Harbours in Prince Rupert: getting there, harbour information and sailing destinations

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Prince Rupert lies on Kaien Island on the north coast of British Columbia, and the harbour is well sheltered by Digby Island. Here you can read how to reach the harbours in Prince Rupert for the start of your sailing trip, where Cow Bay Marina and Rushbrook Harbour are located, where to park and shop, what the sailing weather is like, which sailing destinations lie off the town and what skippers should bear in mind when berthing and clearing in.

Where are the harbours in Prince Rupert?

Prince Rupert has two harbours on the east side of the port: Cow Bay Marina in the Cow Bay harbour district, directly behind the old Atlin Terminal on the edge of the city centre, and Rushbrook Harbour, around a kilometre further north-east on George Hills Way. Both harbours are on the same shore, and the waterfront road runs between them.

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Cow Bay Marina is owned by the City of Prince Rupert and was built for visiting yachts. Rushbrook Harbour is a public fishing harbour with a slipway. Right next to Cow Bay Marina, the Prince Rupert Rowing and Yachting Club also has its own docks with visitor berths, and in the south of the city, near the ferry terminal, lies Fairview fishing harbour.

Feature	Cow Bay Marina	Rushbrook Harbour
Location	Cow Bay harbour district, 209 Cow Bay Road	George Hills Way, north-east of Cow Bay
Operator	City of Prince Rupert	Port Edward Harbour Authority (harbour facility of Small Craft Harbours, Fisheries and Oceans Canada); car park and slipway: City of Prince Rupert
Berths	around 51 slips for boats up to 100 ft (just over 30 m), side-tie dock for up to 150 ft	Floating docks (Rushbrook Floats), mainly for fishing boats
VHF channel	66A	–
Power	30, 50 and 100 amp	–
Showers, launderette	yes	–
Parking	Parking nearby	paid city car park

Arriving in Prince Rupert for the start of your sailing trip

You can reach Prince Rupert by plane, ferry, train or via a single road.

From Prince Rupert Airport to the city

Prince Rupert Airport (YPR) is on Digby Island, on the other side of the harbour. There is no road link: passengers take the bus onto the ferry and from there into the city centre as far as the Highliner Hotel on 1st Avenue West. The crossing takes around 20 minutes, and the bus and ferry are included in the flight ticket. As things stand (November 2026), one scheduled Air Canada flight lands each day. There are no hire cars at the airport, but you will find them in the city.

By ferry, train, bus or car

From Vancouver Island, the ferry currently (November 2026) runs through the Inside Passage from Port Hardy to Prince Rupert; the summer crossing takes around 16 hours. From Skidegate on Haida Gwaii, the ferry currently (November 2026) takes six and a half to seven hours. According to the provisional winter timetable for 2026/27, the Alaska Marine Highway ferries from Alaska do not call at Prince Rupert. The ferry terminal is in the south of the city, around four kilometres as the crow flies from Cow Bay Marina.

You can reach Prince Rupert by train from Jasper in the Rocky Mountains via Prince George. The train runs three times a week and takes one day and just under eleven hours to cover the 1,177 kilometres. Buses connect Prince Rupert with Prince George twice a week. By car, only one road leads into the city: the Yellowhead Highway along the Skeena River.

Cow Bay Marina or Rushbrook Harbour?

Both harbours are on the waterfront road on the eastern edge of the port, but a good kilometre apart: Cow Bay Marina is in the Cow Bay harbour district with its shops and restaurants, behind the Atlin Terminal on Cow Bay Road. Rushbrook Harbour is further north-east on George Hills Way, by the Rushbrook Trail. The Rowing and Yachting Club's docks are also in Cow Bay, right next to the marina.

Parking

At Cow Bay Marina, the nearest car park is around 100 metres away at the Rowing and Yachting Club, with another around 200 metres away on Cow Bay Road. At Rushbrook Harbour, the city operates a car park, and there are also parking spaces along George Hills Way about 200 metres from the harbour. Parking there is chargeable, and you can also pay via the city's app. The revenue goes towards the upkeep of the dock and its surroundings.

