Like a few other locations on the BC Ferries map, Cortes Island is the end of the line. You need a ferry from Vancouver to get to Vancouver Island, then a ferry from there to Quadra Island, and finally a ferry from Quadra to Cortes. You don’t find this place by accident, you have to seek it out. And when you do, it’s hard to leave it. Not only because there are very few ferries departing from here, not only because the boats are tiny, and not only because the waters they cross are often feisty, but also because Cortes is a true gem of an island. You can find self-proclaimed kings here, delicate oysters, nudist beaches, and other great pleasures of life–such as a spot on the first ferry of the morning.