Need help with Vancouver itinerary
 

Dear Fodorites,
I'm the early stages of planning a 10 day trip to Vancouver, including V. Island. Flying into Seattle, then rent a car; would the Tsawwassen ferry to Victoria be the smartest way to get to the island? We are planning 2 full days in Victoria. For the next 5 or so days, would Tofino be a good base to do some hiking, beach walking, kayaking? Or can someone suggest a 3rd base that offers something new?
Would ferry from Nanaimo back to mainland make the most sense? Then we'll spend the remaining few days in Vancouver, before driving back to Sea-Tac.
I may sound a bit scattered at this point, so please bear with me. I welcome all suggestions/recommendations.
Thanks in advance!

Yeah this makes sense. If you're planning to go to Victoria take the Tsawassen ferry, if you're not, take the Nanaimo-Horseshoe Bay one. Tofino/Ucluelet is a great base for a large variety of outdoors activities. Nanaimo is probably the next best base on the island: Easy access to Qualicum, Parksville, Lake Cowichan, Salt Spring Island, Comox etc. Maybe spend a night or two there before you take the ferry back to the mainland?

I'm worried you're maybe not giving yourself enough time in Vancouver proper, but it seems like y'all are more interested in outdoors stuff anyways than big cities, so this might not be an issue. When are you planning your trip for? If you're not interested in big cities, an alternative itinerary might be to drive up the Olympic Peninsula from Sea-Tac, spend 2 or more days at Olympic NP and then take the ferry from Port Angeles to Victoria. The ferry has suspended operations due to the pandemic, but the company that runs it has stated they fully plan to start back up again after cross-border travel reopens. As long as this trip isn't in the next couple months there's a good chance the ferry will be operating again.

Thank you Sirhan. We are thinking it makes more sense to fly into Vancouver and spend our time in Vancouver and on V. Island. However, I just read about wildfires there, so we are not making any reservations until we see how things progress as we were planning to depart Sept. 10.