Nanaimo



Nanaimo is the central hub city of Vancouver Island in BC, Canada. It is the second largest city on the island and has the second biggest harbour. In many ways it is the smaller cousin of Victoria. Like much of Vancouver Island it has moved from being primarily an industrial town to a tourist city that attracts a large number of retirees from the rest of Canada.

Understand
The Indigenous peoples of the area that is now known as Nanaimo are the Snuneymuxw. An anglicised spelling and pronunciation of that word gave the city its current name.

The first Europeans to find Nanaimo Bay were those of the 1791 Spanish voyage of Juan Carrasco, under the command of Francisco de Eliza. They gave it the name Bocas de Winthuysen.

Nanaimo began as a trading post in the early 19th century. In 1849, the Snuneymuxw chief Ki-et-sa-kun ("Coal Tyee") informed the Hudson's Bay Company of coal in the area. Exploration proved there was plenty of it in the area and Nanaimo became chiefly known for the export of coal. In 1853 the company built the Nanaimo Bastion, which has been preserved and is a popular tourist destination in the downtown area. Coal mines were established in the Nanaimo harbour area.

The gassy qualities of the coal which made it valuable also made it dangerous. The 1887 Nanaimo Mine Explosion killed 150 miners and was described as the largest man-made explosion until the Halifax Explosion. Another 100 men died in another explosion the next year.

An internment camp for Ukrainian detainees, many of them local, was set up at a provincial jail in Nanaimo from September 1914 to September 1915.

In the 1940s, lumber supplanted coal as the main business although Minetown Days are still celebrated in the neighbouring community of Lantzville.

Chinatowns
Nanaimo has had a succession of four distinct Chinatowns. The first, founded during the gold rush years of the 1860s, was the third largest in British Columbia. In 1884, because of mounting racial tensions related to the Dunsmuir coal company's hiring of Chinese strikebreakers, the company helped move Chinatown outside the city limits. In 1908, when two Chinese entrepreneurs bought the site and tried to raise rents, in response, and with the help of 4,000 shareholders from across Canada, the community combined forces and bought the site for the third Chinatown at a new location, focused on Pine Street. That third Chinatown, by then mostly derelict, burned down on 30 September 1960. A fourth Chinatown, also called Lower Chinatown or "new town", boomed for a while in the 1920s on Machleary Street.

Climate
Like much of coastal British Columbia, Nanaimo experiences a temperate climate with mild, rainy winters and cool, dry summers. Nanaimo is usually shielded by the mountains of central Vancouver Island, so that summers are unusually dry for its latitude and location—though summer drying as a trend is found in the immediate lee of the coastal ranges as far north as Skagway, Alaska.

Heavy snowfall does occasionally occur during winter, but the mean maximum cover is only 0.2 metres (7.9 in).

By boat
Most travelers to Nanaimo will arrive from Vancouver.

BC Ferries
There are three car ferries at three different Nanaimo terminals:


 * Connects with Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) ferry terminal in West Vancouver. Ferry crossing is 1 hour and 40 minutes. The ferry departs slightly less frequently than once every 2 hours. First and last departure times vary seasonally with typical inbound and outbound daily first departures being around 6:15 am and last departures being around 10 pm or 11 pm. This is the more scenic of the two ferries from Nanaimo. Located in urban Nanaimo about 5 km north of downtown Nanaimo.
 * Public transit
 * Nanaimo (Departure Bay) ferry terminal is served by bus routes operates by BC Transit on the following routes:
 * Routes 20 and 20A travel between downtown Nanaimo and Woodgrove Exchange (in north Nanaimo) via the ferry terminal
 * Route 25 travels a large single direction loop around Nanaimo, starting at Woodgrove Exchange, stopping at the ferry terminal, stopping in downtown, stopping at Vancouver Island University (VIU), and then ending at Woodgrove Exchange.
 * Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) ferry terminal is served by several of TransLink's bus routes including:
 * Route 250, connecting to downtown Vancouver. Enables connections with Burrard station (SkyTrain Expo Line) at its stop on Georgia St at Burrard St, and with Granville station (SkyTrain Expo Line) and Vancouver City Centre station (SkyTrain Canada Line) at its stop on Georgia St at Granville St
 * Route 257, a limited stop service connecting to downtown Vancouver. Enables connections with Burrard station (SkyTrain Expo Line) at its stop on Georgia St at Burrard St, and with Granville station (SkyTrain Expo Line) and Vancouver City Centre station (SkyTrain Canada Line) at its stop on Georgia St at Granville St
 * Route 262, connecting to Lions Bay and parts of West Vancouver
 * Intercity buses
 * IslandLink Bus and Tofino Bus both stop at the Nanaimo (Departure Bay) ferry terminal. See by bus below.
 * Parking options
 * Short-term and long-term parking are available at the ferry terminal, but parking availability may be limited at peak times. BC Ferries' website identifies the current amount of long-term parking remaining.
 * Amenities
 * Wi-Fi: Free service at the ferry terminal. Not offered on the ferries.
 * Washrooms: Available in the terminal and on board ferries.
 * Eating and shopping: A coffee shop is in the terminal. A cafeteria style-restaurant and a gift shop are on board the ferrie