Showers and sanitary facilities

Cow Bay Marina has washrooms with showers right at the dock, and a laundry. The Rowing and Yachting Club next door has an accessible shower and also a laundry.

Shopping for the trip

The nearest supermarket is a Safeway, around 600 metres as the crow flies from Cow Bay Marina and around 1.7 kilometres from Rushbrook Harbour. A little further south is the larger Save-On-Foods, around 1.3 kilometres from Cow Bay Marina and around 2.3 kilometres from Rushbrook Harbour. For a big shop with lots of luggage, a taxi or hire car is worthwhile. Cow Bay Marina provides a cart for transporting your shopping to the boat.

Within about five blocks of Cow Bay Marina you will find shops, chandlers, a liquor store, cafés, restaurants, a pub and a brewery.

Doctor, pharmacy and emergency services

There are pharmacies in the Safeway, around 600 metres from Cow Bay Marina, and at Shoppers Drug Mart, around 900 metres away. Prince Rupert Regional Hospital is around 1.8 kilometres from Cow Bay Marina and around 2.8 kilometres from Rushbrook Harbour; it is a full-service hospital for the city and the region.

• 911: Emergency number for police, ambulance and fire brigade
• Distress: VHF channel 16, by mobile phone *16 (where available)
• Rescue co-ordination centre (Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre): 1-800-567-5111

Where is Cow Bay Marina?

Cow Bay Marina lies in the Cow Bay harbour district behind the old Atlin Terminal, where the cruise ships also dock. From the pontoon you walk straight into the district with its old timber houses, shops and restaurants, and the town centre begins just behind it.

The marina is owned by the City of Prince Rupert and was built with the support of the port authority. Because the water here is up to 30 metres deep and the tidal range exceeds seven metres, the piles of the pontoons are 37 to 60 metres long. A 183-metre floating breakwater protects the berths, and a public harbour walkway runs along the top of it.

Facilities at Cow Bay Marina

The marina has room for around 51 boats. There are wide finger pontoons for boats of 40, 60 and 80 feet and a side-tie dock for boats of up to 150 feet, while larger yachts moor at the breakwater. The berths have shore power at 30, 50 and 100 amps, fresh water and Wi-Fi. There are also showers, a laundry, waste disposal and a telephone at the top of the ramp. Opening hours vary with the season.

A visitor berth costs 2.25 Canadian dollars per foot per night for boats of up to 80 feet, plus a booking fee of 2.50 dollars and 5 per cent tax (as of November 2026). The length overall including dinghy and bowsprit is what counts. In the surrounding area there is a fuel dock for boats, a boat lift in Port Edward and a slipway for larger boats in Seal Cove.

Where is Rushbrook Harbour?

Rushbrook Harbour lies north-east of Cow Bay Marina on George Hills Way, at the Rushbrook Trail. The harbour is one of the fishing harbours in the Canadian Small Craft Harbours programme (Fisheries and Oceans Canada) and is run by the Port Edward Harbour Authority, which also operates Fairview fishing harbour in the south of the town.

Rushbrook Harbour is primarily a harbour for fishing boats. At the floats, known as the Rushbrook Floats, fishermen unload their catch, and seals, sea lions and otters are often splashing about in the water at the same time.

Facilities at Rushbrook Harbour

The City of Prince Rupert operates the car park and a public slipway at Rushbrook Harbour. You may moor at the ramp and launching float for 20 minutes at most, as the float is for launching only. Take care at low water, as the ramp is short then.

What is the sailing weather like in Prince Rupert?

In autumn and winter, south-easterly gales are common. Violent gusts then often come down from the mountain slopes above the harbour.

