BC Ferries

[winvest]

Has anyone taken there EB on the BC Ferries recently? If so, how much did they charge? I saw on their website that they don't charge for over height anymore. Is this true for a really tall Sportsmobile?

[mjeffrey]

It's true for all vehicles. I haven't found a max height allowed on a ferry, but it's higher than a semi truck Upper decks are 9', lower decks are probably 20', if I recall correctly. They're making up the difference with increased per-foot costs for vehicles over 20' in length. Good news for campervans! Bad news for tent trailers And I could care less about 40' diesel 'rolling resorts' and giant 5th wheels!

The Anacortes, WA-Sidney, BC (near Victoria) ferry operated by WA State Ferries has also done away with overheight fees for RVs. BUT they still list an overheight fee for regular vehicles 20' and under, and all RV fees start at 20 to 30 feet... so not sure if you'd be stuck paying in a van that's less than 20 feet (RB only, I think?)

Given the choice, take the BC Ferries anyway, and cross the border at a land crossing - much nicer ferries, and the WA ferry customs process is slow. Coming Canada to US, you do customs twice (!) and there are only a couple of lanes. I've heard it can take upwards of an hour to get out of there. I rode my motorcycle and was first on, first off, so no wait Peace Arch crossing has been ~5 minutes for me each time I cross, in the last couple of years (though I tend to cross during the week, or early in the morning).

Cheers!
Mike.

[Skywagon]

The truck crossing JUST east of peace arch CAN be faster than peace arch, and the Aldergrove crossing about 45mi. east of Peace arch CAN be faster yet. As stated above, try not to cross the border on the Ferry.
While the over height restrictions might have gone away, there are plenty of B.C. Ferries that won't have enough room on the upper deck for a SMB. I drove my SMB to my cabin north of the Horseshoe Bay To Langdale ferry at Christmas, and was astounded at how much more the ferry ride cost than a car.
Bill

[John and Dana]

In 2008 we took the BC ferry from Tsawwassen to Naniamo (Vancouver Island) and it was $102.72 US. On the return trip we took the Washington State ferry from Victoria to Anacortes and that was $96.55. We were never charged for over height because when you are 20+ feet you are parked with the trucks.

My favorite border crossing is North of Nighthawk, Washinton. You pull up to a small white house with a couple of cones. A border agent will come out check you passports and you are on your way. No lines, no crowds although it is in a remote part of central Washington.

Cheers!

John

[cellularSTEVE]

In 2007 I crossed from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria and there was no extra charge (this was not BC Ferry but a US ferry). Then I crossed on BC Ferry from Victoria to Vancouver, also no extra charge. They parked me next to a semi truck.

On a side note I was surprised that they didn't have a problem with me carrying fuel in the Jerry Cans. I was told on the phone that they would not allow it but no one stopped me. But once I got into Victoria they sent me to secondary inspection and they searched pretty much everything, including the porta-potti!

All was fine except it took upwards of an hour to get through customs.

steve

[Skywagon]

John-
We crossed at the little Nighthawk crossing last Summer coming home from the cabin. We got the female border guard from Hell. She was one of the most disagreeable people we have ever encountered in an a long lifetime of encountering disagreeable customs and border guards. There are so many nice people working the borders, that when you run into one that just HAS to make your life miserable, you wonder why they want to work at a cute little crossing like that. I think they only get about 12,000 cars a year across there.
We had a great drive down the east side of WA, OR, & CA.
Bill

[charlie56]

Kind of related

Last week we took our EB on the Halls Crossing ferry, over Lake Powell. $25

[Ketcham]

Port Angeles to Victoria and return $84 each way. No charge on length or height. That was for 2 people. http://www.cohoferry.com/main/?Fares This was somewhat more expensive than Washington ferries. Make a reservation for Sundays. That is $11 online, and you can book both ways ahead of schedule for the same fee.