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Victoria BC Inner Harbour: You're Invited to Come Explore

What’s going on in the Victoria BC Inner Harbour?

Victoria BC Inner Harbour is one of the busiest harbours in the world – and one of the most beautiful!

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Empress Hotel from the Inner Harbour causeway in Victoria BC

On any given day the harbour traffic consists of:

Coho vehicle ferry from Port Angeles, USA
Clipper passenger ferry from Seattle, USA
Personal yachts and sail boats
Small cruise ships
Harbour Ferry water taxi service
Float planes taxiing to and from their terminals
Ecotourism businesses
Fishing charter boats
Whale watching boats and zodiacs
Coast guard vessels
Vessels being escorted to the Upper Harbour shipyard
Residents and tourists in kayaks, canoes and on stand-up paddle boards
Marine life such as otters, seals and the occasional whale

And that’s just the activity on the water!

Safety first on board the Harbour Ferry - Victoria's seasonal inner harbour water taxi.

The Victoria BC Inner Harbour is surrounded by a scenic causeway that is bustling with activity, especially in the summer. You’ll find the First Nations Artists Causeway Gallery featuring members of the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations who create and sell traditional Aboriginal artwork and crafts on site. In addition, there are other street vendors, musicians and artisans.

Across from the causeway and in front of the Empress Hotel, you can get onboard the Hop On Hop Off Sightseeing buses. Find tickets here.

Use the links below to find tickets to some of our most popular activities

Follow the causeway towards the Robert Bateman centre and you’ll soon find yourself on the David Foster Harbour Pathway which will take you to Fisherman’s Wharf and beyond to Ogden Point and along Dallas Road.

Fisherman's Wharf in Victoria BC

If you follow the causeway towards downtown, you will discover Ship Point. The area is being developed with a vision of becoming a waterfront park, festival and event site. It has long been home to markets and temporary viewing for annual events such as the Dragon Boat Festival held in August. Now it becomes more permanent. The development to the area includes improvements to the infrastructure, ensuring an enjoyable waterfront experience for years to come.

Harbour Air float plane taxiing in to terminal in Victoria's Inner Harbour.

If you follow the walkway beyond Ship Point, you can cross the Johnson Street Bridge (also known as the blue bridge), onto the West Bay Walkway and past the Victoria International Marina.

Just when you start thinking that a delicious snack and a cold brew would be perfect, you’ll come across Spinnakers. Stop to re-fuel and enjoy some local craft beer and then either continue into historic Esquimalt, hop on the water taxi to take you back into the Inner Harbour, or enjoy the scenic walk back.

The Victoria BC Inner Harbour is a special place because there is always something going on, there are normally many free activities hosted in the area (when COVID is no longer impacting events), and with a walkability score of 99 in the downtown core, it is a walker’s paradise!