Travel advisory: Adverse Weather Service Disruptions - December 25 View ×

 

Updated: Tuesday, December 24, 2024

Due to forecasted high winds for the Strait of Georgia and North Vancouver Island, service on multiple routes may be affected on Wednesday, December 25, 2024.

The safety of our passengers and crew is of primary importance to us. We are continuing to monitor this weather system and will share information as it becomes available.

BC Ferries’ Customer Service Centre hours for the holiday:

  • December 24 – 7:00 am to 7:00 pm
  • December 25 – 12:00 pm to 4:00 pm
  • December 31 – 7:00 am to 7:00 pm

Service Notices will continue to be posted with regular updates provided as needed. Travellers can find our Service Notices posted here.

If you have a booking and your sailing is cancelled due to weather, we will automatically refund your fees and/or fares. Click here for more information about bookings on cancelled sailings. Customers can make changes to their existing booking through bcferries.com or the app.

Check Current Conditions for up-to-date sailing and departure information. For further information regarding the weather warnings in place, please visit Environment Canada.

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Route

Victoria (Swartz Bay) to Vancouver (Tsawwassen)

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A new current conditions experience   View new current conditions


We’re testing a new current conditions experience on select routes. This experience is currently available on bcferries.com and will be included on the mobile app at a later date.
  • We heard your feedback and we want to help you make more informed travel decisions
  • We're trialing the new design on a few slect routes to improve usability, design and content
  • Your feedback will be used to further improve BC Ferries' services and design. Please provide your feedback via the green feedback tab. From those who complete the feedback survey, we will draw three winners at random to receive a round-trip vehicle & passenger voucher*.

*For use on our Major & Minor routes only. Northern & Central Coast excluded.

 

Next sailing with vehicle space
The terminal ticket booth is now ticketing the next sailing with available deck space. Estimated space doesn't include vehicles outside the terminal waiting to buy a ticket. Tickets for next day sailings are not available for purchase at the terminal until the day of departure.
Departure

7:00 am

Sailing duration: 1h 35m Spirit of Vancouver Island
40% Details

Last updated: 3:20 AM Refresh details

Last updated:  3:20 am Refresh details

Departures Estimated vehicle space available

7:00 am
Spirit of Vancouver Island

7:00 am Spirit of Vancouver Island

Estimated vehicle space available

40%   Details

9:00 am
Spirit of British Columbia

9:00 am Spirit of British Columbia

Estimated vehicle space available

28%   Details

7:00 pm
Spirit of Vancouver Island

7:00 pm Spirit of Vancouver Island

Estimated vehicle space available

71%   Details

9:00 pm
Spirit of British Columbia

9:00 pm Spirit of British Columbia

Estimated vehicle space available

74%   Details

6:00 am  (Tomorrow)
Coastal Celebration

6:00 am  (Tomorrow)
Coastal Celebration

Estimated vehicle space available

50%    Details

7:00 am  (Tomorrow)
Spirit of Vancouver Island

7:00 am  (Tomorrow)
Spirit of Vancouver Island

Estimated vehicle space available

32%    Details

8:00 am  (Tomorrow)
Coastal Inspiration

8:00 am  (Tomorrow)
Coastal Inspiration

Estimated vehicle space available

28%    Details

Webcams

Last updated:  3:20 AM Refresh details

Traffic at the terminal

Traffic to Vancouver (Tsawwassen)

Victoria (Swartz Bay)

# 11300 Patricia Bay Hwy, Sidney, V8L 5J4

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Route fares

Fare calculator

Plan your trip with ease. Add passenger and vehicle details to calculate your fare for this route.

Or, download our complete PDF fare guide.

Parking:  45% Available

45% long term parking available

Parking at Swartz Bay terminal is independently operated and managed by Robbins Parking.

Capacity: 716 spaces
Short term: 172
Long term: 544

Payment options: HONK App and the PayByPhone App (licence plate number required), Visa, Mastercard and American Express.

Parking rates:

Meters required exact change or credit card payment.


Short term Licence Plate Number is required to purchase parking.

  • $1.00 for 30 minutes, maximum 2 hours
  • $23.50 for each 24 hour period
  • Multiple day parking allowed

Long term Licence Plate Number is required to purchase parking. Take your ticket with you.

  • $7.50 for 6 hours
  • $15.00 for each 24 hours
  • $7.50 for each additional 12 hour period after the first 24 hours.

Note:

  • Onsite parking meters
    • If paying by credit card, enter your mobile phone number to receive a text notifying you that your parking is about to expire. You can then follow the text instructions to extend your parking up to 24 hours.
  • Cash acceptance
    • Meters accept coins only—no change given.
    • One meter accepts bills/coins and provides change (yellow colour meter) located in long term lot. For long term parking only.

Towing:

Peninsula Towing: 250-655-6911

Learn more about current conditions

What is current conditions?

Current Conditions is a real-time planning tool that helps customers make informed travel decisions. Current Conditions provides information about sailing status, arrival times, departure times and deck space availability by sailing. Current Conditions also displays live web cams at terminals and parking capacity information.

Why do some routes have Current Conditions pages and others do not?

Current Conditions is available at terminals with Traffic Towers. We are looking into adding additional routes where we can install cameras for live traffic tracking.

How do we calculate Estimated Deck Space Available?

Estimated Deck Space Available is the approximate percentage of vehicle deck space that remains available for sale on a particular sailing. It is calculated after counting the number of reservations and the number of drive-up customers already checked in at the terminal. This percentage changes as more vehicles are processed through the ticket booth.

Around 10–20% of customers do not check-in for their bookings. After the booking check-in window closes, which is around 30* minutes before departure, we free up these spaces for drive-up customers.

*Some exceptions apply find and review the check-in and cut-off times at your departure terminal.

What does Now Ticketing mean?

The Now Ticketing section of Current Conditions informs customers of the sailing currently being sold at the ticket booth. It indicates for those customers without a reservation in the pre-ticketing area with the sailing they can expect to travel on. As sailings become full during the day, Now Ticketing displays the next sailing with available deck space for non-reserved traffic.

Are commercial vehicles calculated as part of Estimated Deck Space Available?

Yes. We calculate all types of vehicle traffic, including commercial vehicles and buses, as part of Mixed Vehicle Deck Space Available calculations. Foot passengers are not calculated as they do not take up vehicle deck space.

Why do the cameras show an empty lot, but Estimated Deck Space Available indicates the sailing is full?

Estimated Deck Space Available includes advanced vehicle bookings. In most cases, these customers can check-in up to 30 minutes* before their sailing. If customers have a booking but haven’t yet arrived, the terminal lot may appear empty.

*Some exceptions apply find and review the check-in and cut-off times at your departure terminal.

How often is Current Conditions updated?

Current Conditions retrieves live data from all terminals every five minutes.

Why does Current Conditions not show a sailing as delayed until after it departs?

There is currently no way for a terminal to update the anticipated departure time without affecting the scheduled sailing time online.

What is displayed when a sailing is cancelled or late departing?

When a sailing is delayed or cancelled, the sailing will display a message that indicates the reason. This will appear on the Departures/Arrivals page under Status.

Why does Estimated Deck Space Available only show departures for today?

Estimated Deck Space Available is built on a 24-hour clock and is designed to be a near-term planning tool that displays real-time conditions at the terminal. We have recently made updates to Deck Space Available that now show the day’s sailings as well as the first three sailings of the next day.

Sailing status by route

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City Terminal

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