Ferries to Victoria
 

We are leaving this week for Victoria, we are planning on taking the Coho Ferrie out of Port Angeles on thursday afternoon. Is it safe to assume that most of the summer tourism is over and we shouldn't have to wait in long lines? Thank you in advance for your help!

While I haven't experienced the Coho in early September (lots of other times, tho), I would play it safe and get there as early as possible. Coho personnel say that Thursdays are their busiest day. Put your car in line, and enjoy walking around downtown Port Angeles. Unbelievelably, there are even some interesting restaurants there, too. We had a great East Indian lunch while awaiting the boat one day.

Did you know that you can actually reserve a spot?? Just go to the website: http://www.bcferries.bc.ca/<BR>and you pay a non-refundable fee of $15.00 Cdn (like 2.00 US!!!) and your spot is guaranteed.

They say arriving 90 minutes beforehand should be fine, even in the afternoon. There has been some fog lately but the Coho seems to slog its way through. They do not take reservations.

Oops, just realized this thread is a little out of date. I thought it was for October.

The main thing about BC Ferries is to try and remember to bring some of your own food, or stop at a deli or decent take out somewhere. The food on BC Ferries is nothing short of horrific! The very worst of junk food, to be avoided at all costs even though they have a captive audience they need to learn that the word gets out and people will start bringing their own food rather than risk eating their horrible food. I don't know if the Coho Ferrie is as bad or not but tread lightly, it is also a fairly lengthy trip and there are only a few sailings a day.

Bar none, which is the fastest/most convenient car ferry from Seattle to Victoria, BC (and Victoria to Vancouver)? And from what city/terminals to they leave/arrive? Thanks Locals!

Christian, unfortunately yours is a hard question to answer, because it (ready?) depends on what time of year and day.<BR><BR>In summer the border congestion northbound can impact the total time from Seattle to Victoria using the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to the island, otherwise that's typically the fastest route. If you make the cross-Sound ferry timing EXACTLY, the Port Angeles-Victoria route can be quicker, especially if you're going to downtown Victoria. However, that's a tall order given the infrequent Coho sailings, weather or traffic delays en route to PA, etc.<BR><BR>The Anacortes/San Juan is almost always the slowest in total elapsed time because you have to arrive in Anacortes so early.<BR><BR>We almost always take the Tsawwassen route because the sailings are the most frequent, it's a pretty ride, and with the exchange tends to be cheaper. I would almost always recommend the Port Angeles boat southbound, especially in the summer when you can avoid hours-long lineups at the US border on the freeway.