Travel advisoryStorm Warning on the ferry waters until Sun 10 AM · Steamship Authority travel advisory · High Wind Warning for Martha's Vineyard until Sun 8 AM · Coastal Flood Warning for Martha's Vineyard until Sun 8 PMThe Steamship Authority is continuing to monitor the forecast for the upcoming nor'easter that is expected to have significant effects for Cape Cod and the Islands through Sunday. We are waiving change and cancellation fees for travel scheduled for through Sunday, September 27.Steamship Authority · checked 1:45 PM ET
The clay cliffs at Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark. Both islands were left by the same glacier and both have cliffs like this; Block Island’s Mohegan Bluffs have a 141-step staircase down, the Vineyard’s cliffs at Aquinnah have a beach below and a lighthouse above.
Block Island vs Martha's Vineyard, honestly: a 9.7-square-mile island with one village and a $12 year-round ferry from Point Judith against 96 square miles, six towns and an $11 boat from Woods Hole. Size, ferries (the car fare gap is huge), beds, beaches, the week versus the weekend, and which one fits your trip from Rhode Island.
Block Island and Martha’s Vineyard get compared by people standing in Rhode Island with a free weekend, and the honest answer is that they are different sizes of the same idea. Both are glacial islands with clay cliffs, no chain stores in their harbors, beaches that cost nothing and a ferry between you and the mainland. But Block Island is a tenth the size, with one village, 1,400 year-round residents and a $12 boat from Point Judith; the Vineyard is 96 square miles, six towns that look nothing alike, 20,000 residents and an $11 boat from Woods Hole that lands you somewhere with a free bus to everywhere else. One is a day trip or a bike weekend. The other is a week. Here is the comparison by the things that decide it: getting there, the size, the beds, the beaches, the food and the nights, with the prices for both.
The Vineyard has about 20,600 year-round residents and a summer population past 200,000; Block Island has 1,410 residents and swells to about 15,000 in summer. Both keep about 40 percent of their land conserved.
Block Island’s traditional ferry from Point Judith runs all year, about an hour, $22.60 same-day round trip, children $5.15 each way, bikes $3.50, a car $39.60 each way with a reservation; a high-speed boat does it in about half an hour for $29 each way in season. The Vineyard’s Steamship is $11 each way, 45 minutes, year-round, and a car is $127 to $168 in summer with reservations that open in February and sell out.
The Vineyard’s cheapest room averages $532 a night in peak August, with a $40 hostel bunk at the bottom and a $1,000 harbor suite at the top, across dozens of inns, hotels and 3,800 rental listings. Block Island has a handful of Victorian hotels and inns around Old Harbor and a small rental stock; on a summer weekend it is simply full.
The Vineyard has Atlantic surf, calm Sound water, a warm pond beach and the clay cliffs, thirteen of them free, seven town or resident beaches. Block Island’s beaches are all free and its east-side strand runs for miles from the ferry, with the bluffs at the south end.
The Vineyard takes three days for a first visit and rewards a week; six towns, a fare-free bus and 44 miles of bike path see to that. Block Island is a bike loop: you can ride the whole island in a day, which is exactly its charm and its limit.
Block Island wins on the ferry, and it is not close for a day trip. The traditional boat from Point Judith in Narragansett runs every day of the year, takes about an hour, and a same-day round trip is $22.60; a car is $39.60 each way with a reservation, which is a third of the Vineyard’s summer car fare. In summer there are also seasonal boats from Newport, New London, Montauk and Orient. The Vineyard’s Steamship Authority is cheaper per person at $11 each way and runs year-round from Woods Hole, but the summer car reservations open in February and are gone within hours, standby has been suspended since November 2024, and Woods Hole has no parking at the terminal. From Rhode Island the Vineyard is reached without touching Cape Cod: the Seastreak from New Bedford and the Vineyard Fast Ferry from Quonset Point both land in Oak Bluffs; our Rhode Island guide compares them, and the cheapest-way guide prices every boat. The verdict: for a day, Block Island; for a week, the Vineyard, and leave the car on the mainland either way.
Vineyard Haven · the harborPhoto by MV Vacation
Vineyard Haven harbor at dusk, moorings full. The Vineyard has three harbor towns like this and three villages inland; Block Island has Old Harbor, New Harbor and the road between them.
What each island is for
Know Before You Go
The honest match
BLOCK ISLAND IS FOR
A car-free bike weekend, a day trip from Providence or Newport, a couple who want one harbor village, the Mohegan Bluffs staircase and the two lighthouses, and a free beach a walk from the boat. It is also the better bet for a spontaneous summer weekend, because the ferry does not need a February reservation.
THE VINEYARD IS FOR
A week, a family, a group that wants six towns to choose between, a fare-free bus, the Campground and the carousel, the Aquinnah cliffs and the Menemsha sunset, a film’s worth of Jaws locations, a fishing derby, an agricultural fair, and a restaurant scene with a James Beard semifinalist up-island. It is the island with a calendar.
BOTH ARE FOR
Clay cliffs, quiet roads, no chain restaurants on the harbor, beaches that cost nothing, and a boat that puts the mainland at a distance. Neither has a resort strip; neither wants one.
THE COST GAP
The Vineyard’s room tax is 11.7 percent and its August rooms are dear; Block Island is smaller but not cheaper per night, and it sells out earlier. The Vineyard’s advantage is range: a $40 hostel, a $160 condo-hotel with a kitchen, a $532 average, a $1,000 suite. The budget guide works a Vineyard week for two under $1,200.
