RV & Oversized Vehicle Space: Horseshoe Bay ⇄ Departure Bay
This is the camping route. Tofino, Strathcona, the whole mid-Island road trip corridor starts with a Horseshoe Bay sailing, which puts the over-height allocation here under pressure from exactly the people most likely to need it — campers, trailers, truck-and-boat combinations, vans built out for the summer.
Oversized space is booked separately from standard space and disappears earlier. Everything below is the over-height pool only, so what you see is what your vehicle can actually use.
Set a free alert on the oversized pool and get a text the moment RV or trailer space opens on this route.
Watch Horseshoe Bay → Departure Bay Watch Departure Bay → Horseshoe BayWhy oversized space goes first
Peak demand meeting a terminal that was not built for it
Horseshoe Bay is hemmed in by the highway and the village around it. There is little room to stage over-height vehicles, and the oversized allocation on each sailing reflects the terminal as much as the ship. Summer weekends put maximum RV and trailer demand through the tightest terminal in the system.
Being caught without a reservation is worse here than anywhere
On a busy afternoon the drive-up overflow at Horseshoe Bay backs up onto the approach road, and an over-height vehicle in that queue is waiting on the small share of oversized space left over once reserved vehicles have loaded. Waiting through two or three sailings is a realistic outcome. On this route more than any other, catching a cancelled oversized reservation is worth the wait for the text.
Is your vehicle oversized?
Oversized starts at over 7'2" / 2.18 m tall or over 20' / 6.1 m long. On a camping route that catches more people than expected: a mid-size SUV towing a tent trailer is usually over 20' combined, and a van with a roof rack and a box on it is often over 7'2" without the owner ever having measured.
Measure the whole rig, tow ball to tail light, and to the highest fixed point. If the number is borderline, book oversized — there is no spare over-height space on a summer Friday to absorb a vehicle bigger than the one you declared.
The full rules, and what they mean for fares and loading, are in the BC Ferries oversized vehicle guide.
Frequently asked questions
Is oversized space on Horseshoe Bay–Departure Bay harder to get than standard?
Yes, and noticeably so in summer. The over-height allocation is small, and this is the route most camping and trailer traffic uses. Oversized regularly sells out days before standard space on the same sailing.
I am towing a tent trailer. Does that count as oversized?
Almost certainly. Length is measured for the whole combination, and once the vehicle plus trailer is over 20' / 6.1 m it books as oversized. Most tow vehicle and trailer pairs are over that line.
Should I try Duke Point instead if oversized is sold out here?
It is the first thing to check. Duke Point serves the same city, and its ships and terminals are built around large commercial vehicles, so over-height space there often outlasts Departure Bay on the same weekend.
How long is the drive-up wait for an RV at Horseshoe Bay in summer?
Plan for more than one sailing on a peak afternoon. Oversized drive-up space is the remainder after reserved over-height vehicles load, and there is not much of it.
When do cancelled oversized reservations show up?
There is no schedule, but the heaviest churn is in the 24 to 48 hours before departure, as trips get shortened, extended or called off. That is the window an alert is built to catch — a released spot is often taken within minutes, which is not something manual refreshing wins.