Taking tanks on US & BC ferries and across border

[saylke]

I'm planning a trip to Vancouver Island and was wondering if any of you NW divers could fill me in on any hassles you may have come across taking scuba tanks across the border and on BC ferries. Any problems? Anything I need to do ahead of time? I just dive air, not nitrox.

 

[boydski]

Keep them out of sight and you won't have any issues. On one trip where the tanks were just a little TOO obvious (and I had a LOT of tanks), they made me fill out a hazardous goods manifest and loaded me first with the trucks (so they could push the vehicle off the boat in case of a fire).

 

[cooldives]

The link tothe official BC Ferry answer can be found on the following website page....Ferry Travel To Best Dive Sites

I hope you enjoy your dives and have a safe trip. I would love if you could add some dive site reviews on the cooldives website after your trip?

 

[sunkmail]

Border - No Problems, been back and forth many times. The most I've been asked is where and for how long before I go back home.

BC Ferries - The Hazardous material form is easy. There is no charge, and you get to load first.

No matter what you have in your tanks, it's air. Just air. Nothing but air. (Don't ask questions, this comes from the guy that trains the safety people at the docks)

If you can get the form ahead of time, then fill it out and all you have to do is give it to them - and make sure you arrive a few minutes early, you sometimes have to take it to a particular place other than the ticket booth area. (They're all very good at telling you what you need to do.
If you try to hide your tanks and someone notices, you can be denied boarding - I'd rather not take that chance.

I did have a small annoyance, once. The guy wanted to 'inspect' our tanks ... for some reason he thought it would be safer for us not to have the first stage on our stage bottles - we were confused how that could possibly make them less safe, but disconnected them and we were off.

 

[Coldwater_Canuck]

If you try to hide your tanks and someone notices, you can be denied boarding - I'd rather not take that chance.

I did have a small annoyance, once. The guy wanted to 'inspect' our tanks ... for some reason he thought it would be safer for us not to have the first stage on our stage bottles - we were confused how that could possibly make them less safe, but disconnected them and we were off.

I've never been on the BC Ferries, but the ones I have been on there was never any inspections or anything. If you just had tanks in the trunk, how would they know?

And is it really a hazard? I mean it's just a tank of air like you say. I'm no chemist, but I'd think the car's gas tank would be more of a hazard in a fire than compressed air.

 

[sunkmail]

I've never been on the BC Ferries, but the ones I have been on there was never any inspections or anything. If you just had tanks in the trunk, how would they know?

And is it really a hazard? I mean it's just a tank of air like you say. I'm no chemist, but I'd think the car's gas tank would be more of a hazard in a fire than compressed air.

Don't get me wrong - I agree that the regulations are silly, at best. If you say you have nitrox, they get veryconfused, and there is a lot more paperwork (hence, you have air) Don't even try to explain trimix, or hypoxic mixes.

I did hear a story about someone that had some tanks in the trunk, and their 'buddy' decided to mess with him - told the ferry guy that 'that truck has scuba tanks in it' - caused a big fuss.

Under normal circumstances, you don't need to worry, no one will know. On the other hand, it's free and not difficult to fill out paperwork. Why not just do it?

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I did hear a story about someone that had some tanks in the trunk, and their 'buddy' decided to mess with him - told the ferry guy that 'that truck has scuba tanks in it' - caused a big fuss.

That must've been the same genius that, when asked if he's carrying any firearms replies "Sure, whaddya need?"

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[wedivebc]

You might find this helpful http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/western-canada/213839-nitrox-bc-ferries.html

 

[ChevaYEA]

On our last trip we took the ferry from port angeles to victoria and were quite obviously packing a lot of tanks and we didn't have any problem. We told them we were going diving and they said "have fun".

 

[sunkmail]

On our last trip we took the ferry from port angeles to victoria and were quite obviously packing a lot of tanks and we didn't have any problem. We told them we were going diving and they said "have fun".

Not trying to be a jerk .... BC Ferries or a Washigton based Ferry?

It's my (possibly limited) understanding that BC ferries run under a different, and much more restrictive, guideline.