A first-hand look at the Edgartown Historic Walking Tour and "Amity" Jaws Tour with Mike Currid of the Edgartown Tour Company — what to expect, what you'll learn, and how to book.
If you're planning a trip to Martha's Vineyard and you've been wondering whether the walking tours of Edgartown are worth the time, the short answer is yes — and book with Edgartown Tour Company.
I joined Mike Currid for two of his tours last weekend: the Edgartown Historic Walking Tour and the “Amity” Jaws Walking Tour. Both leave from Main Street in Edgartown, both run about an hour to ninety minutes, and both gave me a deeper understanding of this town than I'd built up over years of visiting Edgartown on my own.
Mike has been guiding tours here since 2011, and his depth of knowledge shows up at every stop. His tours have been featured by the Financial Times, The Washington Post, Condé Nast Traveler, Frommer's, The Telegraph, A.V. Club, and others — and after spending a few hours with him, it's easy to see why.
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Edgartown Tour Company is a small, owner-operated business. Mike isn't a guide reading a script — he's done the research, talked with local historians, and spent over a decade refining the stories. He knows the production history of Jaws in real detail. He knows which captain owned which house in 1840. He knows which trees are the original 19th-century plantings and which were replanted after the 1944 hurricane.
That depth is what separates a real tour from a generic walk-around, and it's why his tours have built such a loyal following.
He offers several tours today:
I took the first two and want to break down what they were actually like.
This is the tour that anchors all the others. It runs about an hour and fifteen minutes and covers the entire historic core of Edgartown — landmarks I'd walked past more times than I can count without knowing their significance.
Mike starts the tour right on Main Street near the Edgartown Tour Company meeting point and walks you through what ends up feeling like a layered history of the town: Wampanoag presence, colonial settlement, the whaling boom that made Edgartown one of the wealthiest small towns in 19th-century America, and the legacy that still shapes the architecture today.
A few of the stops that stuck with me:
This isn't a stop you'd notice on your own, but it's one of the most striking trees in town once Mike points it out. The pagoda tree on South Water Street is huge, mature, and visually unlike anything else around it. Mike explains how it got there and why it's still standing.
Governor Thomas Mayhew (1593–1682) — the man who effectively founded Martha's Vineyard as an English colony — is buried in the historic Mayhew Cemetery on South Water Street. Mike spent some time here explaining how Mayhew's relationship with the Wampanoag shaped the way the island developed differently from the mainland.
The Federated Church on South Summer Street is one of those buildings you've definitely photographed if you've spent any time walking Edgartown. Mike unpacks both the architectural details and the congregational history.
The Vineyard Gazette — one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in the United States — has its building right here. Across the way, the Davis Academy gets a quick history lesson too. Mike connects the two as part of a larger story about how a small island town became surprisingly literary.
Jared Coffin House and Holmes Coffin House — two of the most prominent captains' homes in Edgartown — are stops Mike treats together. These are the houses that whaling money built, and the architecture tells the story of where that money came from and how fast it arrived.
Both buildings are credited to Frederick Baylies Jr. (sometimes spelled Bailey), the master builder behind many of Edgartown's most recognizable structures. Mike's explanation of how Baylies' style shaped Edgartown is one of the highlights of the tour for me.
The tour winds through the Edgartown Honor Roll and ends near the Dr. Daniel Fisher House — one of the grandest historical homes in town and a building with a strange and fascinating history of its own.
If you've ever wondered why Edgartown looks the way it does, this tour is the answer.
Mike's Jaws tour is the one that put Edgartown Tour Company on the map for a lot of people, and after taking it, I understand why. The 1975 film was shot almost entirely on Martha's Vineyard — primarily in Edgartown, which stood in for the fictional town of Amity Island — and the production left behind a layer of pop-culture history that Mike has spent over a decade documenting.
The tour runs about an hour and covers the major Jaws filming locations in walkable Edgartown. Mike isn't just pointing at locations and saying “this is where they filmed X” — he's telling the production stories. Behind-the-scenes anecdotes from people who were actually there in 1974. Where the malfunctioning mechanical shark was kept. The locals who appeared as extras. How the Memorial Wharf scenes were staged. Why specific streets were used for specific shots.
If you're a Jaws fan, this tour is non-negotiable. But even if you've only watched the film once, the way Mike tells the production story makes it interesting. It's a behind-the-scenes documentary on foot.
The 50th anniversary of Jaws happened in 2025, which brought a wave of new attention to these filming locations. The Edgartown Tour Company was selected as part of the official 50th anniversary programming on Martha's Vineyard, and Mike has been interviewed by everyone from the Financial Times to the Washington Post for the cultural moment.
If you want to walk the actual streets where Jaws was filmed with someone who knows the production inside-out, book the “Amity” Jaws Walking Tour directly on Mike's site.
A lot of small towns have walking tours, and most of them are generic — repeated talking points and hurried pacing. These aren't that.
Three things stood out:
Depth. Mike has been doing this for over a decade and the research shows. He has answers to questions I didn't even know I should ask.
Pacing. The groups are small enough to actually have a conversation. You can hear, you can ask questions, you can stop and look. This is a big deal — a lot of larger tour operators rush you through.
Real first-hand knowledge. Mike has spent years talking with local historians and longtime residents. He has stories from people who were actually around when half of this happened.
I filmed parts of the Edgartown Historic Walking Tour in 4K to give you a visual preview before you book:
Where to meet: 25 Main Street, Edgartown — on the corner by The Paper Store and the Rockland Trust bank, right in the historic center of town and easy to find. Mike will confirm the exact details when you book.
How long:
Group size: Walking tours are kept small — you'll be able to hear Mike, ask questions, and actually interact rather than just following a tour leader from a distance.
Booking: Reserve directly through the Edgartown Tour Company website. The booking system runs through FareHarbor and is straightforward — pick your tour, pick your date, and you're confirmed.
Phone: (508) 203-1853 — Mike answers directly.
Season: Tours run during the active Martha's Vineyard season. Book early during summer and fall — these tours fill up, especially the Jaws tour during peak weeks.
If you're visiting Martha's Vineyard and you want to actually understand what makes Edgartown a special place — beyond the photogenic harbor and the ice cream — book a tour with Mike.
For Jaws fans, the “Amity” tour is the closest you're going to get to standing inside the movie's actual world.
For history buffs and architecture lovers, the Edgartown Historic Walking Tour will reframe how you see the entire town.
For travelers visiting for the first time, either tour gives you context that turns the rest of your trip into something more than a sequence of pretty places.
Book a tour with the Edgartown Tour Company →
💡 Island Tip of the Day — Timing
Edgartown Lighthouse is climbable 10 AM–4 PM daily in summer. Shortest wait right at 10 AM and just before 4 PM. $5 admission. Staff may close the door a few minutes early.
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