Westcoast Sightseeing — Local services in Vancouver

PS! This review includes two reviews, as Google only allows one review per company.

Review: Vancouver Island (Butchart Gardens, Victoria)

We did this one the day after the HOHO trip and was not sure what to expect. However, our drivers were great, especially Andy who drove us for the longest sections. But Gary and Leonardo were also very friendly and helpful. Being picked up and dropped off at the hotel was very much appreciated.

The tour was a good overview of the two destinations and more time could easily have been spent at either of them to explore more. The trip inspired us to maybe come back to do more another time.

Andy's commentary was very informative, relevant and lighthearted. He was very good at giving helpful directions ahead of time when we had to step off the bus, what to look out for when we were given free time and when to be back on the bus. Would go on a tour with him again anytime.

The only downside, which is not a reflection of the trip or the company, was a group of adults at the back of the bus who decided that the commentary wasn't for them and kept having loud conversations between themselves. As a result we learnt just as much about their family lives as what we did about Vancouver Island, etc.

Review: Vancouver Discover Hop On Hop Off

The hop on/hop off bus Discover trip is a good way to get around the city and get a general overview. Destinations are good and the score could easily jump two stars by addressing some of the issues described below.

Finding the stops were not easy, as the signs are small and don't stand out. We asked a local parking attendant who works in the area for help and she even found it hard to recognise the signs. It would also be good to indicate how often the buses run, there's no information about that at the stops or in the brochure.

Being a hop on/hop off bus, we were surprised that the ticket we received was a tiny paper copy which is easy to lose. A cardboard or plastic ticket is more durable when you have to show/handle it multiple times. I ended up taking a photo of ours, which worked fine. On a side note, the Discover ticket is valid for 24 hours, but the buses only run from 9am until 6:30pm, so in essence you can only use the ticket for 9-10 hours.

What I missed on this trip was a clearer indication on when we had reached a stop. The narration would say that we were arriving at a stop, but then the bus would stop for traffic, etc. and it wasn't indicated when the bus actually stopped for letting off and taking on passengers. Sitting in the top section, we missed a few of our stops as we didn't know if it was just another traffic stop or not. A sound indicator or a live announcement when the bus had finally stopped at a destination would be a great improvement.

Sometimes the bus stopped for several minutes without us knowing why. We later learnt that there had been a changeover of drivers. It would have been great to inform passengers why there was a longer stop and when it would be expected that the bus was leaving again.

The narration was interesting and clear when sitting on the top floor, but hard to hear downstairs in the back. A few times there was so much information provided ahead of a location, that it was difficult to remember and look out for what had been suggested. A few times the same recording was played again a few minutes later and then stopped. Most annoying was the fact that recordings were cut off before they had finished, so we only got half the story.

Another suggestion would be to have some buses going in the reverse direction. Sometimes you would like to go back to a previous stop, rather than having to go all the way around the loop first. And you may also want to see things in a different order. Having the option of a reverse route would increase the value of the...

Hop on and off to see Vancouver. Westcoast Sightseeing’s Hop-On, Hop-Off service is a good way to see Vancouver. Overall, I like the service. The tour consisted of fairly comfortable busses with good open-air seat visibility and pre-recorded narration across two loops, the Park Loop and City Loop. The loops did cross, so we purchased the combined pass (I recommend you do) to flexibly visit the stops we were interested in as the day wore on. We purchased tickets on their great web site and picked up our first bus right next to our hotel in downtown Vancouver. We moved back and forth between routes to visit several key stops while seeing much of Vancouver and receiving some education on the city along the way. The narration was informative and somewhat corny. The scripting lacked some of the local charm and flexibility we’ve seen with live narrations of similar tours in other cities. The scripting also repeated itself multiple times between stops sometimes, which was annoying. Some drivers did add some commentary, which we much appreciated (message to Westcoast, improve your narration scheme). The bus drivers were generally okay (some good, some a bit rude), and the condition of the busses were generally good. The company maintains a live, on-line bus location feed that’s fantastic; we displayed the feed on our cell phones to time our station pickups. During our tour, the busses crowded up by mid-day, really too crowded at one point, forcing us to miss two pickups in a row due to no seats. Westcoast Sightseeing adds more busses when ridership is congested, but they add the new busses too slowly, forcing unacceptable waits (message to Westcoast, improve your timing scheme). We did see plenty of energetic young employees with electronic tablets at stops; these staff were very friendly and did a great job answering questions and trying to organize the bus flow. The price is okay; I think the combined two-loop ticket is the best value. We especially liked the Westcoast Sightseeing Hop-On, Hop-Off service for the Stanley Island portion of our visit; we exited the bus on one side of the huge park and hiked the forests, bay views, and gardens to the opposite side of the park to catch another bus back to the city—very convenient. Overall, I liked the Westcoast Sightseeing’s Hop-On, Hop-Off; it’s a decent value for decent price, good stops, and fair reliability, all without having to worry about driving and parking in busy Vancouver. Westcoast definitely needs to make some improvements, but even with the current imperfections, the service is a reasonable choice for touring the beautiful and interesting city...

Whistler + Sea to Sky Gondola Trip (Big Bus / Westcoast Sightseeing)

We were picked up at our appointed time by Andrea M on a small bus. It was very clean and had comfortable seats. Andrea explained to us how the day was going to proceed. She started off giving us wonderful, informative commentary as we left Vancouver via the Sea to Sky Highway to make our way to our first stop at Porteau Cove.

Our second stop was the Sea to Sky Gondola near Squamish. My husband and I were able to hike the Panorama Loop and the Spirit Trail which crossed the Sky Pilot Suspension Bridge. The views were gorgeous from both trails! If we had a bit more time it would have been great to get a beer and enjoy the view from the outside deck at the Summit Lodge.

We then made our way to Whistler Village. There are many restaurants and shops to explore and trails to take advantage of. There is also the Peak 2 Peak Gondola ride, but we only had 3 hours in Whistler, and the Info personnel said it could take that long if you add the suspension bridge portion. It’s one price no matter how much of the ride you do. It’s a good idea to do some research as far as what restaurant you want to eat at or what hikes/walks that you want to do to maximize your time in Whistler.

On our way back to Vancouver, we stopped for half an hour at Shannon Falls. There are three viewing points for the beautiful waterfall. FYI, there are many stairs to reach the third viewing point. After that, we made our way back to Vancouver. My husband and I had such a wonderful day! Andrea was exceptional with her on-going commentary throughout the day as well as answering all our questions. She is very personable and friendly. Andrea also gave lots of restaurant suggestions for Vancouver, which was very helpful. Thanks, Andrea, for making the day so memorable! I would highly...