The modern ferry link between West Vancouver and Nanaimo began under the Black Ball Line. After establishing service from Horseshoe Bay to the Sunshine Coast in 1951, Black Ball expanded across the Strait of Georgia to Departure Bay in 1953. The route offered a direct vehicle-and-passenger connection between the Lower Mainland and central Vancouver Island.
Labour disruptions and growing concern about reliable coastal transportation helped prompt the Province of British Columbia to enter the ferry business. BC Ferries began operating its first government service in 1960, and in late 1961 the provincial ferry authority acquired Black Ball Ferries, including its Horseshoe Bay–Nanaimo and Sunshine Coast operations.
This acquisition made the Horseshoe Bay–Departure Bay crossing one of the foundation routes of the growing BC Ferries system.
As automobile travel and Vancouver Island tourism expanded through the 1960s, BC Ferries introduced larger vessels to increase capacity. The Queen of Burnaby, built in Victoria and launched in 1965, was a familiar vessel on the Horseshoe Bay–Departure Bay route; it carried up to 192 vehicles and 659 passengers.
Over time, the route became a major continuation of Highway 1 across the Strait of Georgia, linking Metro Vancouver with Nanaimo and the rest of central and northern Vancouver Island.
Departure Bay’s ferry terminal originally opened in 1951 under Black Ball Line service and entered the BC Ferries network with the 1961 takeover. Before Duke Point opened in 1997, Departure Bay also handled regular Tsawwassen service; shifting much of that traffic to Duke Point helped ease congestion in Nanaimo.
Even with Duke Point serving an additional Nanaimo–Lower Mainland corridor, Departure Bay remained the primary Nanaimo connection for travellers using Horseshoe Bay.
Today, the Horseshoe Bay–Departure Bay route is one of BC Ferries’ principal crossings. It operates between Horseshoe Bay in West Vancouver and Departure Bay in Nanaimo, with a typical crossing of about 1 hour 40 minutes.
The route has been served by successive generations of vessels, including the Coastal Renaissance, whose regular assignments include Horseshoe Bay–Departure Bay. Horseshoe Bay is also undergoing major terminal upgrades; vehicle travellers heading from Horseshoe Bay to Departure Bay are currently required to book and pay before arriving at the terminal.
For more than seven decades, this crossing has connected communities, visitors, commercial traffic, and families on opposite sides of the Strait of Georgia—evolving from a Black Ball Line service into one of the defining routes of BC Ferries.