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Oak Bluffs harbor on a summer night, the lights of the harbor front doubled in the water. The Hy-Line lands in this harbor, and the evening boat home leaves from it.
The Hy-Line ferry from Hyannis to Oak Bluffs: about an hour, $42 each way with the fuel surcharge, children and bike fares, the 2026 season, the Ocean Street terminal and its $10 to $30 lots and shuttle, the CapeFLYER and bus connections from Boston, and an honest comparison with the cheaper Island Queen and Steamship boats.
Hy-Line Cruises runs the high-speed catamaran from Hyannis to Oak Bluffs: about an hour across Nantucket Sound, $41 each way including the fuel surcharge for most of 2026 ($42 from October 2), passengers and bikes only, from early May into October. It is the most expensive of the Cape boats, roughly double the Island Queen and nearly four times the Steamship walk-on, and it is still the right boat for a particular kind of trip: anyone coming from the mid- or outer Cape, anyone arriving in Hyannis on the CapeFLYER train or the Boston bus, and anyone who wants to reach Oak Bluffs in the spring before the Falmouth boat starts. It also has the one thing the Steamship’s Woods Hole terminal does not, which is a parking lot at the dock. Here are the 2026 fares, the season, the lots, the train and bus connections, and how it compares with the two cheaper boats.
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Know Before You Go
If you are staying in Dennis, Chatham, Orleans or anywhere east of the Bass River, Hyannis is on your way and Woods Hole and Falmouth are an hour of Route 28 in the wrong direction.
The CapeFLYER train runs from South Station to Hyannis on Friday evenings and weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day for $22 (the Saturday morning train leaves 7:50 and arrives 10:20), and Peter Pan serves Hyannis year-round. Both put you a short ride from the Ocean Street dock. Our Boston routes guide has the timings.
Hy-Line started on May 2 in 2026, three weeks before the Island Queen’s May 22, and it lands in Oak Bluffs while the Steamship is still Vineyard Haven only. For a May visit to Oak Bluffs, this is the boat; the spring guide covers what is open.
Woods Hole has no parking at the terminal, only the Palmer Avenue lots and a shuttle. Hyannis has a lot at the dock. On a summer weekend that is worth real time, and the parking guide notes the Hyannis boat has more capacity and fewer delays.
Hy-Line is the company that also sails to Nantucket, and from late May to mid-October its inter-island boat links Oak Bluffs and Nantucket directly (May 22 to October 18 in 2026). The Vineyard vs Nantucket comparison helps decide whether both belong in one week.
A summer day in the Oak Bluffs harbor, a dog keeping watch from the bow of a moored boat. The harbor is where the Hy-Line ties up, five minutes from Circuit Avenue.
From Falmouth, the Cape’s southwest corner, or anywhere on the Boston side of the Bourne Bridge, the cheaper boats win. The Island Queen from Falmouth is $30 round trip, 35 minutes, lands in the same Oak Bluffs harbor and parks for $20 a day cash within 200 yards of its dock. The Steamship walk-on from Woods Hole is $11 each way, runs all year, and lands in Vineyard Haven, where the fare-free bus meets every boat. A family of four pays $250 round trip on Hy-Line against $96 on the Island Queen and $67 on the Steamship; the Hy-Line hour is also longer than either crossing. And from New Bedford, the Seastreak is $84 round trip for 50 minutes; our Seastreak guide covers it. The cheapest-way guide puts all six boats on one table.
Where the Hyannis boat comes in: the Dockside Pier arch on the Oak Bluffs harbor, signed for the Hy-Line ferry to Hyannis and Nantucket, at the end of a summer day.
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Know Before You Go
It is worth reserving both the outbound and the return; the last evening boat on a summer Sunday is the one that fills. Tickets are by the seat, so a child under five still needs to be on the booking.
In summer it helps to book parking with the ferry ticket. The on-site lot fills; the Iyannough Road lot with the free shuttle is the fallback and is cheaper, but add the 45 to 60 minutes Hy-Line asks for.
The boat comes into the Oak Bluffs harbor. Circuit Avenue, the Flying Horses, the Campground and the Inkwell are on foot; the fare-free VTA bus to every other town leaves from the Steamship terminal a few minutes’ walk away. Bike shops sit beside the harbor.
A morning boat and the last evening boat give a full day in the harbor towns. The day-trip guide has a plan that uses the bus and the bike path, and the Oak Bluffs guide covers the town you land in.
In spring and fall the timetable thins to a couple of round trips a day. The day’s sailings are worth checking before you leave; the September guide and the after-Labor-Day guide explain how the whole fleet changes after the holiday.
The Hy-Line boarding line sign on the brick walk by the Oak Bluffs harbor. On the way home, this is where the line forms.
Step 1 · WhenMonth PickerTwelve months compared on NOAA numbers, crowds, prices and what is open. 
Step 2 · DaysDay-by-Day Trip PlannerMorning, afternoon and evening sketched for every day, events dropped in, emailed to you. 
Step 3 · CostTrip Cost CalculatorFerry, beds with the rooms tax, meals, getting around and activities in one price range. Our own footage from the boats.
$41 one way and $78 round trip for adults for most of 2026, including a $2 fuel surcharge each way; from October 2 the surcharge is $3 and the fares are $42 and $80. Children 5 to 12 paid $25 and $47 ($49 round trip from October 2), bikes $8.50 and $17.
About an hour from Hyannis to Oak Bluffs on the high-speed catamaran, against 35 minutes on the Island Queen from Falmouth and 45 on the Steamship from Woods Hole.
The Hy-Line terminal at 220 Ocean Street in downtown Hyannis. The on-site lot is $10 to $30 a day by season; the off-site lot at 183 Iyannough Road is $5 to $20 with a free shuttle from late April to late October. Arrive 45 minutes early, or 45 to 60 from the off-site lots.
May into October. The 2026 season opened May 2 with two round trips a day in spring and more in summer; the last sailings of 2026 are on October 25.
From the mid- and outer Cape, by train or bus from Boston, or for a spring trip to Oak Bluffs, yes. From Falmouth or the Boston side of the bridges, the Island Queen ($30 round trip) or the Steamship walk-on ($22 round trip) is the better buy.
Fares, the fuel surcharge, the reservation and arrival guidance, the terminal address and the parking lots and rates are from Hy-Line Cruises’ own 2026 fares, ferry and parking pages, read September 2026; the season start and spring frequency are from the company’s spring 2026 schedule as recorded in our spring guide; the inter-island dates and the October fuel surcharge are from Hy-Line’s own schedule and fares pages, read October 1, 2026; competing fares are the Island Queen’s, the Steamship Authority’s and Seastreak’s published 2026 rates. It is worth checking the day’s sailings before you drive to Hyannis.
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Parking for the Woods Hole ferry: there is none at the terminal, so here are the three Steamship Authority lots (Palmer Avenue, Thomas B. Landers, Cataumet), the 2026 rates ($25 a day April to October, $20 otherwise), the free shuttle timed to every sailing, when to arrive, the annual and off-season permits, the drop-off rule and the cheaper Island Queen lot in Falmouth Harbor.
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