Vancouver spots to watch sail aways

[ChanaC]

We're sailing out of Vancouver, but arriving two days early to explore the city a little. I thought it would be cool one night to watch some of the ships leave port. I hear Prospect Point in Stanley Park is cool, but it looks out of the way, and it might be too much of a walk for us to get there, and we aren't renting a car. Can you get Uber over there? It looks like Brockton Point might be another good area, especially since there are other attractions in the area we want to do, like the aquarium and the totem poles, even if the ships are further away. Has anyone been to either as the ships were leaving and have any thoughts? Or does anyone know of some other potentially good options.

[martincath]

2 hours ago, ChanaC said:

We're sailing out of Vancouver, but arriving two days early to explore the city a little. I thought it would be cool one night to watch some of the ships leave port. I hear Prospect Point in Stanley Park is cool, but it looks out of the way, and it might be too much of a walk for us to get there, and we aren't renting a car. Can you get Uber over there? It looks like Brockton Point might be another good area, especially since there are other attractions in the area we want to do, like the aquarium and the totem poles, even if the ships are further away. Has anyone been to either as the ships were leaving and have any thoughts? Or does anyone know of some other potentially good options.

Prospect Point is one of the classic stops in Stanley Park - and about the only place you can look down on Lions Gate bridge - so it's about as much of a 'must visit' as anywhere in the city, and the hill is a bit of a pain if you're walking or biking! Be aware though in terms of cars that it's on the one way loop within the park - cabs can't refuse to take you but a lot of Uber drivers will reject fares to Prospect point as they then have to eat the cost of getting all the way around the loop to exit... 

 

Underneath the bridge on the Seawall you could get a shot from basically sea level of the ship passing under it - heck, almost anywhere along the Seawall out to the far end of the park you'll have an angle to see the ships depart, with various different things in the background or potentially interesting foreground options to include (sailing vessel masts at the marina, trees in the park, assorted tall buildings or bits of public art).

 

Canada Place pier itself, if you walk right out to the end will give you a ballpark Promenade deck level view of ships from very close up, which generally back out and rotate as they usually dock pointing in toward the city - stand next to the big 'raindrop' statue on the convention centre seawall corner and you'll have a good view from the opposite side of ships on the west side of the pier leaving. Up top of the convention centre near the Lego Orca statue, with floatplanes below you, gives another angle. On the walkway on top of the green roof gives yet another possibly framing, with olympic cauldron and a departing ship possibly able to be combined in a wide angle shot.

 

Pop over on the Seabus to the north shore and there's a bunch more viewing along the seafront there too (heck, time it right and you could be ON the Seabus watching!)

 

Honestly, I'd just have a wander and figure it out for yourself as there are literally miles of places to watch from - what is the best view for you is entirely subjective! You can 'walk' the seawall virtually with Google Streetview to get some idea in advance too.

 

Personally, any time there's been an interesting ship - like the first time one of the huge NCL monsters came to town - I just have a wander along Canada Place to have a shufty close-up.

[Milhouse]

Just to add another data point:  

The view from Canada Place itself is great to check out the ships and see the initial sailaway.  I did this for the missus and the inlaws and some friends that went on Alaska cruises last year and I found it to be a good spot to say goodbye and watch the ships leave.  It's not practical to chase after the ships along the seawall though.  🙂

The missus and I regularly catch ships departing while walking along the seawall along Harbour Green Park which is along the seawall path if you continue "west" from Canada Place to the raindrop/pin statue and past the seaplanes.  The ships "disappear" past Brockton Point.

 

The downtown core and around Stanley Park is very walkable.  To provide some guidance from a reasonable walk perspective:

Walking around the seawall around the perimeter of Stanley Park is a bit of a hike.  We do it like once or twice a year but I'm not sure if it's a great usage of time for a tourist because it's a very long walk and I feel there's some boring/repetitive stretches.

