Nanaimo

Nanaimo [1] is the central hub city of Vancouver Island in BC, Canada. It is the second largest city on the Island and has the second biggest harbour. In many ways it is the smaller cousin of Victoria. Like much of Vancouver Island it has moved from being primarily an industrial town to a tourist city that attracts a large number of retirees from the rest of Canada.

Travel to Nanaimo, visa requirements

Most travellers to Nanaimo will arrive from Vancouver. BC Ferries operates car ferries to Nanaimo from Tsawwassen (South of Vancouver) to Duke Point in Nanaimo, and from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay. These ferries run about every 2 hours. The ferry ride is approximately 1 hour 35 minutes long. It costs about $35 for a car and $10 per person (more in peak season, less in low season) each way for the ferry. Reservations are never required, but recommended for vehicles during peak travel times. There is a $17 charge for reservations.

The Departure Bay ferry terminal is served by Nanaimo Regional Transit to Nanaimo. Greyhound (Phone: 1-800-661-8747) operates a coach service from Vancouver that goes on the Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay Ferry. The cost is $22 plus ferry fare and is timed to meet every ferry departure.

HarbourLynx Express (Phone: 1-866-206-5969)operates a fast ferry passenger only service from downtown Vancouver to Downtown Nanaimo. This sails 3 times a day and costs $25 each way. Please note, the service is currently not operating while the company attempts to secure financing for engine work. It has not been operational for over a year.

Baxter Aviation and Harbour Air operate float plane service from downtown Vancouver into Downtown Nanaimo. Baxter Aviation flys the De Havilland Beaver while Harbour Air operates the De Havilland Otter. Both of these service operate about hourly from about 7:00am to 6:00pm. The cost is about $55. Baxter Air is currently being bought and ownership is possibly making changes. These are small planes heavily used by business travellers so reservations are recommended.

Air Canada Jazz operates air service from the Vancouver airport to the Nanaimo airport. The cost to add this onto a Air Canada flight into Vancouver is often minimal. The Nanaimo airport is quite a ways out of Nanaimo.

Travellers may also come to Nanaimo from Victoria. It is about a 2 hour drive from Victoria. Vancouver Island Coach Lines operates a coach service from Downtown Victoria to Downtown Nanaimo.

VIA operates a daily passenger service from Victoria to Courtenay with a stop in Nanaimo the cost for Victoria to Nanaimo is $23.

Get around

There is a transit system in Nanaimo, but it is not particularly convenient for getting around much of the city. If you plan on using it, make sure you know the schedule otherwise you can spend a long time waiting at a bus stop.

If arranged ahead of time, cars can be rented at at the downtown harbour, Departure Bay ferry terminal or the Nanaimo airport.

Nanaimo attractions and sightseeing

• Harbour Living.ca - Nanaimo's Premiere Events Resource. Find out everything that's happening in and around Nanaimo at http://www.harbourliving.ca
• Bathtub Racing - An annual race of bathtubs that have been converted into boats and race through the harbour of Nanaimo. http://www.bathtub.island.net/
• Swy-a-lana Lagoon Park Swy-a-lana is a saltwater lagoon that makes use of the tide's natural ebb and flow, creating a home for marine life. An arched foot bridge crosses the lagoon, leading to Maffeo Sutton Park, where you'll find basketball courts, a skateboard park, a sandlot playground, a fishing pier, picnic tables, benches and grass fields. Both Swy-a-lana and Maffee Sutton Parks offer commanding views of the waterfront, Gulf Islands, and coastal mountains.
• Nanaimo seawall -- a pedestrian walkway that winds along the waterfront from Cameron Island to the Nanaimo Yacht Club. Visitors especially enjoy the section of the seawall near the Bastion, where craft shops and restaurants dot the path.
• The Bastion -- the oldest free-standing Hudson's Bay Company fort in North Amercia. The Bastion is operated by the Nanaimo Museum. By donation ($2 recommended).[2]
• Pioneer Plaza -- at the foot of Bastion Street, you'll find markers for a self-guided walking tour of the downtown core.
• Nanaimo Museum -- Nanaimo District Museum, situated on the waterfront in the heart of downtown, brings history to life with its fascinating depictions of early coastal living on Vancouver Island, from European, Chinese and First Nations' perspectives. Visitors can explore the coal mining exhibit, learn about native life through personal reflections, hands-on exhibits and audio-visual presentations. Discover what's made Nanaimo tick in the post-coal mining era. The newly renovated upper gallery will have exhibits about our harbour, community life, making a living and the city's Chinese community.

The Museum is located in Piper's Park, which is also home to a miner's cottage, a restored 1890s locomotive, reproductions of native carvings in stone and more. The Museum’s feature exhibits change three times a year and exhibit everything from vintage undergarments to shellfish to the history of radio in Canada. http://www.nanaimomuseum.ca/

City tours

• Bungy Jumping at the Bungy Zone. (About 10km south of town)Summer Hours M-F 11:30am-6:00pm, Sa-Su 11:30am-7:00pm. North America's first and many say best permanent legal bungy jumping site. $60-$100.

• Camping/Hiking on Newcastle Island Newcastle Island Provincial Marine Park offers spectacular trails through beautiful forests and along its wild coastline. Only a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown. See Wikipedia: Newcastle Island

• Scuba Diving: Nanaimo has world famous cold water scuba diving. http://www.sosscuba.ca/

Shopping, Nanaimo souvenirs

Nanaimo is the largest city that can be easily accessed by most of Vancouver Island. As leaving the Island to do shopping is expensive and time consuming, Nanaimo has become the shopping center for Vancouver Island. According to a 1990 Time Magazine article, it has more square meters of retail space per capita than any other city in North America. Much of this shopping is in the large number of malls and big box retailers on the outskirts of the City. However, most of the interesting shops are in the downtown core. Here you will find...

Good restaurants and cheap meals

• Gina's Restaurant, 47 Skinner Street (Phone: 250-753-5411) is a Mexican restaurant in a bright pink building on the hill in downtown Nanaimo. Excellent food $10-15 for an entree.

• A number of good inexpensive Vietnamese restaurants are in Nanaimo. And a fine Vietnamese sandwich shop is a block away from Malaspina College.

• Acme is a more modern restaurant lots of fun and awesome food!

Nanaimo nightlife, bars, clubs and pubs.

The Cambie is a rubbish bar. There is many friends to be made and is also a hostel. They have a variety of mediocre bands and dj's playing everyday of the week. The Old City Station has excellent drinks menu as well as live folk music on weekends.

Hotels, youth hostels, lodging

• Coast Bastion Hotel a nice hotel in the heart of downtown Nanaimo.

• Bev and Sandy's Place a two-room B&B offering personal service. http://members.shaw.ca/sc2/

• Painted Turtle Guesthouse, 121 Bastion Street, +1 250 753-4432, toll free +1 866 309-4432, [3]. Beds in this hostel start at $20 per night.

Get out

Nanaimo is a hub city for the island, as such it provides good access to a number of locations on the island.

It is about a 3 hour drive to Tofino and Long Beach Unit of Pacific Rim National Park.

North of Nanaimo is Campbell River, Telegraph Cove and Port Hardy.

Coombs offers some wonderful rustic and exotic shopping and this is where you find the goats on the roof. It's a favorite spot for locals and an excellent stop for tourists. It's about a 30 minute drive from Nanaimo.

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