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Both options in one frame: the Seastreak catamaran tied up at Oak Bluffs, the Steamship ferry loading just behind it.
Seastreak ferry from New Bedford (50 min, $49) and NYC (summer weekends only) to Martha's Vineyard. 2026 fares, schedule, parking, and SSA comparison.
Seastreak is the only ferry that sails straight from the New York City area to Martha's Vineyard, so the 5-hour drive to Cape Cod drops out of the trip. Two routes: a 50-minute catamaran from New Bedford (April–October) and a seasonal ~5-hour weekend boat from Manhattan and NJ (8 weekends only). Here are the 2026 details.
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The Oak Bluffs ferry pier on a busy summer day.
An empty wooden pier with benches, open water on three sides.
The crossing takes 50 minutes through the sheltered water of Buzzards Bay, one of the smoothest ferry rides in the Northeast. It ran April 16–October 12, 2026, and comes back for Thanksgiving weekend, November 25 to 29, to Vineyard Haven. Peak summer (June 26–Sept 6): six New Bedford departures Monday–Thursday and seven Friday–Sunday (earliest 7:50 AM Fri–Sun, 8:20 AM Mon–Thu; last 6:30 PM), with extra sailings on holiday weekends. Shoulder season: 2 round-trips at 8:45 AM and 2:00 PM. The terminal is at 49 State Pier, New Bedford, MA 02740, roughly 3 hours from NYC, and the drive never touches Cape Cod. Boats dock at Vineyard Haven in spring, Oak Bluffs from mid-May, and back at Vineyard Haven from September 20 to the end of the 2026 season.
The trip from Manhattan takes ~4.5–5 hours. The boat leaves Highlands, NJ at 12:00 PM, picks up at East 35th Street, Manhattan at 1:30 PM, and reaches Oak Bluffs around ~6:00 PM. Return trips leave OB at 3:00 PM. In 2026 it ran on 8 select weekends, from May 22 to the Sep 4 Labor Day weekend, and those are all done for this year. Next summer's dates will be on seastreak.com. It's a pricey, car-free weekend trip rather than a day trip, and seasick-prone riders often take medication for the open ocean past Long Island Sound.
| Ticket | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult one-way | $49 |
| Adult round-trip | $84 |
| Same-day round-trip | $55 |
| Child (3–12) one-way | $29 |
| Bike one-way | $9 |
| 10-Trip Pass | $370 |
Island residents and military (active or veteran) pay $37 one-way / $74 RT, bought in person with ID. A peak summer surcharge adds $5 on select morning departures Fri–Sun, June 26–Sep 6. Seastreak's 2026 fare page also notes a 3% booking fee and a temporary fuel surcharge of about 5%, added at checkout.
Adult round-trip: $250 ($175 one-way). Holiday weekends: $320. Children: $145 round-trip (holiday: same as adult). Bikes: $20 one-way.
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Highlands, NJ: Free daytime parking at the main lot (326 Shore Drive) and the satellite lot at 348 Shore Drive. Overnight parking is only at the satellite lot; cars left overnight at the main lot can be ticketed or towed. Seastreak’s page lists no overnight fee, so check before a multi-night trip.
New Bedford: On-site valet $30/day ($40 holidays). Off-site Whale's Tooth Lot (532 Acushnet Ave) ~$15/day, cashless, with a shuttle to the pier that Seastreak's 2026 route page lists as complimentary (an older Seastreak page still mentions $5 for the ride in, so keep a few dollars handy).
Manhattan (E. 35th St): There's no dedicated parking. The 6 train to 33rd St leaves you about a 15-minute walk away, and garages charge $30–60+/day.
Each passenger gets one free carry-on and one personal item. Extra bags are $7.50 each way from New Bedford, surfboards $15/$30 and kayaks $25/$50. E-bikes cost double the regular bike rate. Soft coolers and lunch bags are fine; hard coolers are not allowed (tripping hazard). A beach wagon costs a $50 one-way surcharge.
Open water on the crossing, looking back over the ferry’s wake.
The boats are high-speed ferries with service speeds of 32 to 38 knots and three decks, two inside and one outside. Seating is first come; the second deck has good views and less vibration, and the larger boats have an outdoor third deck for sunny crossings.
The New Bedford crossing stays smooth in sheltered water, while the NYC route can get rough on the open ocean. If you're prone to seasickness, medication taken 1 hour before departure helps.
The Steamship Authority ticket office in Vineyard Haven. Walk-on passengers can skip it: tickets bought online or in the SSA app go into Apple Wallet and get scanned at the gate. The window handles cash, questions and vehicle paperwork.
| Seastreak (New Bedford) | SSA (Woods Hole) | |
|---|---|---|
| Adult RT | $84 | $22 |
| Crossing time | 50 min | 45 min |
| Cars | No | Yes ($127–168) |
| Peak daily trips | 7 | 21 |
| Cape Cod traffic | Bypassed | Must cross |
| Season | Apr–Oct, plus Thanksgiving | Year-round |
The SSA is cheaper and carries cars. Seastreak skips Cape Cod, which makes it the easier choice for anyone coming from south or west of Boston. A family of 4 pays ~$67 round-trip on the SSA, about $278 on Seastreak from New Bedford (before its booking fee and fuel surcharge) and $790 on the NYC route. If you want your own car on the island, the SSA is the only way to bring it, though plenty of people rent on-island near the ferry dock instead. For New York travelers who won't need a car on the island: driving to New Bedford ($49 ferry plus about $15 parking) beats fighting Cape traffic to Woods Hole.
