Tofino Air

Great company to fly into Nanaimo from Downtown Vancouver, have used them before and will be using them in the future, inexpensive, always on-​time, great staff, clean planes.

Was not aware that floatplanes came in smaller sizes than the Harbour Air ones. But as far as I’m concerned… the smaller the better. For some reason, just feel safer in smaller planes. Just don’t tell my mom. She’s still getting over the whole «scuba diving with sharks» thing.
I am lucky enough that I get to take float planes to the island (s) for work. I know, it’s a tough job. This was a 2 day meeting that included a kayak picnic dinner and lunch on a sunny patio. Not even going to tell you who i work for!
Needless to say the flight over was awesome, very relaxed. We boarded from the Fraser river «terminal» where our pilot showed up about 5 min before flight. They proceeded to guestimate our luggage weight and off we went to Gabriola! Sweet ride.
The whole experience though was all about our experience from Gabriola to Richmond… first off, you cannot beat the «airport» sign (pic attached) not to mention our pilot who had us all in song before take of. Funniest guy ever. He clearly loves his job and does it well.
Highly recommend it.

$ 82 to Gabriola Island in under 30 minutes vs. about the same price with a car on the ferry for over two hours.
What’s your time worth?
I have taken the flight over to the Gulf Islands a couple of times over the years and it is THE way to go! The only thing they don’t offer is the student stand-​by fare like Harbour Air. But oh well.
Down a gravol a half hour before if you’re a lightweight like me, and keep an eye out for that life saver… the barf bag!