THE SEASON
Both are summer islands. Block Island’s seasonal ferries and most of its businesses run Memorial Day to Columbus Day; the Vineyard keeps a year-round core of restaurants, hotels and a museum, and September is its best month. The best-time guide has the Vineyard by month.
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Our verdict
If you have a day, or a weekend and a bicycle, and you are in Rhode Island, go to Block Island: the boat is cheap and daily, the bluffs are worth the 141 steps, and the whole island fits between breakfast and the last ferry. If you have three days or more, want a choice of towns and beaches, or are bringing children or a group, the Vineyard is the fuller trip, and from Rhode Island it is a 50-minute boat from New Bedford. People who love one usually love the other; they are the same landscape at two scales. Our Vineyard vs Nantucket and Vineyard vs Cape Cod comparisons cover the other two questions people ask in the same breath, and is the Vineyard worth it gives the honest case.
Which is better, Block Island or Martha’s Vineyard?
For a day trip or a bike weekend from Rhode Island, Block Island: a $22.60 same-day round trip from Point Judith, one village, free beaches and the Mohegan Bluffs. For three days or more, a family or a group, the Vineyard: six towns, twenty beaches, a fare-free bus and a full calendar. Neither is better; one fits your trip.
How big is Block Island compared with Martha’s Vineyard?
Block Island is 9.7 square miles with 1,410 year-round residents; Martha’s Vineyard is about 96 square miles with roughly 20,600. The Vineyard is ten times the land and has six towns; Block Island has one.
Which ferry is cheaper?
Per person they are close: $12.30 one way to Block Island from Point Judith on the traditional boat, $11 to the Vineyard from Woods Hole. For a car, Block Island is far cheaper, $39.60 each way against $127 to $168 to the Vineyard in summer, and the Vineyard’s car slots sell out months ahead.
Can you visit both in one trip?
Yes, from Rhode Island: Block Island from Point Judith, then the Vineyard from New Bedford or Quonset Point. There is no direct boat between the two islands.
Is Block Island cheaper to stay on?
Not reliably. It has far fewer beds and sells out on summer weekends; the Vineyard is expensive on average but has a $40 hostel, condo-hotels with kitchens and thousands of rentals, and September rooms 30 to 50 percent below August.
How we checked this
Block Island ferry fares are from the Block Island Ferry’s 2026 schedule and fare sheet; its area, population, harbors, lighthouses and conservation share are census and public figures; the Mohegan Bluffs staircase count is the state’s. Vineyard figures are the Steamship Authority’s 2026 fares and our own stay, beach and cost research, checked September 2026. We have not priced every Block Island inn and say so; the comparison of lodging is about range and availability, not a room-by-room table.
Island tip of the dayTransportNo. 11 of 86New tip at midnight, island time
Uber and Lyft operate on MV but surge hard in peak season. Local taxis are often steadier: a typical cross-town ride runs about $28, van-pool style, and airport pickups add a small rideshare surcharge.
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Disclaimer: The information in this article is provided for general guidance only and was accurate at the time of writing. Beach conditions, hours, prices, lifeguard schedules, ferry fares, and business operations change frequently and without notice. Ocean swimming carries inherent risks including rip currents, undertow, and cold water shock. Always verify current conditions with official local sources before your visit. MV Vacation assumes no responsibility for any loss, injury, or inconvenience resulting from the use of this information. Swim only where lifeguards are on duty, supervise children at all times near water, and follow all posted safety signs.
Your insider guide to Martha's Vineyard: beaches, dining, events, and island living. We write down what we know about the island so your trip goes the way you hoped.
EV charging on Martha's Vineyard: about 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, listed town by town with ports and prices (Cronig's by the ferry, the Edgartown Park and Ride, town halls, libraries, the airport, the Aquinnah cliffs), the one fast-charging site in Chilmark and what we could not verify, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
How to get a Steamship Authority car reservation to Martha's Vineyard: the February opening and its virtual waiting room, the residents' head start, the five-reservation limit, the wait list that works, the 2026 fares ($127 midweek, $168 summer weekends), the free first change and the 14-day refund rule, no standby, and why most visitors should leave the car in Falmouth.
Halloween on Martha's Vineyard, town by town: Edgartown's Happy Haunting on the Sunday before (October 25, 2026), Vineyard Haven's puppet parade at 4 PM and William Street trick-or-treating with the roads closed, Oak Bluffs on Circuit Avenue and in the Campground, the museum's Halloween on the Hill, the fire-department parties up-island, the haunted house, and how to come for it off-island.
Every public restroom we know of on Martha's Vineyard, town by town: the two ferry terminals (open year-round), Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs, Church Street in Edgartown, the Stop and Shop lot in Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury Town Hall, the Menemsha beach lot and the Aquinnah cliffs, which beaches have them (not State Beach), what is seasonal, and the fallbacks that work in winter.
The Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard? A New York scene two to three hours away by Jitney or train, with ocean beaches behind a $750 season permit, against a six-town island reached by an hour's flight or a day's train and boat, where every beach is free, the bus is free and the nights are quiet. Getting there, beaches, beds, towns, nightlife, children and cost, honestly.
Newport or Martha's Vineyard? A drivable Gilded Age city with the Breakers ($32), the free 3.5-mile Cliff Walk, festival weekends at Fort Adams and a late harbor front, against a six-town island reached by an $11 ferry with twenty beaches, a free bus and quiet nights. Getting there, sights, beds, nights, children, weddings, and doing both from Rhode Island.
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Beach reports, events worth a day, ferry heads-ups. Sent when there is something worth telling. The Beach Guide, The Vineyard in the Fall and Where to Stay arrive with your welcome email.
