Salt Spring Island

Unlike most island destinations, Salt Spring is not served by a single ferry. Its geography splits the island's traffic across three separate BC Ferries routes, each landing at a different harbour and connecting to a different departure point. Getting this choice right saves you hours of driving and, in summer, a stressful wait in a vehicle line-up.

The quick logic is this: if you are coming from Victoria or southern Vancouver Island, use Fulford Harbour (via Swartz Bay). If you are driving down or up mid-Vancouver Island — Nanaimo, Duncan, Chemainus — the shortest hop is Vesuvius Bay (via Crofton). And if you are travelling from Vancouver or the Lower Mainland, you sail directly across the Strait of Georgia to Long Harbour (via Tsawwassen). All three terminals are linked to Ganges, the island's main village, by public transit — roughly a 15-minute bus ride from each.

This is the most-used gateway for day-trippers and anyone flying into Victoria International Airport, which sits just minutes from the Swartz Bay terminal. The crossing to Fulford Harbour takes about 35 minutes aboard the Skeena Queen, and Fulford is a pretty, walkable little village at the island's south end with cafés and a pub right by the dock.

Sailings run frequently — typically at least seven a day, rising to around nine in peak summer when BC Ferries adds extra departures (in recent seasons the first Fulford sailing has moved to 6:00 a.m. with the last Swartz Bay departure as late as 10:00 p.m.). This route is non-bookable: there are no reservations, and boarding is strictly first-come, first-served by order of arrival at the terminal. Check-in closes just three minutes before the scheduled sailing for both foot passengers and vehicles, but in practice you'll want to arrive well ahead on a summer weekend.

See the full timetable for the Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour sailing schedule, and for the return leg check the Fulford Harbour to Swartz Bay departures before you head home.

If your journey starts in Nanaimo, Duncan or the Cowichan Valley, the Crofton–Vesuvius crossing is the fastest way over — roughly 20 to 25 minutes across Stuart Channel. Vesuvius Bay sits on the island's quiet northwest shore, near Vesuvius village and a short drive from St. Mary Lake and the Vesuvius Bay beach.

This is the island's workhorse commuter run, with more than ten sailings a day year-round, generally operating from early morning (around 6:00 a.m.) until roughly 9:30 p.m. Like the Fulford route, it is non-reservable and first-come, first-served, so plan ahead on long weekends and holidays when the small ferry can fill quickly.

2026 note: BC Ferries has flagged a Lay-by Berth and Trestle Life Extension Project at the Crofton terminal running from May 2026 into summer 2027. Infrastructure work of this kind can occasionally shift individual sailings, so if you're travelling this route in 2026 it's worth checking current conditions on the day.

Coming from Vancouver, you skip Vancouver Island altogether and sail straight across the Strait of Georgia from Tsawwassen to Long Harbour, on Salt Spring's east side. This is the only Salt Spring route where the ferry crosses open water from the mainland, and it's also the least frequent — usually two sailings a day in the off-season (fall, winter, spring), with an extra one often added in summer.

Sailing times vary a lot depending on the route the vessel takes. A direct crossing runs around 1 hour 30 minutes, while sailings that call at other Southern Gulf Islands — Galiano, Mayne, Pender and Saturna — can stretch to three hours or more. Read the schedule carefully so you know whether your boat is direct or a multi-island milk run.

Crucially, this is the only reservable route to the Southern Gulf Islands. Reservations from Tsawwassen are free of charge and, because sailings are so limited, they are strongly recommended — especially on summer weekends when the boat fills fast. Book online or by phone; with a reservation, check-in opens 60 minutes before departure and closes 30 minutes prior for both walk-ons and vehicles.

If you're mainland-based but the Long Harbour sailing times don't suit you, there's a clever workaround: the thru-fare. You sail Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay (about 1 hour 35 minutes), then connect onward Swartz Bay to Fulford Harbour on a single combined ticket that costs less than buying the two crossings separately. One catch worth knowing: BC Ferries won't sell a thru-fare on the final couple of Tsawwassen sailings of the day, in case a delay would cause you to miss the last Fulford connection.

Whichever route you choose, consider leaving the car behind. All three Salt Spring crossings serve foot passengers and cyclists as effectively as vehicles, and walking on has real advantages: no reservation anxiety on the non-bookable routes, a much lower fare, and no idling in a vehicle line-up.

BC Ferries prices each crossing by passenger and by vehicle, and fares differ between the short inter-island runs (Fulford, Vesuvius) and the longer mainland Long Harbour crossing. Rather than quote figures that shift with each fare revision, use the official fare calculator or the current PDF fare guide for your exact route and travel date. For 2026, note that a 5% fuel surcharge is applied to net fares at the time of payment.

Frequent travellers can save with an Experience Card, a reloadable prepaid card that unlocks discounted fares. For 2026 it must be pre-loaded with a minimum of $100 to qualify for vehicle discounts — worthwhile if you'll cross several times, less so for a single day trip. Children travel free or reduced depending on age, and foot-passenger fares are much cheaper than bringing a car.

You genuinely don't need a vehicle here. BC Transit's Salt Spring Island service runs six routes and connects all three ferry terminals — Fulford, Vesuvius and Long Harbour — to Ganges Village every day of the year, a ride of roughly 15 minutes. Buses carry up to two bicycles on front-mounted racks and use lift-equipped minibuses for wheelchairs and scooters. In rural stretches without marked stops, a friendly wave will flag the bus down.

For flexible sightseeing between April and late September, the seasonal Hop On Hop Off shuttle runs Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays with several daily departures (typically 10 a.m., 11 a.m. and noon) from the Visitor Information Centre at 121 Lower Ganges Road — the same spot where the transit bus drops you. After hours, Silver Shadow Taxi is the island's sole taxi service, and cycling, e-bike and scooter rentals round out the options. Salt Spring is also a famously easy place to hitchhike.

Most visitors gravitate to Ganges, the island's lively waterfront hub of galleries, cafés and independent shops, some housed in century-old buildings. The headline event is the celebrated Salt Spring Saturday Market in Centennial Park, running April through October, Saturdays from about 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. With over 100 vendors and a strict "make it, bake it or grow it" rule, it's one of Canada's most authentic artisan markets — pottery, soaps, produce, cheeses and baked goods, all locally made. A smaller Tuesday farmers' market also sets up in Centennial Park in season.

Beyond the village, follow the Artisan Trail, a roughly 28 km loop linking Salt Spring Island Cheese, Sacred Mountain Lavender Farm, Salt Spring Brewing Co. and Garry Oaks Estate Winery. Nature lovers should head to Ruckle Provincial Park on the southwest coast — old-growth forest and rocky shoreline where seals, eagles and even orcas appear offshore — or hike Mount Maxwell (about 5.5 km) for sweeping Gulf Islands panoramas.