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City Guide - Vancouver - Water | ||
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Water The Port of Vancouver (web site: www.portvancouver.com) is one of the busiest in North America and, although most of the traffic is cargo, there are increasing numbers of passenger cruises to Alaska. The port contains two passenger terminals: the downtown Canada Place Terminal offers restaurants and hotels, while Ballantyne Terminal, about two kilometres (just over one mile) to the east, has fewer facilities, with food and drink concessions. Ferry services: Scheduled services from Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and the Sunshine Coast are offered by BC Ferries (tel: (250) 386 3431 or (888) 223 3779; web site: www.bcferries.com). The major routes from Vancouver Island are Victoria-Vancouver, with ferries sailing between Swartz Bay and Tsawassen (crossing time - 1 hour 35 minutes); and Nanaimo-Vancouver, with ferries arriving at either the Horseshoe Bay or Tsawassen terminals (journey time - 1 hour 35 minutes or 2 hours respectively). Transport to the city: Canada Place is a short walk from Waterfront SkyTrain station and the main shopping and hotel districts. Taxis are readily available at Ballantyne Terminal. All westbound buses on Powell and Hastings Streets (a few blocks south of the pier) lead downtown. From Tsawassen, foot passengers can book a seat on Pacific Coach Lines (tel: (604) 662 8074; web site: www.pacificcoach.com) to the main bus terminal. Public transit is available on bus 640, which leads to Scott Road SkyTrain station (journey time - 50 minutes), a half-hour journey on the SkyTrain from downtown. It is faster to transfer at Ladner Exchange onto the 601 bus for downtown destinations (journey time - one hour). From Horseshoe Bay, buses 250 (journey time - 55 minutes) and 257 (journey time - 40 minutes) lead directly downtown. |