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A Steamship Authority ferry in the Vineyard Haven slip, a crowd of foot passengers lined up along the pier. They can simply walk on; every car on board has a reservation, and on this route there is no other way to bring one.
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.
The Steamship Authority’s summer car reservations are the one thing on Martha’s Vineyard that sells out in hours, and the reason so many July trips are decided in February. There is no standby on the Woods Hole route any more, a car needs a reservation every day of the year, and the summer weekend slots go the morning the booking window opens. It is a game, and it has rules that the Authority publishes but few visitors read: an opening date in winter with a virtual waiting room, a five-reservation limit, a wait list that works, a first change that is free and a cancellation that is refundable only fourteen days out. For most visitors the simplest option is to leave the car in Falmouth.
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Islanders go first. Qualified year-round residents get a head start in mid-January (January 13 in 2026, for up to ten summer reservations, and a second phase a week later for bookings made on behalf of others), so by the time the general opening arrives the most popular Friday and Sunday slots in July and August are already thinner than the timetable suggests. On the morning itself it pays to log in before eight, let the waiting room hold your place and book the trips you are surest of first, since the outbound Friday afternoon and the return Sunday are what disappear. If the boat you want is gone, you can book the nearest one and join the wait list for the one you wanted; cancellations are constant between February and June because summer plans change, and the list catches them. Midweek slots stay open far longer and cost $41 less each way in summer. Online is the way to book that week, since the phone lines open a week later; the office (7:30 AM to 4 PM, seven days, 508-477-8600) handles the questions the website cannot answer.
A Steamship Authority ticket office, red, white and blue bunting over the porch. Passengers buy here or in the app and never need a reservation; the car reservation is made months earlier, online, at eight in the morning.
Know Before You Go
No. Walk on for $11 with no reservation, ride the fare-free VTA bus to every town and the big beaches, and rent a bike beside the terminal. The without-a-car guide is the manual, and the Woods Hole parking guide explains the $25-a-day lots and the free shuttle on the mainland side.
Probably, for the groceries and the beach stickers, but one car for the house is usually enough, with everyone else walking on. Our family reunion guide works the arithmetic for a big group.
Reservations are far easier after Labor Day and the weekend premium ends on September 15, when a car is a flat $127 any day. The after-Labor-Day guide has the fall switch dates.
Not with a car. The Authority ended standby for cars on the Woods Hole route in January 2025, and all vehicle travel is reservation-only. Renting a car on the island for the day you need one is the workaround; the car rental guide has the agencies.
The passenger boats from Falmouth, Hyannis, New Bedford and Quonset Point all land in Oak Bluffs in summer (Seastreak uses Vineyard Haven in spring and fall) and none needs a February reservation; our Island Queen, Hy-Line and Rhode Island guides compare them.
The bow of a Steamship ferry cutting across the Sound. The crossing takes forty-five minutes, runs every day of the year, and this is the only boat that carries a car.
Before you book
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The Authority wants you at the terminal, in line and ready to board, at least 30 minutes before departure with the confirmation and identification; in summer the Authority’s own advice is to arrive an hour early to get through the off-site lots and the shuttle if you are dropping the car in Falmouth, and the staging lanes at Woods Hole fill well before the boat. Vehicles over six feet six inches high may be restricted to particular boats or spaces, so a roof box or a tall van is worth mentioning when you book. The new Woods Hole terminal, opened June 25, 2026, has a proper waiting room, restrooms and ticket windows; the Woods Hole guide covers the village if you have an hour, and the Boston routes guide the drive down.
The Steamship Authority’s Oak Bluffs terminal at dusk, bunting on the eaves. It is a summer terminal: late in the fall the boats go to Vineyard Haven only.
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 Steamship’s decks.
The Authority announces the date in January; in 2026 the general opening for summer was 8 AM on Tuesday, February 3 (online and mail), with phone and in-person bookings from February 10, after a mid-January head start for island residents. Reservations for travel from January 6 to May 17, 2027 open on November 3, 2026. We update this page the day the summer date is posted.
For a car under 17 feet in 2026: $127 each way on weekdays and $168 on Friday to Sunday from May 15 to September 14, $127 every day from September 15 to October 31, $115.50 from April 1 to May 14, $79 from November 1 and $73.50 from January 5 to March 31. Passengers pay $11 each on top.
Not on the Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard route: all vehicle travel is reservation-only, year-round. The wait list is the way to get a full date; it searches cancellations automatically and confirms by email.
Change it up to an hour before departure; the first date change is free and later ones are $10. Cancel at least 14 days before departure for a refund; inside 14 days, or if you do not show, there is no refund.
No, never. Buy an $11 ticket online, in the app or at the window and board. Reservations are only for vehicles.
Opening dates, limits, the waiting room and the residents’ head start are from the Steamship Authority’s January 12, 2026 announcement and its reservation-opening-dates page; fares are the Authority’s published 2026 fare table for Woods Hole to Martha’s Vineyard; change, cancellation, no-show and arrival rules are from the Authority’s FAQ; the standby and wait-list rules from its wait-list page. All read in September 2026. The summer 2027 opening date will be added when the Authority posts it.
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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