 * Connects with Vancouver (Tsawwassen) ferry terminal in Delta. Ferry crossing is 2 hours and the ferry departs every 2.5 hours. Inbound and outbound ferries' normal daily departure times are at 5:15AM, 7:45AM, 10:15AM, 12:45PM, 3:15PM, 5:45PM, 7:15PM, and 10:45PM, except that on Saturdays, the last departures are at 5:45PM, and on Sundays, the first departures are at 10:15AM. The route is a quicker option than Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) route to Nanaimo, if traveling from areas south of Vancouver. Nanaimo (Duke Point) is located in an industrial area on a peninsula southeast of downtown Nanaimo, 15 km from downtown.
 * Public transit
 * Vancouver (Tsawwassen): Translink bus route 620, travels between Tsawwassen and the Bridgeport station (SkyTrain Canada Line).
 * Nanaimo (Duke Point): Not available, expect an expensive taxi fare.
 * Parking options
 * Short-term and long-term parking are available at the ferry terminal, but parking availability may be limited at peak times. BC Ferries' website identifies the current amount of long-term parking remaining.
 * Amenities
 * Wi-Fi: Free service at the ferry terminal. Not offered on the ferries.
 * Washrooms: Available in the terminal and on board ferries.
 * Eating and shopping: A coffee kiosk is in the terminal. A cafeteria style-restaurant and a gift shop are on board the ferries


 * Connects with, the north most of the Southern Gulf Islands. Crossing time is 20 minutes with departures are every 35 to 70 minutes.
 * Public transit
 * Nanaimo (Nanaimo Harbour): BC Transit has many routes nearby as the ferry terminal is in the downtown area.
 * Gabriola Island (Descanso Bay): There is no public transit on Gabriola Island.

Reservations

 * Are available for ferries serving Nanaimo (Departure Bay) and Nanaimo (Duke Point)
 * Can be completed on BC Ferries' website or by phone.
 * Are a generally good idea, as ferries can fill up. If you book far enough in advance and prepay with saver fare is available, you may even pay less than showing up at the terminal. Otherwise, reservations increase the cost of the trip, between increasing cost between $2.50 extra and $17, depending on which option you choose.
 * Drivers must redeem their reservation at the ferry terminal at least 30 minutes before the scheduled sailing or they lose their guarantee to be on the sailing and are given the same priority as anyone else showing up at the ferry terminal without a reservation.

The base fare to travel to or from Nanaimo (Departure Bay) and Nanaimo (Duke Point) ferry terminals are the same.

Hullo
Bus route 20 operates to this Hullo's Nanaimo ferry terminal and Hullo also has a free shuttle between the ferry terminal and downtown Nanaimo. The nearest public transit to Hullo's Vancouver ferry terminal is about 400 metres away.

Main airport destinations
FIights to Nanaimo from Vancouver (30 minutes) and Calgary (1.75 hours).

Main airport airlines

 * Flights to Nanaimo from Vancouver and Calgary. The cost to add this onto an Air Canada flight into Vancouver or Calgary is often minimal.
 * Flights to Nanaimo from Calgary.

Seaplanes
Seaplanes operate to Nanaimo harbour near downtown Nanaimo
 * Operate flights to Nanaimo from Sechelt (20 minutes), downtown Vancouver (20 minutes), Vancouver International Airport (20 minutes). Harbour Air operates the De Havilland Otter and operates from a larger terminal on the downtown waterfront. Harbour Air services operate hourly from about 7AM to 6PM. Reservation recommended. The cost is about $55.
 * Operates flights from May to September between Seattle and Nanaimo.
 * Operate flights to Nanaimo from downtown Vancouver and Vancouver International Airport. Seair flies the De Havilland Beaver and the Cessna Caravan and operates from a terminal near the Departure Bay ferry terminal.

