This is the route we’d hand you if you’d never slept in a van before. Leave the driveway at 15:00, be at Porteau by 16:00, and you still have the whole evening: swim off the rocks at low tide, dinner on the tailgate, and the lights of West Vancouver across the water doing the work a TV would have done.
Why it works in this van. It’s 110 km round trip against a truck that will honestly do 240–270 loaded. You arrive with battery to spare, run the fridge and lights all night off the 12 V system, and drive home the next afternoon without touching a charger. First-timers should do exactly this before committing to four nights.
The plan. Site at 16:00 → awning out, dinette set for two → swim → pasta on the slide-out hob while the rain starts, sideways, and you’re under canvas with the door open → bed up top at 22:30 → hatch open, mesh only, water sounds → coffee at 07:00 with the tide at your step.
Watch for. Porteau sites are walk-in: park in the lot, carry everything 30–90 m. No hookups, no showers — that’s the point. Grey water goes out at the dump station on the way home, not on the beach.