Travellers heading out of town for Thanksgiving are being warned to brace for a busy weekend—including on the ferries. This is usually the fourth busiest weekend of the year for BC Ferries, which is expecting to transport some 175,000 vehicles and 446,000 passengers from Thursday to Tuesday on the major routes between Metro Vancouver, Vancouver Island and the Sunshine Coast. BC Ferries said more than 90,000 vehicle spots have already been booked. “It’s great to see customers planning ahead,” spokesperson Amanda Wawryk said in a statement. “Advance bookings are tracking well ahead of last year, and some of the most popular travel times are already fully booked or filling quickly.” As of early Friday morning, reservations on the Tsawwassen to Victoria route were already sold out straight through to Saturday evening. BC Ferries recommended travellers without a booking to consider early-morning or late-evening sailings, where they might have more luck—or prepare for a possible sailing wait. The Thanksgiving long weekend is also typically the busiest weekend of the year for walk-on passengers, so travellers on foot have been urged to reserve a spot as well. Construction underway at the Horseshoe Bay terminal means reservations are currently mandatory for all sailings bound for Departure Bay, including for motorcycles and commercial vehicles. Due to the changes, the booking window for reservations on that route has also been changed from two hours to 30 minutes, allowing for more flexibility. Regardless of the route, Wawryk encouraged passengers to plan ahead and give themselves extra time to get to the terminal. “We know the Thanksgiving long weekend is an important time for families and communities to connect, and we’re proud to help make those connections possible,” she said. “We’re grateful to our crews and terminal teams who will be working throughout the weekend to keep people moving safely and smoothly along the coast.” With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Demetra Maragos
