The easiest way from Departure Bay Ferry Terminal to downtown Nanaimo is the bus. Several Nanaimo Regional Transit routes serve the terminal, including the Route 25 Ferry Shuttle and Route 50, which runs to downtown. By road the distance is about 4 km and 10 minutes.
Buses from the terminal
Four routes stop at Departure Bay: Route 20 to Hammond Bay, Route 25 the Ferry Shuttle, Route 50 Downtown/Woodgrove and Route 91 Intercity. For a trip into the city centre, Route 25 and Route 50 are the ones to look at first. Transfers from the Downtown Transit Exchange to the terminal run on Routes 20, 20A and 25, so the same exchange works for the return trip.
Timetables and fares change, so open the BC Transit page for Nanaimo and use the trip planner with your arrival time. The Ferry Shuttle is built around sailings, which makes it a sensible first choice when your ferry docks.
Taxi or driving from the dock
A taxi covers the short run in about 10 minutes, depending on traffic and where in downtown you are going. It is a fair choice with luggage, with children, or when a sailing arrives late in the evening. The Nanaimo taxi page lists local companies, and the taxi fare estimator shows a rough fare before you commit.
If you are driving off the ferry, the terminal exit leads toward the city, and a map app will give the cleanest route for the day’s traffic. Use the app instead of memorised street names, because roadworks sometimes change the best way in.
Planning around Nanaimo’s waterfront
Departure Bay is in central Nanaimo, which is why the trip is so short. It is the terminal for sailings to Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver, so many arrivals are travellers heading for a hotel, a connecting bus or a meeting nearby.
- Check your sailing’s arrival time on the BC Ferries website.
- Match it to the next Route 25 or Route 50 departure in the trip planner.
- If the wait is long, a taxi will usually be quicker.
- Walkers should look at a map for the pedestrian route and the hills, then decide.
Whichever way you go, the distance is small enough that a missed bus costs little time if you have a taxi as backup.