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Thetis Island lies west of Chemainus, a little town north of Victoria,
south of Nanaimo. (Chemainus, by the way, has a remarkable story to tell.
Look up Chemainus-BC.com).
From Chemainus to Thetis Island
There is a good ferry service linking Chemainus and Thetis Island. Consult
the TIMETABLE
carefully
because the ferry operates on an unusual pattern, serving Kuper and Thetis
Island on a triangular route. Crossing time is 35 minutes for a direct
connection, 45 minutes otherwise.
But first, you need to get to Vancouver Island. Here are your best bets:
From Vancouver
You have three options. If you come from anywhere south of Vancouver, Tsawassen
is likely your best port of departure. From Vancouver, Horseshoe Bay is
usually faster. See the map on the BC
Ferries site for an overview.
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The newest route is from Tsawassen south of Vancouver to Duke
Point south of Nanaimo with a crossing time of 2 hours. The trip to
Chemainus will only take about 35 minutes.
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Another route goes from Tsawassen
to Swartz Bay north of Victoria.(1 hour and 35 minutes crossing time).
From there, it will take you about 1 hour and 20 minutes to get to Chemainus
(bypassing Victoria).
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For Vancouverites, the usual route is from Horseshoe Bay north of Vancouver
to Departure
Bay in Nanaimo. Crossing time is 1 hour and 35 minutes. Nanaimo to
Chemainus is a 45 minute ride.
From Washington to Vancouver Island
You have a number of ways to go.
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The most scenic route is provided by the Washington
State Ferries. It connects Anacortes with Sidney, 25 minutes north
of Victoria.
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The Coho take you from
Port Angeles to Victoria. There is a very scenic
1 hour ride to Chemainus. If you have time, stop at Millstream Park to
enjoy the old growth forest. Take 10 minutes at the first and third lookouts
on the Malahat for an incredible panorama.
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Victora-line used to to operate a car ferry between Seattle with Victoria.
However, at the end of summer 99 it ceased operations.
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The Victoria Clipper still
links the two cities with a walk-on high speed ferry.
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