We don't take Duke Point Ferry Terminal often. Duke Point (Nanaimo) goes to Tsawwassen. This is one…read moreof the more quieter ferry terminal and probably it's due to the limitation that it only goes one place.

On a recent trip to Victoria from Seattle, we decided to take the long way home and drive from…read moreVictoria to Nanaimo, ride the ferry to Vancouver, and spend the day there before returning home. I recommend taking Highway 1A and driving through the little towns of Chemainus (stop here if you have time, otherwise admire the many murals from your car), Saltair, and Ladysmith. 1A will take you to the Duke Point Ferry Terminal, or you can spend some time in Nanaimo and find the best Nanaimo bar (look up the Nanaimo Bar Trail and you'll find many suggestions for who sells them). Situated on a windy finger of land that shares Jack Point and Biggs Park, the ferry terminal itself is well organized and about 20+ lanes across. Buy your tickets online to save time and make sure you get to there an hour before departure. At the window, you can pay your fare or the agent will scan the prepaid barcode In your email. You are then assigned a lane. You can wait in your car or get out and walk around, grab a snack, use the restroom, take in the view, or pose with two orca statues flanking the walkway to the terminal. On the day we were there, two tents were set up with local arts and crafts. A large digital sign gave sailing information and PSAs about COVID safety. When it was time for everyone to board, an announcement was made asking us to return to our vehicles. About 10 or 15 minutes later, attendants guided us to the awaiting ferry. Everything was orderly and well organized, and I can't wait to come back.

We are in awe of how well planned all the ferry terminals in Canada are. Multiple lane entries to…read moreembark on your ferry and at the checkin you get assigned one lane. The best part is you can just leave your car parked in that lane and walk to nearby terminal building to use restroom or eat or shop. The one in Nanaimo had decent food options. We tried from three places. Chachi's Mac n cheese, Hiro veggie and tofu udon and pizza place that had tandoori chicken pizza. All three were great. There is plenty of tables for you to sit and eat. There is also a small play structure outside that kept the kid busy. The restrooms were clean. It was 10/10 experience from embarking to disembarking. BC ferry itself offered clean restrooms, cafe to eat and a small play area. They also gave crayons and a picture for coloring. The most positive experience with the way it is operated. Note: if you want to change reservation the ferry timing there is a fee per person. Tip: if you are in lower vehicle deck you have to get down. But upper decks

Departure Bay is located north side of Nanaimo. It only has one berth and it only goes to Horseshoe…read moreBay. I was surprised that this ferry terminal has a food court and gift shops. It is a much more convenient location for us in terms of heading home or getting to Nanaimo. We usually take Swartz Bay or Dupoint. Only complain about this terminal is that you have to drive into Nanaimo and the traffic is not always the best.

better than usual trip from Duke Pt to Tswassen - ferry was on time for the first time in many…read moretrips, and boarding was smooth and professional. food is never great but lentil soup with yam fry poutine is a quirky standby. worth looking for whales!

What can you say. This is a service that runs between the mainland of vancouver and the outlying…read moreislands. They can be very busy, and you should where at all possible to make reservations in advance.

I like this port. Duke Point (Nanaimo) is less busy compared to Victoria. On top, the ride is also…read moresmoother. Pickup is less chaotic. On the ferry to and from Nanaimo, you can get white spot food which is nice. Plenty of parking at this port.

Ferry from Nanaimo to Vancouver [British Columbia]…read more We booked a reservation for an early departure to guarantee a spot in the ferry. Sailings depart from Duke Point to Vancouver (Tsawwassen). We had to arrive at the terminal between 30-mins to an hour prior to our scheduled departure. Sailing time was about 2 hours. Amenities inside the ferry included a snack and coffee kiosks, vending machines, ATM, waiting area, lots of seating. Positive experience. Review #3178

BC Ferries is leaving the 1 Ferry Causeway heading to Victoria…read more Service is good for the accurate time to leave the harbour and reach the Victoria, BC harbour in time Food is provided by WhiteSpot restaurant. Affordable food and drinks are available Ambiance? (5/5) see attached

Love taking the ferry!!!! It's the only way off the island to take our car onto the next travel…read moreadventure!! We tried the cafeteria for breakfast. I had the traditional breakfast with bacon, potatoes, toast and salsa. My eggs were over medium. My husband had the traditional breakfast with ham, croissant roll and his eggs were over easy. I also ordered a pot of tea and asked if I could have a refill pot of hot water after I finished this one. The answer was yes. There are many places to see on the ferry and my next choice was the gift store. Every gift store is different. This ship didn't have the British Columbia section of books for sale, but they had nice looking clothes for men and women. I took my reading selection and finished my time next to my hubby with my cup of unfinished tea. Next trip I will provide photos.

This experience was the best part of our trip! The pilots were exceptional and very professional…read more It was so enthralling to fly from Victoria to Vancouver and back again. Going to Victoria we flew a single-engine plane, which may have been older, but was so exciting. This trip took longer so we had more time to savor the beauty of the water and islands speckled throughout the landscape. On the way back, we flew a twin-engine which was faster but almost as exciting. The representatives were a little officious but they could not damper the excitement of these flights. We booked the flights and a tour of the Capilano bridge through Harbour Air and could not have been more delighted.

Horrible service! They cancelled our flight with almost no notice despite deciding to do so hours…read moreearlier. Instead of flying to Vancouver from Tofino we got the privilege to ride in a shuttle bus across the island to Nanaimo as there were no other options by the time they told us our flight was cancelled. They sited poor weather yet it looked very clear to us and to Apple weather app across the entire island. Other float planes were landing while stuck waiting for their shuttle. Flying costs 3x the price, yet no compensation was given. Horrible customer service. Think hard before booking with them.

