Anyone travelling on BC Ferries between Horseshoe Bay and Nanaimo should be aware that changes are coming.
Starting on Oct. 15, all customers travelling by vehicle, including motorcycles, from Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) to Nanaimo (Departure Bay) will be required to book and pay before they arrive at the terminal.
This only applies to travel from Vancouver to Nanaimo from the Horseshoe Bay ferry terminal.
According to BC Ferries, the change is necessary due to the multi-year construction project to upgrade the terminal will cut 25 per cent of the vehicle staging space.
“We understand this is a big change, and for a terminal that already has limited space, it may feel frustrating at first,” Melanie Lucia, the ferry service’s vice president of customer experience, said in a statement.
“No one wants to be turned away when they’ve made the trip to the terminal. By requiring advance bookings, we’re giving customers more certainty and a better chance of securing their spot, especially as space becomes even tighter during construction. It also helps our crews manage the terminal more smoothly and safely, so they can focus on getting everyone where they need to go.”
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As part of the construction project, BC Ferries passengers with standard under-height vehicles can now be notified via email if a space opens up on a sailing.
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The alert will include a link to the BC Ferries website, where customers can then book the sailing on a first-come, first-served basis.
This is the same system that launched on the Powell River-Comox route on Oct. 8 and it will expand to Horseshoe Bay routes to Langdale and Departure Bay on Oct. 15.
BC Ferries says it hopes to expand this tool to all routes across the system.
The Horseshoe Bay terminal opened in 1960 and served 7.1 million passengers and three million vehicles in 2024 alone.
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