Transportation
The Inside Passage trips (Wildlife Discovery & Orca Humpback Odyssey), Wild Orca Adventures, Lodge trips and Spirit Bear Voyages* meet in Port McNeill, BC, near the north end of Vancouver Island. Port McNeill may be reached directly by car, bus or sea plane. Port Hardy is the closest commercial airport to Port McNeill. For those of you driving from Vancouver or Seattle, you will need to take a ferry to Vancouver Island.
To reach Port McNeill most travelers will use either Vancouver, BC or Seattle, WA as their main airport so we have listed travel options below from those two starting points. We have also listed our suggested accommodations in Port McNeill.
Vancouver, BC Travel Options
The most common, and quickest, way to get to Port McNeill from Vancouver is to fly into Port Hardy and then take a taxi to Port McNeill. The taxi ride is about a half hour and we'll arrange for taxi service between Port Hardy and Port McNeill (the cost of this taxi is not included in the trip).
Car
Approximate time from Vancouver to Port McNeill by car is 8 hours, which includes a two-hour ferry ride and waiting time for the ferry. Actual driving time is approximately 5 hours on good highways. A driving guide and road map will be included in your trip package. Ferry information can be found at www.bcferries.com, or by phone at 250-753-1261. (To avoid downtown traffic take the Tsawwassen ferry to Duke Point (Nanaimo), or on the north side of Vancouver you can take the Horseshoe Bay ferry to Departure Bay (Nanaimo).
Seattle, WA Travel Options
Sea plane
There are two sea plane companies offering scheduled service from the Seattle area directly to Port McNeill.
Kenmore Air runs scheduled flights from Kenmore (just north of Seattle) to Port McNeill regularly throughout the summer. Departure from Kenmore is at 9am, arriving in Port McNeill at 12:00pm. Departure from Port McNeill is at 12:30pm, arriving in Kenmore around 3:30pm. Please call 800-543-9595, or visit www.kenmoreair.com.
Sound Flight runs scheduled flights from Renton (near Seattle-Tacoma airport) to Port McNeill regularly throughout the summer on their seaplanes and wheeled planes*. Departure from Renton is at 4pm, arriving in Port McNeill at 7:30pm. Departure from Port McNeill is at 10:30am, arriving in Renton around 2:00pm. Sound Flight operates a shuttle from Sea-Tac airport to their Renton terminal. Please call 866-921-3474, or visit www.soundflight.net.*If you're flying into Port McNeill on a wheeled plane you will need a taxi to your hotel; we're happy to make that reservation for you.
Car
If you have extra time, the drive from Seattle offers many options for extra sightseeing.
The shortest route is to drive to Vancouver and then take the ferry to Vancouver Island. The approximate time from Seattle to Port McNeill is 10-11 hours, which includes the border crossing, a two-hour ferry ride and waiting time for the ferry. Actual driving time is approximately 7 hours on good highways. A driving guide and road map will be included in your trip package. Ferry information can be found at www.bcferries.com, or by phone at 250-753-1261. (To avoid Vancouver traffic take the Tsawwassen ferry to Duke Point (Nanaimo).
