Ferries from Port Hardy (Bear Cove)

Bear Cove is where the road up Vancouver Island ends and a sixteen-hour voyage begins. Port Hardy's terminal is the southern gate of the Inside Passage — 274 nautical miles north to Prince Rupert — and the hub for the Central Coast communities.

Where the ships go

• Prince Rupert — about 17 hours 30 minutes in our timetable.
• Ocean Falls — about 11 hours 35 minutes.
• Bella Coola — about 10 hours.
• Klemtu and Shearwater — about 8 hours 25 minutes.
• Bella Bella (McLoughlin Bay) — about 5 hours 55 minutes.

12 active sailings across six routes, operated by BC Ferries.

⚠ Two different services leave from here, and the season decides which

The Inside Passage runs Port Hardy to Prince Rupert. Outside summer it calls at Bella Bella and Klemtu on the way; in summer it runs direct, and a separate Discovery Coast service covers the mid-coast ports including Bella Coola, Ocean Falls and Shearwater.

The practical effect is that the same destination may be reachable, unreachable, or reachable by a different vessel depending on the month. Confirm the operating season before anything else.

The vessel

The Inside Passage is worked by the Northern Expedition, carrying about 600 passengers and 130 vehicles, with cabins. This is an overnight voyage with a schedule, not a ferry crossing.

One sailing each

Every route from here shows a single scheduled departure in our timetable. On voyages of six to seventeen hours, the return is the whole plan.

Port Hardy

The northernmost town of any size on Vancouver Island, about five hours' drive from Nanaimo. Bear Cove is a few minutes east of the town centre, and there is limited accommodation that fills around sailing days.