Skip to content

UPDATED: One-sailing wait for BC Ferries passengers heading to Tsawwassen terminal on Boxing Day

Sailings every hour between Tsawwassen and Swartz Bay
19938829_web1_191216-PNR-Swartz-Bay-Ferry-Terminal-2
BC Ferries offers sailings between Tsawassen and Swartz Bay every hour until 9 p.m. on Boxing Day. (Nina Grossman/News Staff)

Unless you have eight reindeer to fly you out of Vancouver Island, you might want to make a ferry reservation for your trip home.

Christmas Day saw a nearly empty Swartz Bay ferry terminal, but Boxing Day sailings are filling up faster as travellers make their way to the Lower Mainland.

RELATED: Santa sightings haven’t delayed BC Ferries Christmas Day sailings

There is a one-sailing wait from Swartz Bay to Tsawwassen with the 4 p.m. sailing 100 per cent full. The 5 p.m. is almost 75 per cent full and the 6 p.m. is 60 per cent full.

The 4:25 p.m. sailing from Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour is almost half-full but the following sailings have plenty of room.

There isn’t much more space available on ferries taking passengers towards Greater Victoria. The 4 p.m .sailing is 100 per cent full and the 5 and 6 p.m sailings are 66 and 50 per cent full, respectively.

The 9 a.m. sailing to Tsawwassen left at about 88 per cent full Thursday morning. The 12 p.m. sailing was 100 per cent full, as were the 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. sailings.

The 9 a.m. sailing from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay left at around 65 per cent full. The 12 p.m. sailing to Swartz Bay was 72 per cent full and the 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. sailings are more than 50 per cent full by noon.

Boxing Day comes with extra sailings between Swartz Bay and Tsawwassen, with sailings every hour from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Reservations can be made online at bcferries.com.

Currently, traffic in Greater Victoria is fairly clear, with a 32- minute driving commute from downtown to the Swartz Bay ferry terminal and a 20-minute commute between downtown Victoria and Langford.

READ ALSO: Boxing Day hockey tourney returns to Oak Bay



nina.grossman@blackpress.ca

Follow us on Instagram Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.