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A wooden pier on a summer day, the water flat beyond it. The Island Queen docks at the harbor in the middle of Oak Bluffs: the carousel and the bus stop are a few minutes’ walk from the boat.
The Island Queen ferry from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs: 35 minutes, $30 round trip, its own $20 lot 200 yards from the dock, seven sailings a day in summer, the 2026 season (May 22 to October 12) and fall timetable, fares for children and bikes, why it beats the Steamship for Cape day trips, and its honest limits (no cars, no dogs).
Plenty of Cape Cod visitors have never heard of the Island Queen, and many of them would be glad they had. It leaves from Falmouth Harbor, not Woods Hole, crosses to Oak Bluffs in 35 minutes, costs $30 round trip, has its own parking lot 200 yards from the dock at $20 a day, and lands you at the foot of Circuit Avenue with the carousel, the harbor and the bus stop a few minutes’ walk away. It carries no cars (leashed or crated dogs ride free), runs from the Friday of Memorial Day weekend to Columbus Day, and in summer sails seven times a day each way. For a day trip from the Cape, a car-free weekend, or a family that wants to skip the Steamship reservation game entirely, it is often the simplest boat.
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The Steamship Authority is the island’s year-round lifeline and the only car ferry, and for a walk-on it is cheaper, at $11 each way. But the Steamship lands most of its boats in Vineyard Haven, its Woods Hole terminal has no parking of its own, and the summer road into Woods Hole is a notorious bottleneck. The Island Queen avoids all three: a dock in Falmouth with its own lot, a boat that lands in Oak Bluffs where the summer is, and a 35-minute crossing with an enclosed lounge, open decks and a snack bar. For a family the fares favor the Steamship: two adults and two children pay about $67 round trip, against $96 on the Island Queen, though the Steamship side adds a $25 lot and a shuttle ride to Woods Hole. Our cheapest-way guide ranks every boat by what it costs door to door.
The gingerbread rooflines and umbrellas of the Oak Bluffs harbor front. Off the Island Queen and around the corner, this is the first thing you see, and the last drink before the 6:45 boat home.
Know Before You Go
Reservations are required (online or in the app) and the summer weekend boats fill. It pays to book both directions, including the free tickets for children under five, and to keep the return flexible if you can; the last boat back is 6:45 PM in summer (later on Fridays and Sundays), and in the fall 3:45 PM on weekdays, 5:15 PM on weekends and 8:45 PM on Fridays. The 2026 season ends October 12; islandqueen.com posts the 2027 dates.
Off Route 28 to Falmouth Heights Road. From Boston without a car, Peter Pan’s Woods Hole bus stops at the Falmouth bus depot on the way; our Boston routes guide has the connection. Cash for the lot.
The boat ties up in the harbor at the foot of town. The Flying Horses, the harbor bars, the Campground and the Inkwell are all on foot, and the fare-free VTA bus to Edgartown, Vineyard Haven and up-island leaves from the terminal a few minutes away. Bike shops sit beside the dock.
The 9:00 boat over and the 6:45 back gives you about nine hours on the island: Oak Bluffs and the bike path to Edgartown, or the bus to the cliffs. Our day-trip guide has the plan.
A Falmouth motel at $88 to $200 a night plus the $30 round trip beats the $350-plus an on-island room costs in peak summer. Our budget guide works the numbers.
The summer timetable on the Island Queen’s sign in Oak Bluffs: seven boats a day each way, 6:45 PM the last one back to Falmouth, and the extra evening sailings on some weekends and Labor Day.
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Grand Illumination Night in the Oak Bluffs Campground, a Wednesday in mid-August, is the one evening the Island Queen’s final Falmouth departure may hold until the show ends, which makes it the easiest way for Cape families to see the lanterns and get home the same night; our Illumination guide has the details each year. The Oak Bluffs fireworks, normally the third Friday of August with an 8:45 PM sailing added, were canceled for 2026 and return in 2027. On Labor Day and Columbus Day weekends the boat runs its fuller weekend timetable, and it makes its last run of the year on Columbus Day itself, October 12 in 2026, the same day as the Seastreak from New Bedford. After that the Steamship carries on all year (Vineyard Haven only from October 23), and the Hy-Line from Hyannis keeps landing in Oak Bluffs through October 25.
