Vancouver and Vancouver Island.
| Destinations | Crossing Time | Fare (Passenger, One-way) | Fare (Car, One-way) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delta-Victoria (Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay) | 1h35m | $17.20 | $57.50 |
| Delta -Nanaimo (Tsawwassen-Duke Point) | 2h | $17.20 | $57.50 |
| West Vancouver-Nanaimo (Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay) | 1h40m | $17.20 | $57.50 |
The Ferries
As mentioned, it is possible to drive onto the ferry and bring your car over (and back). The vehicles all go onto the lower decks, while the passengers will enter and sit in the main deck.
We didn’t plan to take our car (which we loaned from RS’ landlord) over because we think it was daylight robbery, but if you do, you will have to take note that the road to Horseshoe Bay split way before reaching the ferry terminal, with one ramp leading all the way to the ferry itself, while the other road leads to the parking lot outside the ferry terminal. The same could be said of Departure Bay Ferry Terminal at Nanaimo.
We took Queen of Oak Bay on our way to Vancouver Island, and Queen of Surrey on our way back. Despite the difference in names, they were identical in layout.
The top most deck, the Sun Deck, was open air and where we took our sunrise views of Georgia Strait. Of course, there were sheltered sections to hide from the terribly chilly wind!
One level below was the passenger deck. The drivers, after parking their cars in the garage below, could also come to this deck, which also housed the cafe, souvenir shop and a space for restless children.
What I liked was how the seats were big and comfy. What baffled me though was, compared to the ferry I took between Hong Kong and Macau, there was no seatbelts to fasten. I suppose the seas were rougher in China…
There was also a variety of seating at various parts of the deck, with work stations for working on laptops and power sockets for charging mobile phones.
Is the Ferry Crowded?
If you read my blog on “Vancouver Island in 20 Hours”, you may remember that we made sure we reached Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal 45 minutes before the departure time. Other than being forced by a kiasi Singaporean to make sure we won’t miss the ferry, we were also told by RS’ landlord that “the ferry would be very full”, so it would be wise if we arrive early to make sure we get our tickets.
Lo and behold! We didn’t need to queue up to get our tickets. In fact, there were barely any souls on the entire ferry! The passenger deck only started to get more lively when the drivers parked their cars and came up to get a stretch. However, it seemed like no one is really interested to catch the first ferry out to Vancouver Island.
We also asked about the return trip – we wanted to buy our return tickets at Horseshoe Bay (well, like how we buy return plane tickets at the point of departure). We were told by the cashier to take a chill pill because the ferries rarely get filled up. But I guess the main issue was that the system only allowed him to issue tickets for the immediate ferry timings.
So, in short, no, the ferries were not crowded. However, if you are visiting Vancouver Island in summer, which is holiday peak in Vancouver, it would be wise to arrive slightly earlier to avoid queues at the ticketing counter and during boarding. If not, given the size of the passenger deck, which I think could hold hundreds of people, I think the chances of tickets selling out would be rare.
International Students or Visitors Without Cars
Before RS’ landlord offered to loan us her car, one of our plans was to rent a car in Vancouver, drive to Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminal, park the car and pick it up when we returned from Vancouver Island. After all, that was pre-Uber days and the thought of catching the bus to the ferry terminal at 4am and 12am from the ferry terminal was super daunting. Not to mention having to transfer in downtown Vancouver, which was not exactly a safe place to be in the dead of the night.
(But oh, even with Uber and Lyft now being allowed in Vancouver, I doubt it would be easy to get a ride out of Horseshoe Bay.)
The locations of Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay Ferry Terminals posed a terrible challenge for international students or free and easy tourists.
For us, we had to be in and out of Vancouver Island in a day, which explained why we took the first and last ferries. However, normal visitors would most likely choose to stay at least 1 night on Vancouver Island. This meant that you can take the buses at a more reasonable 8am from downtown Vancouver to catch the 10:40am ferry out of Horseshoe Bay.
Still, if for all reasons, you need to catch the first and last ferries like we did, and you couldn’t get a car on loan for free, renting a car and parking it in the ferry terminal’s parking lot is still a better choice. It is more convenient and safer than taking public transport at unearthly hours.
Full day parking at the ferry terminal cost less than $20, which, compared with bringing the car over and back on the ferry at $120++, is definitely a steal.
The only worry we had was whether someone would break into the car during the day. The general advice online was simple: don’t leave valuables in the car and don’t park at secluded spots.
It will also be good to rent the cheapest, not-so-new car, which will reduce the chances of robbery. After all, the car’s only to be used to travel between the ferry terminal and the city. And all Singaporeans know that driving a BMW into JB is an open invite to robbers, so I’m using the same logic here.
Conclusion
Vancouver Island is a great place for those who digs nature! However, there’s no need to break the bank in order to unwind from our busy lives. Taking a BC Ferry either from Horseshoe Bay, West Vancouver or Tsawwassen, Delta, won’t cost an arm or a leg. Yes, there’s still some pre-trip planning to do since they are out of downtown Vancouver, but these are just kinks in the great scheme of things to enjoy Vancouver Island.
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Till then, sing while you can!
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