Vancouver Victoria ? Putterdude

[Crusin-Suzan]

Leaving for Vancouver on Saturday. Which BC ferry terminal is the closest to VYR? Tsawwassen or Horseshoe Bay? Have not decided if we are going to start off in Victoria or Nanaimo? We are staying until Tues. It is calling for rain all week. Maybe we should just stay in Vancouver. Have been fighting Fay this week so we are sick of wind and rain. The weather in the keys always shows rain but mostly it is sun showers. What about Vancouver Island and the Sunshine coast. Thanks and Cheers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

[Urban trekker]

"Tsawwassen" is the closest ferry terminal if arriving at YVR - to get to Horseshoe Bay you would have to drive all the way through the City of Vancouver.

 

Vancouver Island the Sunshine Coast are drier than the mainland - ie Vancouver and usually rain we get at this time of year is fairly light - I will let PD promote the value of visiting the Sunshine Coast.

 

Hope this helps

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Crusin-Suzan]

Thanks, how long of a drive is it? We land at 1PM so we could possibly make the 3PM, the 4PM for sure.

[LeftcoastBC]

From the airport it's only about 20 mins. your time concern would be Immigration and baggage plus getting into a car. After that pretty simple take the road out of the airport and look for signs to Seattle. (south on 99)

 

Go through the Massey tunnel getting into the right (outside) lane to take the second turn off out of the tunnel clearly marked Ferry's. and straight to the end of that Hwy. Can't miss.

You can go to Victoria or Nanaimo from there but you have to decide which before you get inside for easy sorting of vehicles.

 

The sunshine coast in my experience is a bit of a misnomer ...It rains there :)

 

Our weather is going to perk up for you (and us) when you arrive on the weekend thks

 

You could drive the island north to Naniamo and return to Horseshoe bay orTsawwassen from there also. Enjoy

[Putterdude]

sueleeky;

 

I think it was you that I shared a great deal of information with re the drive from Victoria to Comox and then across to Powell River and then down the Sunshine Coast; if not then come on back and I will be pleased to help. The weather for the balance of the this week looks damp...but not wet and the long ranger is calling for much better next week.

 

We do get rain here on the Sunshine Coast but as we are in the weather shadow of the mountains of Vancouver Island we only get about 37" to 40" of rain per year as compared to some 150" to 180" in the higher areas of Vancouver's North Shore. We also enjoy an average of 231 days of sunshine per year making us one of the sunniest coastal areas in BC.:)

[Sally Forth]

Consider a ferry reservation if you go. It can save a couple of hours. http://www.bcferries.com/

 

Dennis, thanks for your suggestion regarding the Osoyoos desert interpretive centre. Our out-of-province guests loved it. Speaking of rain, guess who got two solid days of rain in the desert? Yup, with me telling the guests that it NEVER rains in Osoyoos. Now, of course, we have a prediction of 2 inches here tomorrow and I am telling them it RARELY rains in SW BC in August. I've sort of lost my credibility.

 

Viv

[Putterdude]

Consider a ferry reservation if you go. It can save a couple of hours. http://www.bcferries.com/

 

 

Ordinarily I would agree but I think they are considering coming back from the island via Powell River and the Sunshine Coast and reservations are not necessary on the Powell River leg nor the Saltery Bay/Earls Cove run so long as they are in line 30 mins pre-sailing nor are they really necessary at Langdale (except on Sundays) if there about an hour before sailing.

You are right about the rain and wind, right now I can hear stuff blowing around on the back patio and I am thinking golf tomorrow will be a washout.:mad:

[scottbee]

Leaving for Vancouver on Saturday. Which BC ferry terminal is the closest to VYR? Tsawwassen or Horseshoe Bay? Have not decided if we are going to start off in Victoria or Nanaimo? We are staying until Tues. It is calling for rain all week. Maybe we should just stay in Vancouver. Have been fighting Fay this week so we are sick of wind and rain. The weather in the keys always shows rain but mostly it is sun showers. What about Vancouver Island and the Sunshine coast. Thanks and Cheers.

 

If you want to get to Victoria quickly from YVR, I would suggest flying. Air Canada have at least a dozen departures/day YVR to YYJ/Victoria (Air Canada) or Harbour Air from YVR/Floatplane base to CXH/Victoria Inner Harbour.

 

The second best way is take the Pacific Coachline bus from YVR straight into downtown Victoria. If you rent a car, you're looking at a fairly expensive crossing ($50+$20 reservation+$12/ea passengers) just to bring the car across to the island.

[Crusin-Suzan]

Thanks for all the advice. We do have a rental car. Think we will stick to our orginal plans, as Putterdude suggested and cross over at Comox. The ferry is quite expensive. That would be four ferry rides. I can not find any discounts for multiple crossing tho. Cheers

[Urban trekker]

There use to be a program called Circle Pac where you got a discount for doing the type of trip that you are planning - I couldn't find anything on the BC Ferries website so perhaps it has been discontinued - PD should be able to confirm that for you.

 

Cheers

 

Dennis

[Putterdude]

No I haven't seen anything re the Circle-Pac promotion for a least a couple of years.

[scottbee]

Thanks for all the advice. We do have a rental car. Think we will stick to our orginal plans, as Putterdude suggested and cross over at Comox. The ferry is quite expensive. That would be four ferry rides. I can not find any discounts for multiple crossing tho. Cheers

 

If you want to cross on the ferry, I do recommend trying to catch an odd-hour sailing out of Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, as that way you'll be on a newer ship (S class). The Spirit of BC and Spirit of Vancouver Island are really much nicer ships than the 'old school' Queen of Vancouver and Queen of Saanich that operate the even hour sailings.

 

Again, I would consider flying over and renting your car in Victoria (or even forgoing a car for downtown Victoria). Taking a car back and forth to the island is quite pricey.

 

YVR(Seaplane base) to downtown Victoria on a floatplane is $109/ea. Calculate one day of car rental, plus the cost of the passengers and car on the ferry 2@ $14.25/ea(passengers), $47.15(car), $17.50(adv reservation fee) and you're really not far behind, except the floatplane will take you 35 minutes, driving/crossing/driving will take you close to 5 hours. That's 4-5 more hours of vacation.

 

Coming back from the island, you can fly direct to the downtown Vancouver harbour seaplane base (next door to Canada Place cruise terminal), and Harbour Air even have a free 'downtown' shuttle which will drop you off in front of the door.

 

Victoria downtown - Vancouver Downtown is about $130

Nanaimo downtown - Vancouver Downtown is $77

 

http://harbour-air.com/

[Urban trekker]

The Circle Pac option still exists - found it on the BC Ferries website while searching for some info for a friend who was heading over to the Island.

 

Here's the link:

 

http://www.bcferries.com/travel_planning/circlepac/

 

Cheers

 

Dennis