Looking for a family day trip from the city that combines natural beauty with touches of modern civilization? You can't do better than a visit to Bowen Island, just a twenty-minute ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay, northwest of Vancouver, and now, also a 25-minute, 'express' water taxi ride from Granville Island (pedestrian-only).
Bowen Island has long been a weekend playground for Vancouver residents and visitors, going back nearly one hundred years to the days of the Union Steamship Company's trips to the Island in the early part of the 20th century. It remains a popular place to visit, particularly during the summer months. Then the local population of 3,500 can easily swell by several thousand and the village centre of Snug Cove becomes abuzz with tourists and day-trippers.