The missus and I do various circuits of Stanley Park a few times of month.  One regular circuit is from English Bay to along Lost Lagoon to the Coal Harbour to Canada Place.  Another one we do is from Lost Lagoon to Lumberman's Arch, around Brockton Point along the seawall (where you pass by near the aquarium, totems, nine o'clock gun, etc) and then back to Canada Place.  These are shorter than around the perimeter but still a bit of a long walk.  But there's more to see IMO.  The second circuit would be more conducive for seeing ships sail away.

Lastly, a very easy and fairly short circuit is walking along the seawall from the end of Denman street to Canada Place.  I do this route a few times a week after dropping the missus off at work near Canada Place and it takes me about a leisurely hour to do a full circuit there along Robson Street and back along the seawall.

[ChanaC]

Thank you everyone! 

 

Another question - how enforced is the one-way walking traffic along the seawall? Or is that just bikes? It might be nice to walk to Prospect Point from Brockton Point and all the other attractions in that area, but we wouldn't want to do the entire loop, and it's possible (especially depending on the weather) that we might start walking and want to turn around. Will we get a bunch of ugly looks for going against traffic, or is this pretty common?

[martincath]

10 minutes ago, ChanaC said:

Another question - how enforced is the one-way walking traffic along the seawall?

Even the rule about one-way biking is enforced far more by social pressure (and a desire not to have a head-on collision!) than by any LEOs - I've literally seen a horse cop chasing down a speeding bike once, and a speed trap set up very rarely, otherwise the only time I've seen the mounted patrol is at their stables (there have been serious injuries caused by speeding cyclists knocking people down, in one case right off the seawall onto rocks resulting in paralysis, so once in a blue moon they deploy the horse-cops with speedguns to rein in cyclists - pardon the riding pun!!!)

 

Walking, I can guarantee that even if you just stop suddenly without checking behind you there's a decent chance you'll hear some tuts and sighs and mutters about damn tourists - but mostly it's the idiots who walk obliviously onto the bike lane, inevitably right on top of a big sign with pretty pictures that makes it obvious to anyone with eyes that there are different places for pedestrians and bikes to be, that incur the bulk of local wrath! Walking against the flow absolutely will result in at least dirty looks, so if you're sensitive to social cues like that don't do it.

 

But there are plenty of other trails through Stanley Park - many of which connect with the Seawall, so you can e.g. cut back through toward the aquarium and park entrance or Lost Lagoon from Lumberman's Arch like Milhouse mentioned above. If you want to walk to Prospect Point you need to leave the seawall and use Avison trail or an internal roadway, unless you feel like scaling a cliff! Walking from there back downtown it may be quicker to skip the Seawall anyway and instead follow the Bridle Path or Pipeline Road, especially if you want to see Lost Lagoon or head to English Bay.

 

Check the official park maps for an idea of how many trails there are - current edition here but most up to date of this guide as well as various other maps and info best checked on the website - Google seems to have all the official trails listed, but not all fully-mapped with Streetview (they've done a lot of 'guy with a camera backpack' walking around Vancouver, the Seawall is definitely recorded well - most recently with pandemic signs about social distancing captured - but a lot of the trails through the forest remain un-Streetviewed so you can't do a full virtual walkthrough to check for landmarks and signage before you get here)

[ChanaC]

9 minutes ago, martincath said:

If you want to walk to Prospect Point you need to leave the seawall and use Avison trail or an internal roadway, unless you feel like scaling a cliff! Walking from there back downtown it may be quicker to skip the Seawall anyway and instead follow the Bridle Path or Pipeline Road, especially if you want to see Lost Lagoon or head to English Bay.

 

 

Ah okay, I'm starting to figure out the geography now using Google street view. It's so hard to tell with flat maps sometimes! It looks like I'm accidentally describing two different things - the Prospect Point lookout, and the area on the seawall under the Lions Gate Bridge (seems like what you would look down at from the lookout). So we're sailing April 30th, and exploring the city on the 28th and 29th. Considering it may still be cold and rainy (and considering my family isn't the most athletic) I'm thinking maybe getting an Uber to the lookout might be a better option, since it is a lot of walking. If we want to stand on that little beach area under the bridge, is there a way to walk down it from the lookout, or would it require some rock climbing skills like you described? Is there any "shortcut" to take an Uber/taxi to get close to that area of the seawall under the bridge (even if it includes some walking), or would we need to walk from the aquarium/totem pole area?