The BC Ferries Swartz Bay Terminal is located near Victoria on Vancouver Island (specifically on…read morethe Saanich Peninsula, about 30 minutes north of downtown Victoria).  It forms the island end of the major ferry route connecting Vancouver Island to Tsawwassen, which is the terminal located south of Metro Vancouver.

I've taken this ferry from Victoria to Vancouver a handful of times over the years. This was the…read morefirst time I had reservations. Because of an accident, I had to change my reservation to a day earlier. We needed to get off the island ASAP and get back to the states in case my wife needed to see a doctor or be hospitalized. Customer service was good to work with. They listened to my story and helped me change my reservation a couple of times. No waiving of fees, not that I was hoping for fee waiver. They did their job and was able to make reservations on the ferry that my wife wanted. Car boarding instructions was a little unclear. I wanted to keep my wife in the car as we made our crossing. I was told that we were supposed to go up to the seating area. Later on I found out that she could've stayed in the car. It was a nice ferry ride from Victoria to Vancouver. It was very smooth compared to the Port Angeles to Victoria ferry ride where it was a little rough. Also, the BC Ferry to/from Victoria and Vancouver is scheduled for almost every hour. BC Ferries is like a well oiled machine. I most likely will take it again to make up for what our medical emergency made us miss.

This was a fun experience - I can't really speak to how it is as a source of reliable…read moretransportation, but I took this as a fun excursion from Granville Island to ride around a little. While this isn't billed as a tour, the ship's captain was kind enough to narrate the landmarks (including each owner of the the vast row of yachts docked nearby!) that we were passing as well as each of the stops and what adventures could be had there. She was really entertaining and kind, as she also helped with several lost travelers standing at one of the stations. It was a smooth ride on a sunny day and the views were absolutely gorgeous. FYI, there are no amenities on board, so no concession stand or washrooms, although the ride roundtrip is only around 40 minutes -you don't really need it to begin with.

I love these little boat rides! The rainbow colours of the boats make them so much more fun and…read morehonestly very Vancouver. Very convenient AquaBus ride from Granville Island straight over to Yaletown, spending some time walking around and hanging out there, and then coming back to Granville Island for the rest of the day. It's such a short and sweet ride, but you still get to enjoy beautiful views of False Creek along the way. Another favourite is taking it over toward Science World and making a whole afternoon out of it. You can visit Science World, walk around False Creek and then head back to Granville Island. It's also really pretty at night when all the lights and signs are reflecting on the water. After spending a long day at Granville Island, hopping on the boat and just enjoying the ride is such an easy way to end the day. And the best part is that it's cheap! For the price, it's such a fun little Vancouver experience and something I keep coming back to and always making sure to have my out of town guests join in as well!

A really nice way to get across false creek from one side to the other. The tickets are pretty…read morecheap at a few dollars each depending on where you're going - even if you don't have a particular destination, it's fun to just ride along. It's pretty hard to tell which direction the ferry is going next though unless you're very familiar with the routes, so make sure you ask the driver just in case. I find that the ones I've interacted with all ask you where you're going before letting you on, so at least I haven't taken the wrong boat yet. They have a zone system for ticketing and at first it was a bit confusing for which zone ticket was needed to go where. But they have nice maps at each stop so it wasn't too hard to decipher after awhile. The boat drivers were also pretty nice and were happy to answer questions about tickets. I took the boats during the Big Picnic event at David Lam park. There were other people on the boat but it was not crowded at all. Boats also came all the time and so we didn't have to wait much before ours came. The boat doors were left open when I rode the boats and so it was really nice to be able to take pictures and videos without obstruction from the windows or clear screens. The creek is relatively calm most of the time and the rides are short, so most people probably won't get sea sick.

With a lot of cool spots in Vancouver being just a walkable distance from the False Creek inlet,…read moretaking a day pass for these Ferries makes a lot of sense. As a tourist, you want to visit Granville island, Science museum, Maritime museum, Museum of vancouver, various parks, Davie Village, all are within a short walking distance from these Ferry stops. You can save a lot of time, energy and money with this pass. Not only will you be seeing this as a mode of transportation but also as a picturesque journey itself. Considering how short the rides are, you dont really have to plan much. You can hop on hop off as you feel like. The boats are small, so there is never really much of a waiting time for docking or embarkation. Like a city bus but on water. Must try.

We have been using Excel for transport within Vancouver and to/from Whistler for about a decade…read more We've used it for our individual family and a group as large as 24 in a private minibus. The booking process is easy, the manager Howie is responsive and easy to work with. The drivers are always on time and courteous. On our most recent trip, there was a terrible accident on highway 99 which delayed us 7 hrs! We had multiple families traveling on together in a large van, half children under the age of 8. The kids were going stir crazy and so were the parents. The person that was not frazzled at all was our driver Johan. He was with us the whole way, taking us to dinner in Squamish, driving us around town looking for a place to entertain the kids and wait for the roads to reopen. We ended up having to hang out at a Walmart for several hours. By the time we got to Whistler was about midnight, on a 5p planned arrival. Johan never stopped being courteous, kind, and friendly. I can't imagine how tired and frustrating the ordeal must have been for him, yet he never let it showed and it made the journey so much more pleasant despite the circumstances. We've never had a bad experience with Excel.

Excel provided exceptional service--they were punctual. The vehicle was clean and comfortable, they…read moreprovided everyone with bottled water. Andy our driver was very professional, friendly, and incredibly helpful. I highly recommend Excel and will definitely use them again in the future.