By car
Highways serving Nanaimo:


 * Highway 1 (Trans-Canada Highway). Travelers reach Nanaimo driving north from Victoria. It is about a 90-minute drive from Victoria. This highway travels to Nanaimo (Departure Bay) ferry terminal and continues at Vancouver (Horseshoe Bay) ferry terminal in West Vancouver.
 * Highway 19. Travelers reach Nanaimo driving south from Campbell River and Courtenay. This highway terminates at Nanaimo (Duke Point) ferry terminal.

Get around
If arranged ahead of time, cars can be rented at the downtown harbour, Departure Bay ferry terminal or the Nanaimo airport.

By public transit
Also operates the following routes between cities:


 * Route 20 between downtown Nanaimo and Woodgrove Centre with a stop at Departure Bay ferry terminal. Travel time between downtown Nanaimo and Departure Bay ferry terminal is about 10 minutes and between Departure Bay ferry terminal and Woodgrove Centre is about 30 minutes.
 * Route 25 does a large clockwise loop around Nanaimo to assist with travel to and from Departure Bay ferry terminal. It is fastest option to travel from Woodgrove Centre to the ferry terminal (23 minutes). It is also useful for travel from the ferry terminal to downtown Nanaimo (about 10 minutes).
 * Route 50 between downtown Nanaimo and Woodgrove Centre (30 min). The fastest option between Nanaimo and Woodgrove Centre.
 * Route 70 between downtown Nanaimo and Duncan (1.25 hours) with stops in Ladysmith and at Nanaimo Airport. Operates multiple times daily from Monday to Saturday,
 * Route 91 between Woodgrove Centre and Qualicum Beach (1 hour) with stops in Nanoose Bay and Parksville. Operates multiple times daily.

See

 * Pioneer Plaza -- at the foot of Bastion Street, you'll find markers for a self-guided walking tour of the downtown core.
 * Pioneer Plaza -- at the foot of Bastion Street, you'll find markers for a self-guided walking tour of the downtown core.
 * Pioneer Plaza -- at the foot of Bastion Street, you'll find markers for a self-guided walking tour of the downtown core.
 * Pioneer Plaza -- at the foot of Bastion Street, you'll find markers for a self-guided walking tour of the downtown core.

Do




Buy
Nanaimo is the largest city that can be easily accessed by most of Vancouver Island. As leaving the Island to do shopping is expensive and time consuming, Nanaimo has become the shopping centre for Vancouver Island. According to a 1990 Time Magazine article, it has more square meters of retail space per capita than any other city in North America. Much of this shopping is in the large number of malls and big box retailers on the outskirts of at the north end of the city just south of where Highway 19 and Highway 19A converge, such as Woodgrove Centre. However, most of the interesting shops are in the downtown core.



Eat
If you are visiting Nanaimo, you should try a Nanaimo Bar, a delicious dessert that was invented in this city. A Nanaimo Bar consists of a layer of chocolate ganache on top, custard icing in the middle, and a wafer, nut, and coconut crumb base. A number of tourist shops sell Nanaimo Bars along the downtown Nanaimo waterfront, and at least one sells Nanaimo Bar ice cream cones. Nanaimo Bars can also be found in a number of other places, including some grocery store bakeries and at the cafeterias on many BC Ferries sailings, including those connecting Nanaimo with the Vancouver area.

Restaurants in Nanaimo:

Go next
Nanaimo is a hub city for the island, as such it provides good access to a number of locations on the island.

Ladysmith, along the Trans-Canada Highway to the southeast, is a picturesque tourist town.

It is about a 3-hour drive to Tofino and Long Beach Unit of Pacific Rim National Park.

North of Nanaimo is Campbell River, Telegraph Cove and Port Hardy.

The beaches of the Parksville/Qualicum Beach region are a short 20-minute drive from Nanaimo. This region also includes Coombs, offering some wonderful rustic and exotic shopping and this is where you find the goats on the roof. It's a favourite spot for locals and an excellent stop for tourists. It's about a 30-minute drive from Nanaimo.