Once Hy-Line’s Hyannis boat makes its last trip on October 25, the Steamship Authority from Woods Hole is the only regular ferry to the island until spring, apart from Seastreak’s own Thanksgiving weekend boats from New Bedford (November 25 to 29). It sails to Vineyard Haven every day of the year in about 45 minutes, a walk-on ticket is $11 one way with no reservation needed, and even the winter timetable has a boat roughly every 75 minutes. If you drive, the Steamship’s lots take the place of New Bedford: parking is $20 a day from November to March, with a free shuttle to the terminal.
Coming from New York without a car, the off-season route is the bus. Peter Pan sells a through ticket from the city to the Woods Hole pier, about seven hours with a change on the way, or you can take Amtrak to Boston South Station and the Peter Pan bus from there. Peter Pan doesn’t guarantee the connection to a particular boat, so it’s worth leaving some slack before the last ferry of the night. Our New York without a car guide and the ferry guide have every route, and the off-season guide covers what’s open once you’re here.
The Seastreak also runs directly between Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket, so you don’t have to go back through the mainland.
Seastreak runs a New Bedford–Nantucket route (~90 min) and a limited spring Martha's Vineyard–Nantucket service (~1 hour; in 2026 it ran April 16–May 21 and runs again between Vineyard Haven and Nantucket over Thanksgiving weekend, November 25 to 29). No through-tickets combining NYC and inter-island routes.
You can book at seastreak.com or 1-800-BOATRIDE, and online tickets arrive by email. Tickets are non-refundable. Optional Trip Protection ($5–10) gets you a refund if you cancel 2+ hours before departure; without it, exchanges cost $5–10. Arriving 45–60 minutes early is wise: boarding starts 40 min prior and unclaimed seats are released 3–5 min before sailing. The NYC/NJ weekends can sell out once next summer's dates are posted.
Our ferry guide covers every route, including the SSA and the Island Queen. For planning, there's also a day trip itinerary and a guide to getting from Boston/NYC.
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. About 50 minutes through the protected water of Buzzards Bay, one of the smoothest crossings in the Northeast. The regular 2026 season ran April 16 to October 12, and Thanksgiving weekend boats run November 25 to 29. Boats dock at Vineyard Haven in spring and at Oak Bluffs from mid-May, and in 2026 they moved back to Vineyard Haven from September 20 for the rest of the season.
From New Bedford an adult pays $49 one-way or $84 round-trip, with a $55 same-day round-trip. Children 3 to 12 pay $29 one-way and a bike is $9. The weekend boat from Manhattan and New Jersey is $250 round-trip, or $320 on holiday weekends.
Valet at the pier is $30 a day, $40 on holidays. The Whale's Tooth lot is about $15 a day, and Seastreak's 2026 route page lists its shuttle to the pier as complimentary. Driving to New Bedford skips Cape Cod traffic entirely.
No cars. Seastreak is passenger-only, and the Steamship Authority from Woods Hole is the only car ferry, as our ferry guide explains. Leashed dogs are welcome on the outdoor deck of the New Bedford boats but are not allowed on the New York route.
The Steamship is cheaper at $22 round-trip, runs year-round and carries cars. Seastreak skips Cape Cod, which makes it the easier choice from south or west of Boston. A family of four pays about $67 round-trip on the Steamship versus about $278 from New Bedford, before Seastreak's booking fee and fuel surcharge.
Only at Thanksgiving. The New Bedford boats stopped running year-round in October 2024, and the regular 2026 season ended on October 12. The exception is Thanksgiving weekend: Seastreak sails New Bedford to Vineyard Haven from November 25 to 29. Otherwise, from late October until spring, the Steamship Authority from Woods Hole is the only ferry, every day of the year, $11 one way for a walk-on.
For the New York weekends, yes, since they can sell out. Tickets are non-refundable, and Trip Protection for $5 to $10 lets you cancel up to two hours before departure. Arrive 45 to 60 minutes early, since boarding starts 40 minutes before sailing and unclaimed seats are released.
Where Martha's Vineyard is, with our own maps: an island in Dukes County, Massachusetts, under four miles across Vineyard Sound from Woods Hole on Cape Cod, 75 miles from Boston and 70 from Providence by road. How big it is, the six towns, up-island and down-island, every way to get there and where the name comes from.
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.
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.
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.
Providence and Rhode Island to Martha's Vineyard without crossing Cape Cod: the Seastreak from New Bedford (50 minutes, $84 round trip, 30 minutes from Providence) and the Vineyard Fast Ferry from Quonset Point (95 to 105 minutes, from $115, dogs ride free), both with parking from $15 a day, plus Amtrak's connecting bus for a car-free trip. Which boat, when, and what it costs.
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.
Island tip of the day Timing No. 64 of 79 New tip at midnight, island time
Felix Neck Wildlife Sanctuary is almost empty before 9 AM and after 4 PM. Dawn is best for birding: osprey are active at first light. Trails open dawn to dusk. $4 trail admission.
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