If you’re headed to Vancouver Island for the long weekend, you might have a very long day ahead of you if you don’t have a reservation.
The busiest weekend of the year for BC Ferries is well underway, and sailings from the Lower Mainland to Vancouver Island are seeing multiple sailing waits depending on your route.
As of 6 a.m. Friday, Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay sailings were full until 4 p.m.
Tsawwassen to Duke Point was seeing a multiple sailing way, with boats full for those without a reservation until 11:30 a.m.
And if you’re headed to Swartz Bay from Tsawwassen without a reservation, as of 6 a.m. you’ll be waiting for at least four sailings to pass before your turn.
On Thursday, Liza Yuzda with BC Ferries explained that anyone without a reservation will see a bit of a wait.
“It is busy, busy, busy. This is typically BC Ferries’ busiest long weekend of the year, and clearly, that has proven true already,” said Yuzda.
“We are expecting more than 215,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 passengers during this period.”
She says they’re also expecting heavy volume heading back to the Lower Mainland on Monday and Tuesday, adding that many weekends through the rest of August are also expected to be very busy.
If you don’t have a reservation, Yuzda recommends you check the current conditions before you head to the terminal – so you can figure out which route will work best for you.
She says travellers should expect even more busy weekends coming before the summer ends.
“You really want to look at booking a reservation if you are planning on travelling between now and the start of the school year. That is a way that you know that you’re going to get where you want to be when you want to be there,” said Yuzda.