BC Ferries ‘busiest’ long weekend kicks off with long waits at terminals

Thursday has been a predictably busy day for BC Ferries with lots of people looking to get a head start on the August long weekend.

As of Thursday evening, there is no more availability for vehicles on sailings departing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay, nor Tsawwassen to Duke Point until Friday morning. The last sailing from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay is at 10:45 p.m.

Liza Yuzda with BC Ferries says anyone without a reservation will see a bit of a wait — and that’s likely to continue through Friday as well.

“It is busy, busy, busy. This is typically BC Ferries’ busiest long weekend of the year, and clearly, that has proven true already,” said Yuzda.

“We are expecting more than 215,000 vehicles and more than 600,000 passengers during this period.”

She says they’re also expecting heavy volume heading back to the Lower Mainland on Monday and Tuesday, adding that many weekends through the rest of August are also expected to be very busy.

If you don’t have a reservation, Yuzda recommends you check the current conditions before you head to the terminal – so you can figure out which route will work best for you.

She says travellers should expect even more busy weekends coming before the summer ends.

“You really want to look at booking a reservation if you are planning on travelling between now and the start of the school year. That is a way that you know that you’re going to get where you want to be when you want to be there,” said Yuzda.

“And also look at becoming a foot passenger: getting someone to drive you to the terminal, or parking at the terminal if you find that you can’t get a reservation to travel when you want to travel.”

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