Ferries, Buses, and Trains - A Weekend Getaway to Vancouver
A couple weeks ago I had to go to Vancouver for a quick trip to visit my family. The issue was that we had already planned a visit up-island and I didn’t want to make my family make an excursion out to Swartz Bay after driving back to Victoria. The solution that we arrived at was for them to drop me off in Nanaimo on the way home and I could take the new (well it has been operating since August 2023) Hullo ferry to downtown Vancouver and then I could take transit out to Tsawwassen to see my family before heading home the next day.
The terminal for the Hullo ferry is right next to downtown Nanaimo, adjacent to the Helijet terminal. It’s not too far from town by car, though it would be a monumental trek on foot. It is located on the waterside of a huge cargo terminal. If Nanaimo wanted to solidify this as a proper passenger terminal they should consider some sort of pedestrian overpass that would connect from Port Way near Port Drive and go over top of the cargo terminal. There is no public transit to the terminal either, though I believe that Hullo operates a shuttle from Port Mall. The Hullo terminal itself is quite nice with an outside and inside portion. Outside, you have a large food truck and washrooms along with a big branded Instagram ready sign. Inside, there is a small cafe and some seating. The boarding area is completely outside and while it was a beautiful sunny day when I was boarding, I can imagine it being less than enjoyable on a rainy or snowy day; and it is quite the walk from where they check your ticket to where you board the boat. Once you do board, you are in quite a sea of airline type seats. The lower floor is the main passenger deck with premium and business class seating upstairs. Both decks have a small canteen where you can purchase drinks and snacks, though currently no beer or wine sales. The premium seats offer a bit more room than the comfort class downstairs, and the business class seats are even larger and come with complimentary drinks and food. The upper classes get to load and disembark first.
The trip across from my seat was smooth and relaxing. I wish that they had somewhere you could go outside particularly for when you pass under the Lions Gate Bridge, but there are large windows on both decks to see outside. When you arrive in downtown Vancouver you disembark at the convention centre right next to the Harbour Air terminal which makes it easy to get anywhere downtown and to connect with transit. I have to say, I was pretty impressed with the whole operation. I have to imagine that for people living in Nanaimo, being able to be in Vancouver faster than it takes to drive to Victoria has to really reframe how you think about things. I still wish that we could have something similar operating from Victoria, but the distance will forever make it problematic. I still think an operation leaving from Oak Bay Marina could work, as it would be just that much faster. Even better it could drop off at Bridgeport instead of downtown Vancouver saving even more time and opening up more destinations (including YVR).
Since the ferry got me to Vancouver so fast (the trip takes just over an hour), I had some time to wander around. After getting a coffee and walking around downtown Vancouver for a bit, I hopped on the Skytrain and checked out Commercial Drive, as it had been many years since I had been there. I went and visited the epic vintage store Mintage and then slowly made my way back to the Skytrain to take the train to connect with the Canada Line. It was fun to be able to try out both the lines in such short order and be able to so clearly see the difference between them. I think I still prefer the Skytrain, but both are great.
I took the Canada Line to Bridgeport and then boarded the 601, my childhood escape suburbia bus route, to Tsawwassen. I made it to dinner at the Four Winds Beach House and Brewery which was very nice. The next day, after some more visiting with my family, I got to the BC Ferries terminal and took the ferry back to Swartz Bay, it was a nice voyage as the ferry was not that busy and I was able to have lots of room. It was a different experience from taking the Hullo and the location of the terminals really focuses you on the primary purpose being to move cars rather than people though. This was reinforced on my arrival when I boarded the bus to get back into town. Despite it being an express bus, it still took a long time before I could disembark as close to my house as possible.
It was still quite enjoyable to have made this little circle trip all on public transit and ferries. Have you taken the Hullo ferry before? If so, what did you think? Do you think a similar passenger service could ever survive leaving from Victoria?