On the north coast, the Canadian weather service issues a gale warning (Gale Warning) from 34 knots and a warning of a severe storm (Storm Warning) from 48 knots. A strong wind warning for 20 to 33 knots exists on the Pacific coast only for the southern inner coastal waters, not for the north coast. Along the rugged coastline, the wind can differ markedly from the forecast locally.

The tides are mixed, mainly semi-diurnal. The mean tidal range is 4.9 metres, and 7.7 metres at spring tide.

Where can you go from Prince Rupert?

Prince Rupert, on the north coast of British Columbia, is the starting point for sailing trips south through the Inside Passage, across to Haida Gwaii and north to south-east Alaska.

• Inside Passage: The Inside Passage links Vancouver Island with the north coast via a long chain of sheltered channels, past the settlements of Klemtu, Bella Bella and Shearwater. In between lies almost untouched coastal wilderness, and the coast is part of the Great Bear Rainforest.
• Haida Gwaii: The archipelago lies west of Prince Rupert on the other side of Hecate Strait. In the south lies Gwaii Haanas, a national park reserve and Haida heritage site. If you enter with your own boat, you need a reservation, which must be made at least five working days in advance, and every person aged 17 or over must complete an online orientation with a final quiz. Keep your booking confirmation and certificate of completion on board.
• Ketchikan: The town lies in south-east Alaska. On a sailing trip there you leave Canada and enter the USA.
• Vancouver: The route south to Vancouver runs through the whole Inside Passage and is a sailing trip of many days. The harbours at the destination are described in our profile of the Marinas in Vancouver.

Around 45 kilometres north-east of the town, at the head of Khutzeymateen Inlet, lies a grizzly bear sanctuary, accessible only by boat or plane. You are most likely to see whales from late July to late September.

What can you do ashore in Prince Rupert?

Prince Rupert is compact and easy to explore on foot, and the path along the waterfront leads from Cow Bay in both directions.

• Cow Bay: The district around the marina has many historic timber houses, some on piles above the water, as well as shops, galleries and cafés. In Cow Bay you can also hire kayaks and SUP boards.
• Museum of Northern BC: The museum, housed in a Northwest Coast-style longhouse, shows thousands of years of Indigenous history and the history of the town, and also includes the Ruth Harvey art gallery.
• Rushbrook Trail: The wide gravel path links Rushbrook Harbour with Seal Cove, where seaplanes take off and land. It runs along steep cliffs directly above the water and over three suspension bridges.
• Butze Rapids Trail: The circular trail, about five kilometres long, leads to the shore and a viewpoint over tidal rapids, whose current changes direction with the tide.
• North Pacific Cannery: The cannery dating from 1889, beyond Port Edward and about 30 kilometres from Prince Rupert, is now a national historic site with boardwalks, machinery and guided tours.

For skippers: berthing, clearing in and marine weather in Prince Rupert

At Cow Bay Marina, register in advance using the online berth form, by phone or on VHF channel 66A. If you are arriving from abroad, report to the Canadian border authorities straight away at a designated reporting site.

Registration and Berthing

• Cow Bay Marina: register via the online form, by phone on +1 250 622 2628 or on VHF channel 66A. The staff will help with berthing and casting off if needed. You can tie up free of charge for up to two hours within any 24 hours, for example to go shopping.
• Rowing and Yachting Club: phone +1 250 624 4317, VHF channel 73. The staff will help you berth, and members of other yacht clubs get reduced rates on presenting their ID or burgee.

Plan your berthing around the tidal stream: in the harbour the flood sets roughly north-east and the ebb roughly south-west towards open water. At the yacht club's pontoons the flood pushes you onto the pontoon, while the ebb pushes you off it.

