BC Ferries offering midnight sailings during Thanksgiving weekend

BC Ferries offering midnight sailings during Thanksgiving weekend
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There will be 90 sailings added over the long weekend. File photo.

BC Ferries will be offering midnight sailings along the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route on Friday and Monday to accommodate the high volume of travellers expected over the Thanksgiving weekend.

Between Oct. 5 and Oct. 10, BC Ferries will provide 82 sailings on the Tsawwassen-Swartz Bay route. The sailings include 6 a.m. departures on Oct 6,7,9 and 10 from both terminals. The midnight departures will be available on Oct. 6 and Oct. 9 at both terminals.

BC Ferries has also added extra sailings to the Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay route at peak times. There will also be an extra round trip on the Horseshoe Bay -Langdale route on Oct. 6 and Oct. 9 in the evenings.

There will be a total of 90 extra sailings. Last year, there were 70 sailings over the long weekend, up from 55 in 2014.

According to BC Ferries, the most popular travel times are expected to be on Thursday and Friday afternoons, as well as Saturday mornings, for people going from the Tsawwassen and Horseshoe Bay terminals to Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast.

The busiest day of the long weekend is set to be Monday with people returning from the Departure Bay, Swartz Bay and Langdale terminals. BC Ferries says Duke Point terminal tends to be less congested than Departure Bay, so customers going from Nanaimo to Vancouver are advised to consider travelling through the Duke Point terminal.

There will also be special pricing on more than 100 early morning and late evening sailings on routes between Vancouver and Vancouver Island, as well as Vancouver and the Sunshine Coast. Prices start from $39 for one standard passenger vehicle and driver on select sailings on the Tsawwassen–Swartz Bay, Tsawwassen – Duke Point and Horseshoe Bay-Departure Bay routes, and $39 for a return trip between Horseshoe Bay – Langdale.

To see which sailings have the special pricing available, go to the Thanksgiving Savings page on the BC Ferries website.

For the Southern Gulf Islands (Salt Spring, Pender, Mayne, Galiano and Saturna Islands), the holiday Monday schedule will be in effect after 2 p.m. on Oct. 9. Passengers going from Tsawwassen to the Southern Gulf Islands have the option of sailing via the Swartz Bay terminal.

For all sailing times, visit the Schedules page on the BC Ferries website. 

Alexa HuffmanAlexa Huffman

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