A weekend trip to Saltspring Island

At the end of last summer we took a short trip to Saltspring with friends. We had a bit of difficulty figuring out which ferry to take to get there, and I thought I would clarify things here in case anyone has a similar problem.

There are two routes on BC Ferries that can get you to Saltspring. We assumed that since we were in Vancouver, it would be best to get the ferry from Tsawwassen to Long Harbour. However this route has very infrequent sailings and stops at a few other Gulf Islands along the way. According to the schedule, it would take 3 hours and stop at 3 other islands along the way. Plus on the weekend it only left at 6:15am and 3:30pm. Yikes!

We realized that it would be faster to take the ferry to Victoria, which leaves every hour, and then transfer onto the ferry to Saltspring's Fulford Harbour. The trip would take the same amount of time, but at least there were many more sailings so that we could arrive at a reasonable time.

Here is the map that shows the different routes.

If the Long Harbour times happen to be more convenient for the traveller, then perhaps the Long Harbour route would be a good option. However it also depends on where your destination on Saltspring Island is.

If you don't even want to worry about these kind of details, try checking out the Salt Spring booked vacations with Gulf Escapes. The tour company will book all of your accomodation, a rental car and will give you suggested driving itineraries. Click Gulf Islands BC to go to their home page.

Very convenient!