Riding The BC & Washington State Ferries with a dog

Markus on the sundeck of the Washington State Ferries enjoying the skyline of Seattle

Raising Markus is the series where we share stories about our time raising Markus. Said to be aggressive and having gone unadopted for over a year, Raising Markus is the story of a rescued dog from Korea given a second opportunity, now in Vancouver, Canada. This series will include the lessons, joys and struggles of dog owners fumbling our way through our first adoption. The hope is that if you're considering rescuing a dog of your own, our stories are useful to you.

This week, we take a break from the usual Overnight Adventures posts where we usually share a location in the Pacific Northwest, where we stayed (and the cost) and things to do in the area. On a recent trip, we had to take a ferry over to one of the islands west of Seattle so we wanted to do a dedicated post on riding ferries - the BC Ferries and the Washington State Ferries - from the perspective of dog owners.

For this post, there's one assumption I'm going to make - that leaving the dog alone in the car isn't an option for you. Whether it be separation anxiety or that your dog is reactive to noises when left alone in a car, there are reason why owners don't want to leave their dogs in a car. This post is for those of you who are in this situation.

BC Ferries

Since there are so many islands in British Columbia - some busier than others - there are different types of ferries that go to and from each island. You'll get a different vessel depending on the destination and each one has similar, but slightly different rules to them. On this post, we're going to go through two types of vessels from BC Ferries (there might be more that we haven't been on yet).

To/From Vancouver Island

Whether it's going to Swartz Bay in Victoria or Duke Point in Nanaimo, these locations tend to get a lot more traffic as they go to and from Vancouver. These locations usually end up with larger vessels.

These larger vessels usually have multiple car decks on the ferry. The upper decks are above water that have windows with open air so you can feel the breeze of the wind. The lower decks, in contrast, are enclosed so you cannot see out.

According to a rule added in 2017, passengers aren't allowed to stay in their cars if they're on the enclosed lower deck to ensure that they don't become trapped in case of an emergency. It should be noted that dogs are allowed to be left in the car alone, but if that's not an option for you, you do have a few options on these bigger vessels.

Parking on the Upper Deck

Usually, the simplest solution for us is to request to park the car on the upper deck. When we're paying at the ticketing kiosk, we normally ask if it's possible to park on the upper deck since we have a dog with us. It's not a sure thing, but they do what they can and it's appreciated. If they're unable to accommodate that, you still have other options.

Staying on the Upper Deck

Sitting with Markus at the end of the upper deck of the BC Ferries (not pictured are other dog owners on the other corner doing the same)

If you were unable to park the car on the upper deck, another option you have is to take the dog to the pet area where there are kennels (and most likely other dogs). If you're reading this blog, I assume that your dog is reactive, so this is likely not an option. This really only leaves us with one last option: sit with your dog on the floor of the upper deck.

Dogs are allowed on the upper deck, so whenever the cars have fully park onto the boat and have been cleared, you can make your way up the stairs from the lower level with your dog and sit by the ends or sides of the vessel.

Be warned that there's not much happening for the dog owners in those areas, so you might want to bring a blanket for both you and the dog to sit on. Since it's outdoors by the waters, it tends to get cold so we recommend bringing something with you to stay warm since you're here for an hour and a half.

Note: On occasion, we've come across a vessel or two that have benches set up on the upper deck facing the water. This hasn't been an option for us because Markus is generally reactive with the other dogs that are already there, but if your dog is okay, you just might be able to find a bench spot facing the water.

To/From Southern Gulf Islands

With the smaller vessels, you likely won't have the option of an upper/lower deck that you would with the larger ones. Most of these are only one level, which means you're allowed to sit in the car for the duration of the ride.

These smaller vessels also have a dedicated dog area and you're free to walk where the cars are parked, but because the boat's not very big, there can be quite a few people walking around this area. If your dog is reactive towards people, this is worth keeping in mind.

On these smaller vessels, the rules are more or less the same except that there are no "enclosed lower levels". You're still not allowed to go inside, so if the weather's not cooperating and you're not lucky enough to be one of the cars under the cover, you'll likely just want to stay in your car.

Reservations

If you're planning to take the ferries over a long weekend, let me be the first to say that it can get extremely busy and you might want to book a reservation at the risk of missing a sailing or two especially with the smaller vessels. Over the long weekends, sometimes you need to book weeks, if not over a month, in advance.

Keep in mind that if you have a reservation, you'll need to check in 90 to 120 minutes before the sailing. If the reservations aren't claimed 90 minutes before the sailing, they're cancelled to accommodate stand-by traffic.

Washington State Ferries (WSDOT)

On a recent trip, we had the luxury of riding the Washington State Ferries for the first time and although there were some similarities, the experience was quite different from the ones with the BC Ferries.

Like the BC Ferries, there are different vessels depending on destination. For our trip, we rode on one of the smaller vessels that only have a single auto deck for cars. Owners and their pets are allowed to stay in the car on that level.

My understanding of these ferries was that they don't have a dedicated pet area, but what I really enjoyed about the Washington State Ferries was that we were allowed to bring Markus up to the sun deck. They allowed us to cut through the stairs and the interior as we made our way to the exterior passenger areas. I don't know if this was unique to the size of this ship (or the person we spoke to), but it was much better than having to sit on the floor.

We spent the bulk of our time on the Washington State Ferries sitting outside on the sun deck enjoying the breeze and watching as the Seattle skyline drew nearer. This made for a comfortable ride for all of us (even though it was wet out) and unique experience for Markus who go to be on the top deck of the ferry for the first time.

We hope this post was helpful for the next time you have to travel with a dog on a ferry. We've always loved travelling on boats and being on a ferry is no different!

We’re so grateful for your support of The Markus Project. We mostly choose our locations through searching and word of mouth. If you know of a park, trail or location you think we should check out, please share it with us. We’d love to know!