Even though we traveled through Europe with our daughter as a baby, we’ve learned that traveling with her as a toddler is a whole new ball game. And so, on our recent family vacation, we decided to make things as easy as possible.
We chose to visit Victoria, which is just off the mainland from where we live in Vancouver, Canada, rather than travel abroad. We also opted to take a seaplane to save time and make our travel day more convenient.
While it was a very cool experience to travel by seaplane, it wasn’t completely smooth sailing.
The seaplane gave us a convenient, fast, and scenic way to go on vacation
We chose to take the seaplane to Victoria in order to avoid a long travel day. Our apartment is a 10-minute walk from the seaplane terminal in Vancouver, and our hotel in Victoria was only a 10-minute walk from the harbor.
Most importantly, the flight would only take 35 minutes. There was no waiting in line, dealing with traffic, or needing to transfer from one mode of transportation to another — all things that can derail a travel day with a toddler!
As a bonus, the seaplane also offers beautiful views over the British Columbia coastline. We were lucky to fly on a clear, sunny day and thoroughly enjoyed the scenery.
We paid $193 CAD ($139 USD) total for two adult one-way tickets and a lap infant with an allowance of 10 lbs of luggage per person.
Even though it’s cheaper, the ferry would have taken twice as long
Most people who visit Victoria from Vancouver take the ferry, as it’s cheaper, holds more people, and you can drive your car on. However, taking the ferry would’ve meant a very long travel day for us with transfers.
The ferry ride itself is 95 minutes, so an hour longer than the seaplane ride. The ferry terminals are also located far outside the downtown cores of Vancouver and Victoria. From our home in Vancouver, it would take us an hour to drive to the ferry terminal, and on the other side, it would be a 45-minute drive from the terminal to our hotel in Victoria.
At first glance, it would have been cheaper for us to take the ferry. Passenger fare is $21 CAD per adult, and our toddler would ride free. Bringing a vehicle on board costs an additional $89 CAD.
So our total one-way cost for two adults, a toddler, and a car would be $105 CAD, which is cheaper than the $193 CAD we paid to take the seaplane.
However, we don’t own a car, so we would also need to factor in rental car fees. For a summer trip, we’d be paying $60 CAD to $100 CAD per day. We would also have to pay for gas and parking in Victoria.
We won’t choose the seaplane every trip, but this time, it was worth it
For this trip, it was well worth it for us to take the seaplane. It saved us hours of time and, when you consider the cost of renting a car, it also saved us money.
Being able to get from our home in Vancouver to our hotel in Victoria in under an hour made a big difference to our vacation. We were able to plan our travel day around our toddler’s nap schedule without sacrificing a whole day to get there.
However, the seaplane experience wasn’t perfect. On our flight back, we hit heavy turbulence, leaving our daughter crying for most of the trip. We also felt quite restricted by the 10 lb luggage limit (higher limits were available but at a higher cost).
And even though it’s less convenient, there’s a part of me that likes the ritual of the ferry. I love standing on the upper deck to take in the views and enjoying a lunch of chicken fingers and Caesar salad from the onboard café.
I’m sure we’ll take the ferry on future trips when we want to have a vehicle or when our daughter is no longer napping. But I’m so glad we had the option to take the seaplane and enjoy a convenient and beautiful ride over to Victoria.
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