Clearing in on arrival from abroad

If you arrive by yacht from Alaska or another country, you must report to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) immediately when you berth, anchor or come into contact with another vessel. This also applies if you only want to refuel. You may only enter at an open reporting site for recreational vessels designated by the CBSA: either a Telephone Reporting Site, where the skipper calls the Telephone Reporting Centre on 1-888-226-7277 as instructed on the notice displayed there, or in person at a reporting site staffed by the CBSA. Cow Bay Marina is not such a reporting site. Only the skipper may leave the boat to make the call; everyone else stays on board until the CBSA clears entry. At the end you will be given a report number. Anyone who fails to report faces a fine of at least 1,000 Canadian dollars. If everyone on board is a NEXUS member, you report by phone between 30 minutes and four hours before arrival. The rules are set out in detail on the CBSA page for recreational boaters.

Harbour rules

The rules of the Prince Rupert Port Authority apply throughout the harbour:

• Anchoring outside the designated anchorages is only permitted in an emergency or with permission. If you need to anchor briefly, notify the Port Security Operations Centre on VHF channel 68 or on +1 250 627 2522. Rafting up at anchor is not permitted.
• Pass piers, floating facilities and seaplanes without creating a wash, and do the same within 600 yards of the shore between Fairview Terminal and Ritchie Point.
• Keep at least 50 metres away from ocean-going vessels under way, at anchor or at a terminal, and at least 100 metres from vessels that are bunkering.
• Within the harbour, refuelling is only possible at the Jepson Petroleum fuel station.

Approach

The main approach to the inner harbour runs from the south between Digby Island and Kaien Island. It can be navigated around the clock, is at least 35 metres deep at the entrance and is marked by the light on Spire Ledge and bell buoy D47. From the north-west, Venn Passage leads into the harbour, but it is only suitable for smaller vessels. The harbour is covered by Canadian charts 3957 and 3958.

There is a lot of commercial shipping in the harbour. The coast guard manages traffic as “Prince Rupert Traffic” on VHF channel 71, and it is worth listening in.

Which marine weather forecast applies in Prince Rupert?

For Prince Rupert, the marine weather forecast of the Canadian weather service (Environment and Climate Change Canada) for the north coast applies. The relevant forecast area is “Dixon Entrance East”, with “Hecate Strait” in addition for the route to Haida Gwaii. You can read the report on the marine weather page of the weather service. The forecast is issued daily at 04:00, 10:30, 16:00 and 21:30 Pacific time and covers warnings, wind, sea state and visibility. At sea, the coast guard broadcasts the report continuously by radio (Continuous Marine Broadcast), and you can hear the announcement for the north by phone on +1 250 624 9009.

Sailing trips from Prince Rupert on Törnfinder

You can find sailing trips starting or ending in Prince Rupert and elsewhere on Canada's west coast in the sailing trip search on Törnfinder.

Frequently asked questions

How do I get from Prince Rupert Airport to Cow Bay Marina?

Take the airport bus and the ferry across the harbour to the Highliner Hotel in the town centre; both are included in your flight ticket. The crossing from Digby Island takes about 20 minutes, and from the town centre you can reach Cow Bay on foot or by taxi.

Where do I park at the start of my sailing trip in Prince Rupert?

At Cow Bay Marina, car parks are around 100 to 200 metres away. At Rushbrook Harbour there is a pay-and-display car park run by the city, plus parking spaces on George Hills Way.

Does Cow Bay Marina have showers?

Yes, right by the pontoon, as well as a laundry and Wi-Fi.

Are Cow Bay Marina and Rushbrook Harbour the same harbour?

No. Cow Bay Marina is owned by the city and lies in the Cow Bay harbour district, whereas Rushbrook Harbour is a public harbour run by the Port Edward Harbour Authority, further north-east on George Hills Way.

Can I clear in at Cow Bay Marina?

No, Cow Bay Marina is not a CBSA reporting site. You may only enter at an open, designated reporting site for recreational vessels; at a Telephone Reporting Site the skipper calls 1-888-226-7277, and the crew stays on board until clearance is given.

How long does the ferry from Prince Rupert to Haida Gwaii take?

Six and a half to seven hours to Skidegate, as things stand (November 2026), several times a week.