Travel Guide
Travel Tricks, Trips & Tactics
Practical guides for getting where you are going, written from real routes and real trade-offs rather than tourism brochures. We are starting close to home, with every way to reach Vancouver Island.
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Cornerstone guideHow to Get to Vancouver Island
Every way across, ranked across nine categories with a live value calculator. BC Ferries, the Hullo fast ferry, floatplanes, Helijet, and regional flights compared on what a trip actually costs you in money, time, and the price of a ruined day.
Read the guide →The ways across
BC Ferries
The workhorse, and the only way to bring your car. Routes from Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay, reservations, pets, accessibility, and the honest truth about cancellations.
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Hullo Fast Ferry
Downtown Vancouver to downtown Nanaimo in about 75 minutes, foot passengers only, often very cheap. What it is really like, the cancellation record, and the dock parking to watch.
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Harbour Air
The classic floatplane: downtown to Victoria or Nanaimo in about 25 minutes, and the only network reaching Tofino and Comox. Fares, the fog season, parking, and pets.
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Seair Seaplanes
Floatplanes from the YVR south terminal to Nanaimo and the Gulf Islands. The same scenery as Harbour Air with cheaper parking, on a smaller schedule.
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Helijet
The fastest, most weather-capable option: downtown to Nanaimo in about 18 minutes or Victoria in about 35. The lounge, free return parking, and the no-animals rule.
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Regional Flights
Air Canada, WestJet, Pacific Coastal, Flair, and Air North to Victoria, Nanaimo, Comox, and Campbell River. When flying wins, and when the airport runs cost you the time.
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Where you are headed
Getting to Victoria
Ferry to Swartz Bay, Helijet and Harbour Air into the Inner Harbour, flights to YYJ, and the Black Ball Coho from Port Angeles. Which one to pick.
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Getting to Nanaimo
The central Island's full set: the Hullo fast ferry, BC Ferries to Departure Bay and Duke Point, Helijet, both floatplanes, and flights to YCD.
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Getting to Qualicum Beach & Parksville
Fly direct with Iskwew Air to Qualicum Beach Airport, or cross to Nanaimo and drive about 40 minutes north. Times, costs, and the best route.
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Getting to Campbell River
Pacific Coastal direct to YBL twice daily year-round, a new Harbour Air seaplane from July 2026, or the drive up-Island. The gateway to the Discovery Islands and fly-in lodges.
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Getting to Tofino
Harbour Air floatplane direct in summer, Pacific Coastal flights to YAZ, or the drive on Highway 4, the single road in. Why the floatplane is the disruption hedge.
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Getting to Comox
Direct flights to YQQ from Vancouver and beyond, a Harbour Air floatplane, or ferry and drive. The gateway to Mount Washington and Strathcona Park.
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Heading the other way
Planning a trip to the Island?
These guides cover the how. Bring the why to a free conversation and we will help you build the whole trip, points and all.