Three round trips on most weekdays and six on weekends and holidays, timetabled at 1 hour 20 minutes between Coal Harbour and Nanaimo's harbour. Hullo carries no cars: you buy a seat, from $42.99 one way in the Comfort cabin, with GST added on top.
Hullo dated sailing calendar, read for 9 October – 30 November 2026 (the last date loaded); checked 9 October 2026 Hullo Ferries – Ferry sailing schedule (dated calendar) · 2026-10-09
Put the two Vancouver–Nanaimo options side by side and they barely compete. BC Ferries' car ferries leave from Horseshoe Bay, at the end of the Trans-Canada in West Vancouver, and land at Departure Bay; Hullo's catamarans leave from Coal Harbour, a short walk from Waterfront Station, and tie up in Nanaimo's downtown harbour. If your car has to come, Hullo is not an option at all. If you are on foot, it saves the bus rides out to both ferry terminals.
The trade-off is frequency. On most weekdays this autumn Hullo runs three round trips: 07:00, 11:00 and 15:15 from Nanaimo, and 09:00, 13:00 and 17:15 back from Vancouver. Weekends and holidays double that to six. Each crossing is timetabled at 1 hour 20 minutes, door of the boat to door of the boat.
Price works differently too. Instead of one fare per person, Hullo sells cabins: Comfort from $42.99 one way for an adult, Comfort-Flex from $49.99 with refunds, Premium from $59.99 upstairs. All of them are quoted before GST, and since June 2026 they can rise as a sailing fills.
Hullo sells seats, not crossings: every ticket is for a named sailing, and the price depends on the cabin. The figures below are the published "starting at" fares. Since June 2026 the company has used capacity-influenced pricing, so a sailing that is filling up can cost a little more, and every fare has GST added at checkout.
Comfort is the main deck with assigned seats; Comfort-Flex adds free seat choice and a full refund up to 48 hours ahead; Premium is the upper deck, stairs only, with priority boarding and refunds up to 24 hours ahead. Under-2s ride free on a lap in Comfort.
| Adult 13–64, one way | $ 42.99 |
| Adult 13–64, round trip | $ 81 |
| Child 2–12 or senior 65+, one way | $ 23.99 |
| Child 2–12 or senior 65+, round trip | $ 43 |
| Infant under 2, on a lap with an adult ticket | Free |
| Comfort-Flex, one way | $ 49.99 |
| Comfort-Flex, round trip | $ 95 |
| Premium (upper deck), one way | $ 59.99 |
| Premium (upper deck), round trip | $ 110 |
| Comfort-Connect, adults only, one way | $ 19.99 |
| Large bag (over 22 in, up to 50 lb), sports gear | $ 19.99 |
| Bicycle (up to six per sailing, stowed on the rear deck) | $ 19.99 |
| Change to a booking, up to 1 hour before departure | $ 5 |
Hullo fares for sailings from 1 June 2026, as listed on hullo.com/pricing on 9 October 2026; prices exclude GST Hullo Ferries – Pricing · 2026-10-09
The route runs from Coal Harbour, on the north edge of downtown Vancouver beside the floatplane docks, straight across the Strait of Georgia to the inner harbour of Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Both ends are in the city centres, which is the whole point of the service: Hullo's boats are twin catamarans driven by four water jets each, and the company quotes a top speed of 38 knots.
The two vessels carry names gifted by the Snuneymuxw First Nation in the hul'q'umi'num' language: spuhéls, meaning wind, and sthuqi', sockeye salmon.
The boarding point is an outdoor gate on the Coal Harbour waterfront, next to the floatplane terminal, with little shelter, so dress for the weather while you queue. Hullo asks passengers to be there 20 minutes before departure and closes the gate strictly 5 minutes before; there is no check-in desk to visit first. Tickets can also be bought in person at the company's office at 1055 Canada Place.
Waterfront Station, where the SkyTrain, the SeaBus and many buses converge, is about a 7-minute walk away. Hullo has no car park of its own in Vancouver and points drivers to nearby public parkades such as 200 Burrard and 200 West Waterfront Road; for a taxi drop-off, ask for Jack Poole Plaza.
In Nanaimo the boats tie up at the Port Authority, at 100 Port Way, where Hullo runs a lot of more than 350 spaces with EV chargers. Thirty minutes for a pick-up or drop-off is free; after that it costs $5.00 for up to three hours, $14.00 for up to 24 hours and $25.00 for each further day. Evo and Modo car-share vehicles are parked at the terminal, and a free Hullo shuttle bus normally links it with downtown Nanaimo every day.
On cruise-ship days Hullo can move its Nanaimo stop: on 9 October 2026 it used W.E. Landing Marina at 304 Front Street instead. The dated schedule flags such changes.
A carry-on under 22 inches and a personal item under 19 inches travel at no charge. Anything bigger, up to 50 lb, is $19.99 if you add it online in advance, and buying it also gets you priority boarding.
Bicycles ride outside on the rear deck, with room for six per sailing. A bike space costs $19.99; riders who have one board first and are the last group off.
Both terminals board straight from the queue. Arrive 20 minutes before the sailing; five minutes before departure the gate closes and the seat is gone.
Hullo adds departures from Vancouver at 23:00 or later on dates with big events downtown, and takes requests for more if they are made at least eight weeks ahead.
In Vancouver, the gate is on the same waterfront as the SeaBus to North Vancouver, whose Waterfront terminal is the nearest transit hub. For a crossing with a vehicle, or a boat outside Hullo's hours, the Horseshoe Bay–Nanaimo ferry runs to Departure Bay on the north side of Nanaimo.
Hullo, run by the Vancouver Island Ferry Company, started in 2023 and raised its seat prices on 1 June 2026 for the first time since launch.
No. Hullo carries foot passengers only, with space for luggage and up to six bicycles. Vehicles cross with BC Ferries between Horseshoe Bay and Departure Bay.
07:00, arriving at Coal Harbour at 08:20. Every date in the calendar from 10 October to 30 November starts with it, weekdays and weekends alike.
The 17:15 from Vancouver, landing at 18:35. On event nights there is a later boat at 23:00, 23:30 or 23:59 on specific dates.
No. Hullo states that its prices are what you see plus GST, so the $42.99 Comfort fare is before tax.
Yes, on the published starting fares: a Comfort round trip for an adult is $81.00 against $42.99 each way, and Premium is $110.00 against $59.99.
At Gate 1 beside the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, about seven minutes on foot from Waterfront Station. The waiting area is outdoors.
$5.00 for up to three hours, $14.00 for up to 24 hours and $25.00 for each extra day; the first 30 minutes are free for drop-offs.