I am planning to be in Seattle this July and plan to also go to Vancouver Island and Vancouver. Will be turning car in at Seattle and want to know if anyone has any experience with the ferry service between seattle or Anacortes and Vancouver Island. I see that there is high speed service from Seattle or a "slow boat" from Anacortes through the San Juan Islands. Does anyone have any thoughts as to the better route, scenery and convenience considered? Thanks..Carol

I have travelled many times by ferry to Vancouver Island. I used to live in Victoria and Vancouver. The Anacortes ferry trip is by far the most scenic. It all depends on what is most important to you. Scenery or speed. I would opt for scenery anyday. In fact I would do the following. Drive north to Anacortes ( about 60 miles ) and take the ferry to Sidney, BC ( 20 miles from Victoria ). Spend whatever time you plan on in Victoria. Do the Butcharts Gardens and all of the other tourist stuff. Try to take in a Sunset Ceremony on the Parliament grounds. Drive north of Victoria to Nanaimo and take the ferry from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay. Horseshoe Bay is a short drive into Vancouver. This route will give you a lot of scenery and not add too much time to your trip. If you don't have time for this then you may wish to reconsider your schedule.

I have travelled many times by ferry to Vancouver Island. I used to live in Victoria and Vancouver. The Anacortes ferry trip is by far the most scenic. It all depends on what is most important to you. Scenery or speed. I would opt for scenery anyday. In fact I would do the following. Drive north to Anacortes ( about 60 miles ) and take the ferry to Sidney, BC ( 20 miles from Victoria ). Spend whatever time you plan on in Victoria. Do the Butcharts Gardens and all of the other tourist stuff. Try to take in a Sunset Ceremony on the Parliament grounds. Drive north of Victoria to Nanaimo and take the ferry from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay. Horseshoe Bay is a short drive into Vancouver. This route will give you a lot of scenery and not add too much time to your trip. If you don't have time for this then you may wish to reconsider your schedule.

Right now I'm sitting here at the computer looking past the screen and through the picture window to see the lights of Victoria on Vancouver island across the Haro Straits from me. The moon is almost full and I can see the lights of Port Angeles further away to the south. In case you have not guessed I am on San Juan island. And I certainly agree with the above poster that the more scenic way to get to Vancouver island is through our San Juan islands. He suggests a good route too. I'm sure you will enjoy it a lot.

I too am looking for an easy ferry ride from either Washington or Vancouver to Victori. Will have a car to ferry, but don't want to be on the ferry for a long period of time, nor spend lots of $$. How long to travel by land or ferry from Seattle to Port Angeles and take the Coho Ferry? Anyone have advice on this option? Or would it be easier to go to Vancouver and then across to Nanaimo? Any advice is appreciated.

Hi Carol,
I spent about 10 days in Seattle/Mt. Rainer/Olympic Park/San Juan Island/Vancouver in July 96. The only regret I have is that we didn't get a chance to go to Victoria. We drove our car from Seattle to Anacortes (I believe it was Anacortes...I can't remember but it was halfway point from Seattle and Vancouver. We parked our car there and took the ferry over to San Juan Island. It definitely was alot cheaper to go to San Juan from there compared to Seattle $45 vs. $5 or something like that. It was a nice ride. I didn't know it further went to Vancouver though. All in all though, the car ride from Seattle to Vancouver was about 3 hours I think? It wasn't bad at all. When you go to Vancouver Island, make you sure you rent bikes and go around the whole island. You'll get quite a view!

<Be sure to take bikes and go all thw way around Vancouver island>??? Wow you sure are one professional caliber biker as that island is just HUGE....far bigger than some US states. I would hardly recommend somthing like that lightly to a stranger.

Ooops! You're right Mike that would be a BIT much!!! I meant Stanley Island! They say the mind is the first thing to go....thanks for pointing that out!

During the summer there should be another ferry from Seattle. It changes names so often I can't keep up, but I believe it's the Marguerite III. It would take 4 or 5 hours and is not particularly scenic. It docks at Ogden Point not far from downtown Victoria. The Coho from Port Angeles takes 2 or 2½ hours (I'm guessing at times a bit) and it docks right in Victoria's Inner Harbour downtown. You don't need to go to Nanaimo from Vancouver, Jill - you can go directly to Victoria - technically Swartz Bay which is about 13 miles out of Victoria. You can drive on, walk on or take the bus. Those ferries run every hour in summer months and take an hour and 35 minutes. Other options are the Victoria Clipper from Seattle and float planes.

Hi, all
Re the earlier posting, the ferry from Port Angeles across the Strait of Juan de Fuca is shorter than the other crossings (less scenic and a little rougher, too). The drive from Seattle to Port Angeles, counting a cross-Sound ferry (either Seattle-Bainbridge Is. or Edmonds-Kingston - see a map) takes around 2 hours plus or minus ferry waiting (which can be quite long in the summer). The Coho doesn't sail that many times a day from P.A., so that can be a further source of delay.

All of the routes are enjoyable; our favorite for the combination of speed, cost, and scenery is actually to go across the border on the mainland and take the B.C. ferry from Tsawwassan (very close to the Blaine/White Rock border point on US I-5/BC Rt. 99) over to Swartz Bay. The boat (frequent sailings - see http://bcferries.bc.ca/ferries/) zigzags through the islands and is quite affordable by US standards. The Anacortes-San Juan Islands ferry is also a very beautiful ride but heavily booked.

For car-less travel, I would second the idea of flying on a float plane from Lake Union in downtown Seattle to the Victoria Inner Harbour - a real treat. See http://www.kenmoreair.com/

Have fun!