Q: my family is planning a trip where we go to victoria BC and then go to seattle WA. i'm having lots of trouble finding a site. we need a ferry that takes cars with it as well. i found this site... http://www.cohoferry.com/index.htm however, i don't get it. it seems like after you take the ferry to port angeles they just leave you there...and you have to go to seattle by plane! but since we have a car we can't do that. ps: it doesn't matter if the ferry stops at a place NEAR seattle i live in vancouver. so we can't really take a ferry from victoria and drive to vancouver. the only reason why we want to take one from victoria to seattle is because we don't want to wait in the long border line ups and later have to drive a good 3 hours or more
A: The Victoria Clipper has a monopoly on service directly into Seattle and does not carry autos. The choices for automobiles are: Washington State Ferries to Anacortes from Sidney, BC (about 1/2 hour drive north of Victoria) to Anacortes. Anacortes ferry terminal is a little less than 100 miles from Seattle and is about a 2 hour drive. http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/ferries British Columbia ferries to Tsawwassen or Horsehoe Bay from Swartz Bay (about 45 minutes north of Victoria) or Nanaimo (more than an hour from Victoria). If you are not planning to visit Vancouver, then Tsawwassen is the closest terminal to the US border. It is about 20 miles from the border, then it is a bit more than 100 miles into Seattle. Allow at least 4 hours for the drive, more on weekends, as crossing the border can be very slow. http://www.bcferries.com Finally Black Ball goes to Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula from Victoria itself. Once at Port Angeles, it is a long drive to Seattle requiring a toll bridge and yet another ferry crossing, the Washington state ferry to Seattle from Bainbridge (or from Kingston to Edmonds). A great trip but a little expensive and time consuming, plan for a whole day. http://www.cohoferry.com The fastest route from Victoria to Seattle is usually BC Ferries to Tsawwassen from Swartz Bay as they have the most boats and most frequent schedules. Washington State ferries and Coho only run a single boat and have only a few sailings each day. If you plan to make the trip in the summer, especially on a weekend day, MAKE ADVANCE RESERVATIONS for any of the routes!