Your first Vancouver seaplane flight, from check-in to splashdown
Nobody remembers the check-in desk, yet it decides where you sit. This guide follows a first floatplane flight from Coal Harbour in the order it happens, from the ID check and the walk down the dock to the take-off run and the hiss of the floats coming home. Most of it applies to both airlines, and where Harbour Air and Seair do things differently, we say so.
Check-in at the floating terminal
Both airlines on this site run their Vancouver tours from the Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre, a floating terminal on the seawall in Coal Harbour, a few steps from Canada Place. Harbour Air wants you at the desk 40 minutes before departure, and its check-in closes 20 minutes before. Turn up after that and the listing treats you as a no-show, with no refund. Seair asks for 30 minutes. Coming off a cruise ship the same morning? A seaplane flight on a cruise day works through the timing and the bags.
Everyone aged 18 or older needs identification, meaning one government photo ID or two pieces without a photo. A passport does the job, and so does a driver's license. Kids aged 2 to 11 pay a lower child fare on Harbour Air, and Seair flies nobody younger than 2; seaplane tours with kids covers infants and the other age rules.
Small aircraft care about weight and balance, and the pilot may seat people to keep the plane trim. So seats can be assigned for balance, and a couple may now and then end up a row apart.
Who gets the window and who sits up front
On Harbour Air's Classic Panorama, from ~$135, seating is first come, first served at boarding. Reviewers say the quickest walkers down the dock get the pick, so stay near the front of the line if one side of the cabin matters to you. The seat beside the pilot cannot be booked. It is the pilot's decision on the day, and one reviewer found that even a priority fare did not secure it. Depending on the aircraft, a Harbour Air tour carries somewhere between 8 and 14 passengers, and several reviewers describe the seats as small.
Seair handles it differently. Its City Skyline flight, from ~$139, uses a de Havilland Beaver. That bush plane design dates from 1947, and its cabin gives each passenger a window of their own. You can ask for the co-pilot seat when you check in, though a request is not a promise. For the two airlines compared side by side, read our guide to Harbour Air or Seair.
Down the dock and onto the float
Boarding is the part few people picture. You walk down the dock to the plane and step onto its float, and from there a short climb takes you into the cabin. Harbour Air expects every passenger to get in and out with little or no help, which is why its classic tour is marked as unsuitable for travelers with reduced mobility. Wear flat shoes with some grip, because a dock can be wet, and carry as little as you can, since there is not much space around the seats.
Once you are in, the belt goes on and you get a short safety briefing on how it opens and where the exits are. Harbour Air hands out earplugs, and you will be glad of them, because the engine sits only a few feet from the front row. It also offers a free digital tour-guide app that narrates the route. Bring your own headphones and ask about the app at check-in, since one guest says nobody mentioned it to them.
Taxiing out and the take-off run
If you have only ever flown on airliners, the floatplane take-off is the surprise of the day. Coal Harbour is one of the busiest floatplane harbors on the continent, with boats crossing the same water, so each take-off sticks to a marked lane. After a slow taxi away from the terminal, the engine note rises and the plane starts its run. Spray streams past the windows while the floats skim the surface, and a few seconds later the water lets go. Most first-timers find it smoother than a jet's take-off roll, with less push in the back and no runway rumble.
Up at about 1,000 feet
Sightseeing flights stay low. On Seair's skyline flight the Beaver levels off around 1,000 ft (300 m), close enough to make out cars crossing the Lions Gate Bridge and the seawall circling Stanley Park. Harbour Air's classic route crosses downtown and the park to the bridge, then traces the Lighthouse Park cliffs on toward Horseshoe Bay beneath the North Shore mountains. It comes home past BC Place and Science World, and on a clear day the view reaches up Howe Sound and across to the Cascades.
At those heights a short flight rarely brings much turbulence, and the ear pressure is mild next to an airliner's descent. A small plane does feel gusts more than a big jet, mostly on windy days. If you get motion sick, eat lightly beforehand and keep your eyes on the horizon outside. Swallowing or a good yawn clears your ears on the way down.
A window for every passenger
Seair's City Skyline flight seats you in a Beaver at about 1,000 ft for roughly 20 minutes in the air and 30 in all, from ~$139. The front seat beside the pilot is yours to request at the desk, and cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.
Photos through the glass
Every shot on these flights goes through a window, so reflections are the thing to beat. Hold the lens close to the glass, nearly touching it, and wear dark clothes so your own sleeve does not show up in the pane. Switch the flash off, and use a wide lens rather than a long zoom, since the view keeps moving.
Landing and back at the dock
For many first-timers the landing is the gentlest moment. The plane lines up with the lane and the floats meet the water with a hiss rather than a thud. Drag from the water slows you quickly. The pilot taxis back to the terminal, where the crew ties up and you step down onto the float.
Know what the clock covers before you book. Harbour Air sells its classic as a 30-minute experience, and that half hour counts boarding, taxiing, take-off and landing as well as the flying. Reviewers put the time in the air at 20–30 minutes. Seair's skyline flight is about 20 minutes airborne out of 30 in all. Harbour Air's Extended Panorama over Howe Sound, from ~$221, stretches the experience to 45 minutes, and what a Vancouver seaplane tour costs sets the price against the minutes for every flight.
If the city loop leaves you wanting the peaks, Seair's Coastal Mountain Scenic Flight, from ~$236, gives you roughly 30 minutes airborne (40 in all) over the North Shore mountains and The Lions, out to the glacier-carved valleys beyond Howe Sound. Its catch is the price for half an hour of flying, and its handful of reviewers scored value at 3.0 of 5. The longer mountain options are in glacier flights and lake landings.
When the weather says no
Seaplanes navigate by what the pilot can see. Low cloud can hold a flight at the dock or push it onto a different route, and fog or a strong wind can cancel it. When the operator cancels, you are offered a refund or a new time, so check the listing's terms for the details. Both booking sites let you cancel these tours free up to 24 hours ahead, which means you can book early and watch the forecast. The best time for a seaplane flight covers the months with the clearest skies, and if a helicopter or a simulator ride still tempts you, read seaplane, helicopter or FlyOver before you decide.