Can we get from SEA-TAC to Vancouver Island in one day?
 

My family and I are looking into a trip to Vancouver Island this August (I know, we better hurry up and decide!). If we fly on Southwest into Seattle and arrive at 12:50pm on a Saturday, can we realistically make it to Vancouver Island that day? I have the ferry schedule out of Port Angeles and Tsawwassen and there are 5:00 ferries, but I don't know how the traffic is from the airport to either of these docks. I also am not sure how early we need to be waiting in line at the car ferry.

Any comments/suggestions would be much appreciated.

Assuming bag claim and getting the car takes the better part of an hour, you'd be on the road around 2 PM.

The earliest I could see you arriving in PA is around 5, so probably that sailing is toast. They have a 9:30 PM sailing in August, but waiting for that <i>you'd</i> be toast.

BC Ferries has sailings at 6 and 7 as well as 5, so I'd definitely go for Tsawwassen. You'd probably be at the border around 4 - 4:15 or so, so depending on the delay I doubt you'd make the 5 PM boat, but there's a chance. But you'd certainly make the 6 PM, and remember in August the sun is up till pretty late, so no darkness worries.

Agree with Gardyloo as to timing and logistics.

I'm just curious, where on VI are you going? Victoria? If further north, then you might want to take the Tsawwassen/Nanaimo ferry rather than the PA ferry in any event.

Well, we had planned to get to the Westin Bear Mountain near Victoria. It looks like the Port Angeles ferry is ideal and it departs at 5:15pm. Mapquest states that it is 125 miles from SEA-TAC to Port Angeles.

How early do we need to be in line for the car ferry? We could always take the 8:20am ferry the next morning. Is there much to do in Port Angeles?

Oh, ok, then you want the Tsawwassen/Swartz Bay ferry if you go on BC Ferries.

I wouldn't plan on taking the Port Angeles ferry in August without a reservation. You need to be in line 60-90 minutes ahead of time though even with a reservation in order to clear customs (you'd have to check with the Coho for the specific time). If you don't have a reservation then you need to be there a good 3-4 hours in advance if not longer.

So even with a reservation, making the 5:15 will be tough--and if your flight is at all late, forget it. If you want to be on Vancouver Island that night for sure and don't want to wait for the late ferry from PA, then I'd drive to Tsawwassen since there are hourly ferries. But you can always make a reservation for the 5:15 Coho and then just not use it if it becomes apparent you're not going to be out of the airport by 1:45 PM (assuming you need to be there by 4:15 at the latest; it'll take at least 2.5 hours to PA). It's only $10 to make a reservation.

There's a whole national park right near Port Angeles so there's plenty to do there for quite a few days if you're so inclined (not so much in PA itself though). So yes, you could stay overnight and find stuff to do, assuming you're interested in gorgeous scenery, hiking, etc.

If memory serves, you'd probably have a faster time of it on the road coming from Swartz Bay (BC ferry) than from the Inner Harbour (Coho) if you're going to the Bear Mountain resort. On a Saturday evening traffic around Victoria will not be an issue, and because the BC boats offload much faster than the Coho, the whole journey time will be less.

I'd also mention that the ferry ride from Tsawwassen over to the island is extremely scenic, while the Coho crosses the Strait of Juan de Fuca, which can sometimes be a little bumpy.

If an overnight somewhere was in order, then I'd cross the border on the freeway and spend the evening in Vancouver. No shortage of things to do there, that's for sure.

Since you would be at sea tac I would suggest going south to Tacoma and take Hwy 16 and up 101 to port Angeles. I googled it and it gave 2hr 44 min but I would add 15 min = 3 hrs. This route does not depend on other ferrys or border to arrive at ferry. This is nice because it is only ferry that arrives in Downtown Victoria. I can't remember border crossing I think it was when we landed in Victoria.I would not use Wash St ferry system as they are fairly crowded on weekend afternoons. The only other way I would consider would be Tsawwassen about 2hr 36 min. plus border wait. Then you drive fron Swartz bay to Victoria. This used to be cheaper route but now that it is only 6% rate exchange it might even be par when you go. Makes everything much more expensive. It was 20% when we went in March.

You can fly over.

Whatever route you take remeber there will be delays at teh Canada border for Customs and Imiigration..even tho at teh momment no pasport required but you should check.

Also if someone does not now their way around I jsut don't recommend south thru tacoma and over the penninsula to Port Angles...

Thanks everyone! I had faith in my fellow fodorites. I didn't see that the Tsawwassen ferry sailed hourly into Swartz Bay. For some reason I had looked at the schedule into Nanaimo which is obviously too far north.

I figure if we left the airport around 2pm, we'd get to Tsawwassen by 5pm and could catch the 6pm ferry. Is this feasible?

Possibly. The big unknown will be the wait at the border going into Canada, and mid-late afternoons seem to be a particularly busy time. You could wait 20-30 minutes (which is the usual wait I'd say going into Canada) or you could wait an hour or longer, in which case you may not make the 6 PM but probably get on the 7 PM.

The truck crossing is usually faster (the exit is clearly marked from I-5) but not always. I've driven over there from I-5 only to find myself in a HUGE backup on occasion.

Here's a site that shows the wait times at the various crossings--Pacific Highway is the truck crossing, while Douglas/Peace Arch is the main I-5 crossing. You might have a look at it at 4 PM or so on the couple Saturdays before your trip to see what the wait times look like just to get an idea:

http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/general/times/menu-e.html

Your question raises questions in my mind.

It may be possible, but is it wise?

What time will you and your family rise on Saturday to catch your flight to Seattle?

And, if everything doesn't go like clockwork, what time will you arrive at you destination?

In what emotional states with the members of your family be at the end of this hectic day?

Is this a good way to start a vacation?