 

Also I hate to visit a new place and clash with their customs, but sorry Vancouverians, I wouldn't be walking a full loop and will walk against traffic!

[martincath]

1 hour ago, ChanaC said:

... If we want to stand on that little beach area under the bridge, is there a way to walk down it from the lookout, or would it require some rock climbing skills like you described? Is there any "shortcut" to take an Uber/taxi to get close to that area of the seawall under the bridge (even if it includes some walking), or would we need to walk from the aquarium/totem pole area?

Google Maps might need some manual dragging of end points around, but it's good for walking as it gives you elevations even without Streetview - for example, here's how to walk from Prospect Point down to the Seawall. About a kilometer of walking, and downhill if you start off being dropped at Prospect Point, rather than a ~150 foot plummet - definitely preferable!

 

And if this zoomed-in view link works properly, you might be able to persuade a cabuber to drop you off here at the intersection of Stanley Park Drive and Pipeline Road - as they can return down Pipeline to the park exit without being stuck doing the whole loop - which then means you just walk about a quarter mile along the Seawall to under the bridge.

[scottbee]

Another fine spot to watch ships pull out of the dock is Mahony and Sons Tavern at the Convention Centre West.  I've done that many times....

 

 

 

[ChanaC]

1 hour ago, scottbee said:

Another fine spot to watch ships pull out of the dock is Mahony and Sons Tavern at the Convention Centre West.  I've done that many times....

 

 

 

Thank you, I'll look into it! I've also been trying to find some bar/restaurants to watch it from closer to Canada Place. From what I can tell, Cactus Club Cafe, Tap and Barrel, and DeDutch (for breakfast/lunch) are also good options. 

[scottbee]

4 hours ago, ChanaC said:

Thank you, I'll look into it! I've also been trying to find some bar/restaurants to watch it from closer to Canada Place. From what I can tell, Cactus Club Cafe, Tap and Barrel, and DeDutch (for breakfast/lunch) are also good options. 

 

Mahoney and Sons (X on map) is perhaps 500ft from the ships, not sure how much closer you can be and still be sitting at a bar.   If you want to see the ships, you can walk the whole top level (in Green) of Canada Place, and you're maybe 50ft from the ships

[ceilidh1]

Hands down, the best spot to watch is ON the Lions Gate Bridge itself! There is a walking path - if you hapeen to be in when the bigger ships pass under it feels like you can reach out and touch them. My fave spot!

[gottagoacruzn]

Hey guys, is the Pan Pacific hotel right next to Canada place, been wonderin if you go in that hotel, could you wander out someplace there, an be next to the pier, & watch the ships leave?

[Urban trekker]

There is a promenade that encircles Canada Place which is where both the cruise port and the Pan Pacific are located.

Walk to the very end of the promenade to a place called North Point and you will get a very close up view of the ships leaving.  

The attached photo was taken at the North Point and you should be able to see cruise ships on each side.

[Milhouse]

Just to top up, inside the Pan Pacific there are a couple of bars and restaurants with a view.  The Coal Harbour Bar is likely the most convenient as you can grab a beverage and look out the west side of Canada Place above the Canadian Trail promenade area with windows facing towards Stanley Park.  Their website has a great picture the view during the day but I've added one below that I took tonight. Directly above the bar, up a flight of stairs, is the Five Sails restaurant which I'm not sure would be a good casual place to watch.  Right beside the bar is kind of an outdoor area but the door was locked when we went there tonight.  You can kind of see the railing in the website's picture.  Not sure if it's locked after a certain time or locked regularly.  In the second picture, you can kind of see the lighted areas from the corner of the Pan Pacific (middle of the picture) which are the bar and restaurant and where they are in relation to the west side.