Self taxi: why book a cab when you can drive yourself by boat
Use our pontoon as your own water taxi. Run from Cates Park to dinner in Deep Cove, the market at Lonsdale Quay or ice cream at Rocky Point, tie up and walk in.
Getting twelve people across the North Shore for dinner means three cars, a parking hunt and someone stuck as the driver anyway. Rent the boat instead. Your skipper drives, the rest of the crew watches the mountains go by, and you pull up at the restaurant from the water.
How it works
- Book a 4-hour block at the time that suits you, or a full day.
- Pick the boat up at our dock at Cates Park/Whey-ah-Wichen, at the mouth of Indian Arm.
- Drive to your destination and tie up at a public dock. Pay any posted moorage.
- Walk in, eat, shop or swim.
- Drive back to Cates Park by your booked return time.
We don’t do one-way trips. The boat starts and finishes at Cates Park.
Where to go
- **Deep Cove village:** five minutes away. Restaurants, ice cream and Honey Doughnuts a short walk up Gallant Avenue. Read our Deep Cove guide.
- **Lonsdale Quay and The Shipyards:** about 30 minutes west, through Second Narrows. The City of North Vancouver’s St. Roch Dock offers pay-by-the-hour moorage for small boats for up to three hours, right beside the market, restaurants and the summer night market.
- **Rocky Point Park, Port Moody:** 15 to 25 minutes east. Ice cream, the park and the walk into town. See our Port Moody guide.
- **Coal Harbour and downtown:** 35 to 45 minutes west. See our Coal Harbour guide before you go, because the route crosses the busiest water in the port.
We go over where you can tie up at each stop during your dock checkout.
The rules that make it work
- **The skipper stays sober.** Everyone else can enjoy a drink with dinner ashore. Nobody opens alcohol on the boat.
- **Back before dark.** The boat has to be back at Cates Park by 8:00 pm at the latest, so pick a dinner time that fits your booking.
- **You look after the boat.** Tie it up properly, pay the moorage, and take valuables with you.
- **Mind the timing at Second Narrows.** Heading to Lonsdale Quay or downtown, plan your crossings near the slack water times we give you at checkout.
Why it beats a taxi
Split the rental across a full crew and set it against two or three taxis each way. You get there by water, past the mountains and the city, and the trip home becomes part of the night out.
Book the boat and tell us where you’re heading.