BC Ferries - Vancouver Island

Hi!

The line ups for the ferries in July will be very long. There are two things you can do. One is to wait your turn which could be a two or three hour wait or you could make a reservation. The reservations cost more but you are guaranteed to be on that ferry. There are rules that you could check out on their websites www.bcferries.bc.ca<BR><BR>Another suggestion would be to take the Swartz Bay - Tsawwassen ferry first then go to Nanaimo since the ferry terminal is a little less congested there. You could take Departure Bay - Horseshoe Bay ferry or the Duke Point - Tsawwassen ferry. It all depends on what you are doing on your holiday.

Bottom line - expect waits for ferries no matter when you go in the summer unless you book a reservation.

Good luck and happy holidays.

We'll be north of Vancouver, before going to Vancouver Island.

The plan was to get the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay.
Return to the mainland from Swartz Bay - Tsawwassen.

What are the quietest crossing?

Thanks

Forgot to say, if the Duke Point - Tsawwassen crossing is quieter, we would probably go for that one for returning to the mainland.

Thanks for your help.

They're all busy, especially in July. Travel on "off" hours during the week if you can, and make.a.reservation. Unless you actually like waiting for hours in a giant parking lot.

To get an idea of how busy the ferries are going to be, keep checking the reservation page on the B.C. Ferries website. If every sailing that day is booked up, then yeah, you're going to have a long wait.

Even if every sailing shows space available for booking, you may want to pay to reserve anyways just for piece of mind. B.C. is a beautiful place, and it sucks spending an extra three hours in a steaming hot parking lot due to full ferries.

Some good advice above, particularly #4's tip to make your crossing mid-week. The weekends are busier, to the point where local television stations will sometimes broadcast live reports about car lineups and wait times from the ferry terminals, especially Fridays and Sundays. This congestion applies to all the options. Duke Point-Tsawwassen used to be a bit quieter, but then the word got around and so now it's popular too. Making reservations is a good idea.

Thanks for the advice, I'll book ahead.

Didn't realise the crossing were so busy, must be frustrating for people living on Vancouver Island.

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<hr>must be frustrating for people living on Vancouver Island<hr></blockquote>

Just to point out the obvious - most of them (us?) live there by choice. We're well aware that it's an island before we actually set up home there.

If I don't want to deal with ferry waits (which is most of the time, I admit), I simply fly. There are plenty of options for flying between the Island and the mainland.

You are all environmental savages.
I ride my amphibious bicycle between the Island and the Mainland