Home of Canada’s only Floating Pub and Restaurant!
Protection Island has a history of coal mining, with an active mine on the island from the late 1800s until 1938. Formerly known as Douglas Island, after James Douglas the first Governor of Vancouver Island and British Columbia, it was renamed Protection Island in 1960.
Today there are roughly 350 full-time residents on Protection Island, many of whom work or go to school in town and commute by boat, ferry, or kayak every day.
Take a stroll around Protection Island and you’ll find beautiful beaches, forested parks and an abundance of birds and wildlife who make their home on the island.
Protection Island is also home to the Dinghy Dock Pub, Canada’s only registered floating pub. Enjoy lunch with one of the best views in town while your kids have fun fishing through a hole in the deck, or savour a refreshing beer on the sunny deck while you watch for wildlife like otters, seals, and herons. At night the fun continues as the Dinghy Dock becomes a unique venue for live music, with the lights of downtown Nanaimo providing a backdrop.
Getting To Protection Island
Protection Island is serviced by a small passenger ferry that leaves frequently from the Nanaimo Harbour.
To learn more about ferry times, fares, and service, visit the Dinghy Dock website.