We've flown on float planes (as they're referred to some places) out of Vancouver into Victoria as well as to the Gulf Islands and San Juan Islands. They're pretty common in that part of the world and some pax commute regularly between their little island paradise home and work in the big city (i.e. Seattle, Vancouver).

I also flew into a Northern Ontario fishing camp years ago and a couple of months ago we flew on a tourist flight out over the Whitsundays and the Great Barrier Reef, landing on Whitehaven Beach for a champagne toast. That was our first experience taking off from a runway in a seaplane that had wheels.

An acquaintance was killed in a seaplane crash many years right in Vancouver Harbour, and I think about it every time I take off in one, as they drone on and on and on before finally lifting off from the water.