A Harbour Departure, Not an Airport One
The scheduled floatplane service connecting Nanaimo to Vancouver takes off and lands directly on the water in Nanaimo's inner harbour, a few minutes' walk from downtown hotels, restaurants and the harbourfront walkway. That's the single biggest difference from flying out of a conventional airport: there's no long check-in process, no security theatre on the scale of a major terminal, and the whole experience runs on a much smaller, faster rhythm. You show up, check in at a small terminal building, and walk out onto a dock to board.
On the Vancouver side, flights land on the water near the downtown core, which puts you within a short walk or cab ride of the city centre rather than requiring the additional transit connection a landside airport arrival would add.
Trading Ferry Scenery for Speed
Where the BC Ferries crossing between Nanaimo and Vancouver takes the better part of two hours on the water alone, before adding the drive to either terminal, the floatplane covers the same distance in a fraction of that time. It's the option that makes sense for a day trip to Vancouver that would otherwise eat most of a day in transit, or for anyone trying to make a tight connection who can't afford the ferry's slower, more variable schedule.
What you give up is the ferry's ability to bring a car along and its lower cost for a group. A floatplane seat is priced per person and comes with real baggage limits, so it suits a light traveller far more comfortably than someone hauling luggage for a long stay or moving a vehicle across.
Weather Is the Real Variable
Because floatplanes operate under different rules than larger commercial aircraft, weather has an outsized effect on whether a flight goes ahead as scheduled. Low cloud, poor visibility or rough water in the harbour can delay or cancel a flight in a way that a ferry crossing on the same day usually wouldn't be affected by. If you're booking a seaplane flight around a tight connection, such as an international departure from Vancouver, build in a buffer rather than scheduling back-to-back with no slack, and have a rough idea of the ferry as a backup if the weather turns against you.
Coastal Vancouver Island's weather runs wetter and cloudier through the winter months, which is worth factoring in if you're planning air travel outside of the drier summer stretch.
Baggage, Check-In and What to Expect on Board
Floatplane travel comes with tighter baggage allowances than most travellers are used to from larger commercial flights, a function of the smaller aircraft used on this route rather than an arbitrary policy. Pack light and check specific limits before you fly rather than assuming your usual airline allowance applies. Check-in at a small harbour-side terminal is a quicker, less bureaucratic process than a major airport, often just a matter of confirming your booking and getting a safety briefing before walking down to the dock.
The flight itself sits low enough, and covers a short enough stretch of water, that most passengers get a genuinely good view of the Gulf Islands, the strait, and the approach into either harbour, which is part of why some travellers choose the seaplane specifically for the experience rather than purely for the time saved.
Seating on these aircraft is limited to a small number of passengers per flight compared to a conventional airliner, which means booking ahead matters more than it would for a scheduled jet route, particularly around busy travel weekends when seats can sell out well before departure day.
Who It's Actually For
The seaplane makes the most sense for business travellers, visitors without a car who are only in the region briefly, or anyone who values the novelty of a short scenic flight over the strait as part of the experience itself. For a longer stay where you'll want a vehicle to explore the island properly, the ferry remains the more practical choice despite the extra time, especially once you weigh in the cost of renting a car on the other end.
If you're weighing your options for the crossing more broadly, it's worth reading up on the difference between Nanaimo's two BC Ferries terminals as well, since which one you'd use changes the calculation on both time and convenience.