It is passengers only, so anyone who needs a car on the island is on the Steamship regardless (dogs, at least, ride free if they are leashed or crated). It does not run before late May or after Columbus Day, and its fall weekday timetable is thin. And it is a small boat on open water for the last stretch into Oak Bluffs; on a windy afternoon the Sound can be lively. Even so, from most of the Cape, or from Boston by bus, it is a quick and well-placed way onto the island between Memorial Day and Columbus Day. The complete ferry guide compares all six boats, the Oak Bluffs guide covers the town you land in, and the without-a-car guide takes it from the dock.
The Island Queen tied up on a calm summer day, seen from the sand. A small boat, and on a still afternoon a very pleasant 35 minutes.
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.
Falmouth Harbor, at 75 Falmouth Heights Road in Falmouth, with its own parking lots 200 yards from the dock at $20 a day, cash. It is not the Steamship Authority terminal at Woods Hole.
$20 one way and $30 round trip for adults in 2026; youth 5 to 12 $14 and $18; children 4 and under free with a booked ticket; bikes $4 and $8. Reservations are required, online or in the app, and the summer weekend boats fill.
Thirty-five minutes from Falmouth to Oak Bluffs. In summer there are seven sailings a day each way, from 9:00 AM out of Falmouth to a 6:45 PM last boat out of Oak Bluffs.
May 22 to October 12 in 2026: a spring timetable to June 18, the full summer timetable June 19 to September 7, and a reduced fall timetable September 8 to Columbus Day, with three weekday sailings and five on Fridays, weekends and holidays.
Bikes, kayaks and paddleboards yes ($4 each way for a bike). Cars no; the Steamship Authority from Woods Hole is the only car ferry. Dogs yes, free, as long as they are leashed or crated.
Season dates, timetable, fares and the dock address are from the Island Queen’s own 2026 schedule, fares and directions pages, read September 2026; the parking rate is the company’s published lot rate; the Steamship comparison uses the Authority’s published 2026 fares and Falmouth lot rates; the Illumination and fireworks notes are from the operator’s event schedule and the Town of Oak Bluffs. The boat is weather-dependent, so the day’s sailings on the company’s site or app are worth a look before you drive to Falmouth.
Island tip of the day Shopping No. 31 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
The Chappy Ferry costs $5/person round-trip and $17 for a car with driver. Cards work at the Edgartown-side kiosk; bring cash for the boat itself.
Martha's Vineyard in December 2026: First Friday on December 4, Light Up Oak Bluffs on December 5, Christmas in Edgartown December 10 to 13, 4:15 sunsets, one ferry into Vineyard Haven, and what stays open through Christmas.
All six town libraries on Martha's Vineyard, checked October 2026: hours and addresses, how visitors get a library card, free Wi-Fi, the concerts, art shows and programs, the Libraries of Things with beach chairs and stargazing kits, museum and beach parking passes, and a short history of each building.
Cell service on Martha's Vineyard town by town: towers down-island, no tower in Chilmark or Aquinnah and the named dead spots, what each carrier reports to the FCC, free Wi-Fi at all six libraries and on the ferry, the $10 xfinitywifi pass, prepaid plans and 911 when you have no bars.
The twelve things that catch first-timers on Martha's Vineyard, from car reservations and the two ferry terminals to resident-only beaches, the last bus from Aquinnah and cash for the Chappy Ferry, each with an easy fix, plus the fall and winter dates.
EV charging on Martha's Vineyard: about 34 public stations, nearly all Level 2, listed town by town with ports and prices (the Edgartown Park and Ride, town halls, libraries, the airport, the Aquinnah cliffs), two fast-charging ports at the VTA, the Chilmark plans, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
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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