What is Vancouver Island Like?
Vancouver Island is the largest island off the west coast of North America. Tucked against the mainland coast of British Columbia and the north shore of Washington State’s Olympic Peninsula, Vancouver Island occupies an area about the size of Holland. It stretches 500 kilometres (320 miles) southeast to northwest with an area of 3,175,000 hectares (9,493,171 acres) and 3,460.0896 kilometres (2,150 miles) of coastline. It is separated from Vancouver, BC by the Strait of Georgia to the east and from Washington State, by the Strait of Juan de Fuca to the south and southeast. Vancouver Island is actually closer to the United States than to mainland west coast Canada. A mountainous spine with peaks rising to 7,200 feet runs the length of Vancouver Island, breaking into long mountain fjords on its west coast that cut deeply into the island. Alberni Inlet cuts more than halfway through the island, ending at the community of Port Alberni. Saanich Inlet, in the Victoria area, is one of the few
