12 minutes from Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver to Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver. On weekdays the first SeaBus leaves Lonsdale at 05:47 and the last one leaves Waterfront at 01:22; Sundays and holidays run from 08:02 to 23:22. It costs a TransLink fare: 2 zones on weekdays before 18:30, 1 zone otherwise.
TransLink SeaBus frequency table and the TransLink GTFS timetable valid 7 September 2026 – 3 January 2027; checked 9 October 2026 TransLink – SeaBus Schedules (frequency, first and last SeaBus) · 2026-10-09
395 seats, 12 minutes, every 15 minutes: those three figures from TransLink sum up the SeaBus. It is a passenger ferry operated as part of Metro Vancouver's public transit, shuttling across Burrard Inlet between Waterfront Station downtown and Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver from before six in the morning until after one at night on weekdays.
In the weekday rush the service tightens to every 10 minutes: from Waterfront between 07:15 and 09:45 and again between 15:15 and 18:45, with the matching windows from Lonsdale starting a quarter of an hour earlier. Late in the evening, and on early Saturday mornings, it drops to every 30 minutes. Sundays and holidays start later, with the first boat leaving Lonsdale at 08:02, and finish earlier, with the last leaving Waterfront at 23:22.
What a rider pays depends on the clock. A weekday crossing that starts before 18:30 is a 2-Zone journey, $4.20 on a Compass Card; after 18:30, at weekends and on holidays the same trip is 1-Zone, $2.85. These are the fares TransLink introduced on 1 July 2026.
SeaBus has no fare of its own. It is priced like SkyTrain, by zones, and the crossing straddles a zone boundary: before 18:30 on weekdays you need a 2-Zone fare, while after 18:30 on weekdays, all weekend and on provincial statutory holidays the whole TransLink system is 1-Zone.
The cheapest way to pay is Compass Card stored value. Tapping a contactless debit or credit card, or a phone wallet, at the fare gate charges the same as a cash Compass Ticket from a vending machine. Concession fares apply to seniors 65 and older, youth from 13 to 18 and HandyCard holders, with photo ID.
| Compass Card stored value, 2 zones (weekday daytime) | $ 4.20 |
| Compass Card stored value, 1 zone (evenings, weekends, holidays) | $ 2.85 |
| Cash ticket or contactless tap, 2 zones | $ 5.10 |
| Cash ticket or contactless tap, 1 zone | $ 3.50 |
| 2 zones | $ 3.40 |
| 1 zone | $ 2.30 |
| Adult DayPass, all zones, until 4 a.m. | $ 12.55 |
| Concession DayPass | $ 9.75 |
| Adult Monthly Pass, 2 zones | $ 156.70 |
TransLink fares effective 1 July 2026 (rates valid to 30 June 2027 on TransLink's bulk ticket form), read 9 October 2026 TransLink – Pricing and Fare Zones · 2026-10-09
The SeaBus crosses the inner harbour of Burrard Inlet, from the downtown waterfront at Waterfront Station to Lonsdale Quay in the City of North Vancouver. There are no intermediate stops and no vehicles on board: it is a direct shuttle between two transit hubs, timetabled at 12 minutes.
TransLink prices it like SkyTrain rather than as a separate ferry: the same Compass Card, the same zone fares and the same 90-minute transfer window apply.
You reach the SeaBus from inside Waterfront Station, through the SkyWalk. Its doors open only 10 minutes before the first sailing of the day and close two minutes before the last one, so on an early start there is no point arriving at the gates much sooner.
Waterfront is where SkyTrain, many buses and the SeaBus meet, and most riders arrive here from another TransLink service. A single fare stays valid for 90 minutes across bus, SkyTrain and SeaBus, so a connection on either side of the inlet usually costs nothing more.
On the North Shore the boat docks at Lonsdale Quay, at the foot of Lonsdale Avenue in the City of North Vancouver. In the daytime pattern the boats leave this side at :02, :17, :32 and :47 past the hour, while the downtown departures are at :01, :16, :31 and :46.
From Lonsdale the last boat of a weekday or Saturday night is the 01:00; on Sundays and holidays it is the 23:00, and the first one on those days is not until 08:02.
Bicycles are allowed on every sailing. From 07:00 to 09:30 and 15:00 to 18:30 on weekdays only six fit per boat; you may not ride inside the stations or on board, and other passengers get off and on first.
Stored value on a Compass Card is $4.20 for two zones; a contactless bank card or phone wallet tapped at the gate pays the $5.10 cash rate. For regular crossings the card pays for itself quickly.
The 2-Zone rule only applies to trips that start before 18:30 on a weekday. A crossing from 18:30 onwards, or any time on Saturday, Sunday or a statutory holiday, is a 1-Zone fare.
At Waterfront the SkyWalk doors to the SeaBus open ten minutes before the first departure and shut two minutes before the last. On weekdays that means 05:51 at the earliest for the 06:01.
TransLink's current GTFS timetable for the SeaBus runs from 7 September 2026 until 3 January 2027, with the same weekday, Saturday and Sunday patterns throughout; holidays inside that window, such as Thanksgiving Monday and Remembrance Day, take the Sunday timetable. Expect the next service change in the new year.
From the same downtown waterfront, a seven-minute walk from Waterfront Station, the private Hullo fast ferry leaves for downtown Nanaimo on Vancouver Island. Toronto runs a comparable year-round city ferry to its harbour islands, the Toronto Island ferry, though there a single ticket covers the round trip.
Twelve minutes. In TransLink's timetable the 08:01 from Waterfront arrives at Lonsdale Quay at 08:13.
01:22 on weekday and Saturday nights. On Sundays and holidays the last one leaves Waterfront at 23:22.
05:47 from Lonsdale Quay Monday to Friday, 06:02 on Saturdays and 08:02 on Sundays and holidays.
2-Zone for trips starting before 18:30 on weekdays, 1-Zone after 18:30 and all day on weekends and statutory holidays.
Yes. Tap a contactless credit or debit card or a phone wallet at the fare gate; you pay the cash rate, $5.10 for two zones or $3.50 for one.
Yes, on the Sunday and holiday timetable: first boat 08:02 from Lonsdale Quay, last 23:22 from Waterfront.
Yes, but only six bikes per sailing between 07:00 and 09:30 and between 15:00 and 18:30 on weekdays. Outside those hours the six-bike limit does not apply, although a crowded boat may still have no room.