The Story of Active Pass

Between Mayne and Galiano islands, the coast draws close around a channel that has served travellers for generations. Today the most visible traffic is the steady procession of ferries. The passage, however, was important long before their arrival.

A route before it had an English name

The islands and waters of the Salish Sea are the homelands of Coast Salish peoples. Canoe travel connected communities, harvesting places and trading networks throughout the region. Any account of Active Pass begins before colonial charts and ship names, with a living Indigenous relationship to these waters that continues today.

Surveyed coast, strategic passage

In the late 1850s, hydrographic surveyors were charting the intricate channels of the Gulf Islands. Active Pass offered a direct route between the Strait of Georgia and the waters leading toward Victoria. Its bends, shoals and fast-moving current demanded careful navigation, but its usefulness was unmistakable.

From coastal travel to ferry corridor

As settlement and trade increased, steamships and other working vessels used the passage. Modern ferries continue that maritime pattern. Their scale makes the channel feel narrower, and their close passage is one of the defining experiences of this part of Mayne Island.

A living waterway

Active Pass is not a museum piece. Weather, tide and traffic continually alter the scene. Eagles and seabirds work the shoreline; seals and porpoises appear in the surrounding Salish Sea; commercial vessels and small craft share the route with passenger ferries. The result is both beautiful and active in the most literal sense.

What to notice during your stay

Watch how each vessel sets up for the turn, how the wake reaches the Mayne shoreline and how the colour of the water changes with wind and current. The view is dramatic, but it is also a working navigation route: small craft should give ferries generous room and respect the hazards of the channel.