West Coast Trail Express

Great shuttle. Safe Driving. They stop for coffee and pee breaks and do excellent for schedule, considering all the long logging roads, road construction, etc. they have to navigate.

I wish I could split up my stars by category… so let’s try.
Service: 5 stars. Only 5 minutes late! And if you don’t have a reso, they still pick you up. Not sure how that works cause I don’t think the driver can take money, but it’s a nice touch. No reso means you may be sitting on the floor, but likely not for long as many people get off at China Beach before the bus heads to Victoria. A great service for avid hikers who need a ride back to their cars or didn’t have one to begin with. I am a HUGE fan of accessible yet still «wilderness» hiking.
Price: 3 stars. I picked up the bus at Sombrio which means a good 1.5h ride or so. I paid $ 55. A weeeee bit steep if you ask me considering the bus from downtown Victoria to downtown Van (and including ferry) was under $ 45.
Smell: MINUS 5. Wow. The second I stepped up it hit me like a ton of bricks. Last time I encountered rankness of that caliber I was in South America on a bus that contained people, babies with no diapers, livestock and chickens. And no, you do NOT get used to it. You take it for as long as you have to and you breath through your mouth (although doing so always makes me think of those nasty molecules passing through my mouth and tongue which is kinda worst than your nose right? which is the lesser of 2 evils??)
I cannot, however, let the the stankness of smelly dirty hikers influence my rating. I’m sure I contributed and all I kept thinking was… that poor poor driver. I hope he is adequately compensated.
Overall… a solid 4 stars. I would recommend the service, just bring nose plugs.