Location, Getting There & Cortes Island Map
See below for map
Cortes Island is one of the Northern Gulf Islands (also known as the Discovery Islands) located between Vancouver Island and the Mainland. Although Cortes is actually quite close to the sunshine coast at Lund, BC, to get there by car from Vancouver you take BC Ferries from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, see schedule (if you are driving from the southern suburbs or Seattle you could take the ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo).
From Namaimo, drive to Campbell River (about 1 1/2 hours), take a 10 minute ferry to Quadra Island (leaves Campbell River approximately hourly), drive across Quadra Island and then take a 45 minute ferry to Whaletown on Cortes Island (Cortes ferries run every two hours or so with every second Quadra ferry connecting directly to the Cortes ferry if there is no overload). Make sure to ask for a through fare to Cortes in Campbell River or you will have to pay cash on Quadra Island and you won't get loaded into the Cortes bound lane.
The last ferry you can catch out of Campbell River and make the last ferry to Cortes is 6:15 pm. From Vancouver, if you leave on the 8:30 a.m. ferry from Horseshoe Bay, you should arrive at the cabin by about 2 pm. Please see the latest schedules on the BC Ferries website here.
The cabin is located on a large waterfront lot on the East side of Gorge Harbour with great sunset views looking West (as shown on the map below). We will send you detailed directions on how, to find the property with your confirmed booking.
You will receive about a 40% discount on the Cortes and Quadra fares if you buy a BC Ferries Experience Card and load it with the minimum amount needed for fare discounts. You can also use this card on the large ferries to Vancouver Island but you won't get a discount (but you can easily use up the minimum card amount that way).
Can I get there without a car?
Not easily, no. It is possible to take the Island Link bus to Campbell River, walk onto the ferry to Quadra and then ask for a ride on the Quadra and Cortes ferries to get to the cabin. But then you'll also be about 8km from Manson's Landing where the majority of shopping and services are located. I have made the trip by bicycle.