Getting to Vancouver Island - Vancouver or Washington?
Mar 19th, 2023, 06:47 PM
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Getting to Vancouver Island - Vancouver or Washington?
I want to go to Victoria and Vancouver Island, I’ll be renting a car so I need to take a ferry that carries vehicles. Which is the easiest port of departure? I can fly into Seattle or Vancouver.
Mar 20th, 2023, 11:50 AM
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Fly into Vancouver as the closest car ferry to Vancouver Island from Seattle is out in Port Angeles, which is a 2.5 hour drive away.
If you fly into Vancouver, the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal is a half hour drive south of the airport. That's the main ferry terminal that takes you over to Vancouver Island - both to the Swartz Bay terminal (the ferry terminal a half hour drive away from Victoria) as well as the Duke Point ferry terminal (the ferry terminal near Nanaimo, a two hour drive north of Victoria - the terminal you'd use if you want to venture further north up the island ot west toward Tofino/Ucluelet on the west coast of the island).
The Washington State ferries used to run a ferry from Anacortes (near Bellingham) to Sidney (a small seaside town a short drive away from Victoria), but they've cancellled it until 2030: https://www.vicnews.com/news/sidney-...rn-until-2030/
Alternatively, you can also just fly directly into Victoria on a connecting flight from Vancouver, saving you the ferry hassle factor.
If you fly into Vancouver, the Tsawwassen Ferry Terminal is a half hour drive south of the airport. That's the main ferry terminal that takes you over to Vancouver Island - both to the Swartz Bay terminal (the ferry terminal a half hour drive away from Victoria) as well as the Duke Point ferry terminal (the ferry terminal near Nanaimo, a two hour drive north of Victoria - the terminal you'd use if you want to venture further north up the island ot west toward Tofino/Ucluelet on the west coast of the island).
The Washington State ferries used to run a ferry from Anacortes (near Bellingham) to Sidney (a small seaside town a short drive away from Victoria), but they've cancellled it until 2030: https://www.vicnews.com/news/sidney-...rn-until-2030/
Alternatively, you can also just fly directly into Victoria on a connecting flight from Vancouver, saving you the ferry hassle factor.
Last edited by BC_Robyn; Mar 20th, 2023 at 11:53 AM.
Mar 20th, 2023, 06:59 PM
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BCRobyn your info is always great. I just wanted to add the Bellingham airport info because Southwest flies there and it can be cheaper for some US travellers and is a lot closer to ferries than Seattle. But Vancouver is more convenient for most trips. (Not a fan of getting through Seattle traffic)
Mar 21st, 2023, 06:51 PM
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I honestly hadn’t thought about flying to Victoria, bypassing the ferry issue, thinking it would be very expensive. I ran some sample dates and it’s not bad at all. I could take Westjet to Calgary and continue on to a Victoria from there.
Last edited by aggiegirl; Mar 21st, 2023 at 07:01 PM. Reason: Fixing punctuation
