Ferries from Hullo - Vancouver Ferry Terminal

Hullo's Vancouver terminal is in Coal Harbour, in the middle of downtown — Gate 1, beside the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre at 1055 Canada Place. That location is the entire argument for the service: you step off the boat already in the city, rather than at a terminal half an hour outside it.

Getting to Gate 1

• Public transport — the terminal is a 7-minute walk from Waterfront Station, where the SkyTrain, SeaBus and most downtown bus routes converge. For most travellers this is the sensible way in; there is no need for a car at either end of the crossing.
• Taxi — ask to be dropped at Jack Poole Plaza. Coming back, there are ranks along Canada Place Road.
• Parking — there is no Hullo car park on this side. The nearest public options are the 200 Burrard Parkade and 200 W Waterfront Road. If you are leaving a car for several days, it is usually cheaper to park in Nanaimo, where Hullo's own lot charges $14 for 24 hours.

The boarding area is outdoors — plan for it

Unlike the Nanaimo side, there is no terminal building here. Gate 1 is an open area with limited shelter, so in a Vancouver winter you will be standing in whatever the weather is doing. Two rules follow from that, and they are worth taking literally:

• Arrive about 20 minutes before departure, join the queue, have your ticket ready to scan.
• Gates close five minutes before departure — strictly. A missed sailing is not eligible for transfer or refund, so this is not a deadline to test.

You can still buy a ticket at the terminal up to 10 minutes before a sailing if there is space, and Hullo keeps a staffed office nearby at 1055 Canada Place, Unit 28, where you can buy in person or talk to the guest team.

If you want somewhere warm and dry to wait, the Hullo Lounge at Mahony's Tavern is in the Vancouver Convention Centre (Unit 36), open 12:00 to 18:00 daily with a menu for Hullo guests.

Sailings back to Nanaimo

Our timetable holds 29 departures from Vancouver, and the Vancouver side runs later than the Island side — there are scheduled services after 23:00 and past midnight. Those late boats are not decorative: Hullo publishes extra late-night sailings tied to events, so Canucks and BC Lions games and concerts at the arena get a return crossing that would otherwise mean an overnight in the city.

Crossing time is advertised as 70 minutes; the scheduled blocks run 75 to 80 because they include manoeuvring at both ends. Use the longer figure if you have a connection waiting in Nanaimo.

Why this is not the BC Ferries route

Vancouver has three ways to reach Vancouver Island by sea, and they leave from places that are nowhere near each other:

• Hullo, Coal Harbour — passengers only, downtown to downtown Nanaimo, no car.
• BC Ferries from Horseshoe Bay — out in West Vancouver, takes vehicles, arrives at Nanaimo's Departure Bay.
• BC Ferries from Tsawwassen — around 35 km south of the city near the US border, takes vehicles, arrives at Duke Point.

If you are bringing a car, Hullo is not an option at all. If you are on foot and your business is in central Vancouver and central Nanaimo, it removes the two bus or taxi legs that make the vehicle-ferry routes slow for pedestrians — which is exactly the gap it was built for.