Issued on: Tuesday, August 30, 2022 at 4:45 pm

Busy weekend expected - Southern Gulf Islands - Thursday, September 1 to Monday, September 5

This will be a busy weekend for travel starting Thursday, September 1 through Monday, September 5. We strongly recommend that you book in advance if travelling between Vancouver (Tsawwassen) and the Southern Gulf Islands, as reservations on direct sailings are fully reservable and may sell out during peak travel periods. Thru fare travel with a connection at Victoria (Swartz Bay) continues to be an option.

We expect a mix of high temperatures and rain throughout the weekend. If you plan to travel with a pet, bring plenty of water for you, your pet, and any other travel companions. You can find Gulf Island specific suggestions on our travel tips page.

Sailings between Tsawwassen and the Southern Gulf Islands:
We expect sailings between Vancouver (Tsawwassen) and the Southern Gulf Islands to be especially busy on Thursday evening and all day Friday. We highly recommend customers travelling on this route to book in advance, as sailings are fully reservable, and there is very limited drive-up space if a sailing is showing as sold out online. Customers may consider travelling on Saturday or Sunday if reservations on Thursday and Friday are sold out.

Thru fare sailings between Tsawwassen and the Southern Gulf Islands:
Travelling thru fare provides customers more options to travel between Vancouver (Tsawwassen) and the Southern Gulf Islands for the same cost as the direct route should direct sailings be sold out. For travel certainty, we recommend reserving the Vancouver (Tsawwassen) – Victoria (Swartz Bay) route by selecting the ‘Reservation Only’ option.

Please note, Saver and Prepaid reservations are not valid for thru fare and connections are not guaranteed. More information on thru fare travel can be found here.

Non-bookable Northern and Southern Gulf Islands Routes:
Traffic volumes are expected to be high on many of our Vancouver Island to Gulf Islands routes this weekend. Should we experience a large build up of vehicle traffic, sailings between Vancouver Island and the Northern and Southern Gulf Islands (excluding sailings to and from Galiano, Pender, Saturna, Mayne Islands and Long Harbour on Salt Spring Island) may begin operating in shuttle mode to alleviate high traffic volumes. When operating in shuttle mode, after the vessel docks and unloads, customers waiting at the terminal will board straight away. You can find more information on shuttle mode can be found on our Shuttle Sailings page.