Ferries from Quadra Island (Quathiaski Cove)

Quathiaski Cove is Quadra Island's front door, ten minutes from Vancouver Island, and its parking arrangement says something about the island: there is none at the terminal, but the Quadra Island Harbour Authority sells spaces nearby.

The crossing

Quathiaski Cove to Campbell River takes about 10 minutes, with 29 sailings and 58 across the terminal in both directions. Operated by BC Ferries.

⚠ Quadra has two ferry terminals and they do not connect to each other

This one faces Vancouver Island. Heriot Bay, on the far side of the island, faces Cortes and runs a much thinner service — 14 sailings against this terminal's fifty-eight.

Crossing Quadra between them takes about twenty minutes by road. Anyone routing through to Cortes should time the drive against the Heriot Bay departure, not against this one.

Parking

Limited paid parking near the terminal through the Quadra Island Harbour Authority. It is not large and it is not a long-stay solution.

The island

Quadra is the largest of the Discovery Islands and the most populated, with a road network, shops at Quathiaski Cove and Heriot Bay, and the Nuyumbalees Cultural Centre at Cape Mudge — home to a repatriated collection of potlatch regalia seized under the potlatch ban.

Discovery Passage

The water this ferry crosses is a tidal channel with serious current, and the Seymour Narrows a few kilometres north were among the most feared waters on the coast until Ripple Rock was blasted in 1958. The crossing itself is short and sheltered; the passage it sits in is not.

Season

Year round with a dense, commuter-shaped timetable. Summer adds visitors without adding sailings.