North America : Canada : British Columbia : Vancouver Island

Vancouver Island

Table of Contents:
Regions / Cities / Other destinations / Culture and History / Travel to Vancouver Island, visa requirements By Water By Air / Get around / Vancouver Island attractions and sightseeing / City tours / Get out

More from British Columbia:
Cariboo-Chilcotin, Dawson Creek, Kootenays, Lower Mainland, North Coast (British Columbia), Okanagan-Similkameen, Peace River, Thompson-Shuswap, Vancouver Island, Whistler

More from Canada:
Atlantic Provinces, British Columbia, North (Canada), Ontario, Prairies (Canada), Quebec, Rocky Mountains (Canada)

More from North America:
Canada, Caribbean, Cascade Mountains, Central America, Great Lakes, Greenland, Mexico, Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, United States of America, Waterton Glacier International Peace Park

Vancouver Island is part of British Columbia, Canada. As well as the island itself, it is also a region which includes the Gulf Islands in the Strait of Georgia. It is often referred to by the locals as simply 'The Island'. Vancouver Island is the largest island off the west coast of North America at about 450km long and up to about 90km wide. It has a population of over 700,000 people, with a little less than half of those living in the Greater Victoria area.

The development on the island primarily follows the north-south highway that goes along the east coast of the island from Victoria to Port Hardy.

Regions

Vancouver Island Proper - the subject of the current guide.
Southern Gulf Islands - Group of islands between Victoria and Nanaimo in the Strait Of Georgia.
Northern Gulf Islands - Group of islands near Campbell River

Cities

Victoria - The capital city of British Columbia that markets itself as a piece of England.
Nanaimo - The second largest city, and largest port on Vancouver island.
Port Alberni - Developed as a major forest industry town and a service town for the fishing industry, today it is a popular salmon fishing destination.
Tofino - Ecotourism center on the beautiful (if wet) west coast of the island. The main attraction is Long Beach which is part of Pacific Rim National Park.
Courtenay/Comox - A pair of nice older towns.
Campbell River - A salmon fishing destination.
Cowichan Bay - A pretty little sea-side village.
Port Hardy - Logging town on the North tip of the island, gateway to Cape Scott Provincial Park.
Ucluelet - Small town on the west coast of Vancouver Island, service center for the fishing industry.
Duncan - Agricultural town between Victoria and Nanaimo, home of the world's largest hockey stick.
Saanich - A major suburb of Victoria, and a significant agricultural center.
Telegraph Cove - Voted one of the ten best "towns" in Canada to visit by travel writers (as published in Harrowsmith Magazine.

Other destinations

Oceanside Region (Parksville, Qualicum Beach, Errington, Coombs and area)

Strathcona Provincial Park

Zeballos - a small village (pop.~235) on the northwest coast

Sooke - a harbourside town located a 45 minute drive west of Victoria

Culture and History

Travel to Vancouver Island, visa requirements

By Water

The most common way to get to Vancouver Island is by BC Ferries. There is regular ferry service from Tsawwassen (near Vancouver) to Swartz Bay (Near Victoria), Tsawwassen to Duke Point (near Nanaimo) and Horseshoe Bay (Near Vancouver) to Departure Bay (in Nanaimo). These ferries generally run about every two hours with more frequent service on some of the routes in the summer.

There is a ferry service that runs from Powell River to Comox, and Port Hardy to Prince Rupert.

By Air

The Victoria airport has flights from various locations in Canada. There are also flights from Vancouver to many of the towns and cities on the island. Some of these flights may be by float plane.

Now you can fly directly into the heart of Vancouver Island from Calgary on Westjet. http://www.westjet.ca

Get around

The easiest way to travel around Vancouver island is to drive.

People on Vancouver Island are generaly friendly and as such hitch-hiking is easy. The only exception to this is heading out of Victoria, where you can expect a long wait.

There is coach bus service to most of the major cities on the island, but it is generally a patchwork, and travelling around by bus often involves inconvenient waits to catch connecting buses.

VIA also operates daily train service from Victoria to Courtenay on the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, with stops at most of the towns in between. The service provides an alternative to the coach bus service. Unlike the coach buses, once you are on the train, there is no long layover or transfer required at Nanaimo. Monday-Saturday; the train leaves Victoria at 8:00 in the morning and gets to Courtenay 4 and a half hours later. It leaves Courtenay at 1:00 in the afternoon getting back to Victoria in the early evening. On Sunday the train leaves Victoria at noon and runs 4 hours later than the weekday schedule.