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New Woods Hole terminal, fare-free buses, new restaurants in Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven, a reopened lighthouse and more: everything that changed on the island in 2026.
Fact-checked August 20, 2026, with an update August 21. Where something is still in flux (a few openings genuinely are), we say so instead of guessing.
Every island season brings a shuffle: a familiar space changes hands, a new name goes up over an old doorway, a ferry terminal that spent two years behind plywood finally opens. If you last visited Martha's Vineyard in 2024 or 2025, this is what changed, and what it means for your trip.
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The headline: the Steamship Authority's new Woods Hole terminal opened June 25, 2026, ending a 21-month construction project. The building is designed for a rising sea (elevated, storm-resistant, geothermal heating) and the mainland side of the crossing finally has a proper waiting room. Ticketing and boarding work the same as before; it is a much better place to wait. Details on routes, fares and booking live in our complete ferry guide.
On the island, VTA buses remain fare-free through June 30, 2027, funded by the state's Fair Share Amendment, and the VTA quietly launched a real-time tracker at vta.mytransitride.com. Between the free buses, the bike paths and the taxis, most visitors do not need a car. One transition to know: since August 23 some late-evening bus runs go only on Fridays and Saturdays, and the fall schedule takes over on October 4, so re-check times if you ride late in the season.
One more changing of the guard: the Chappy Ferry changed hands this summer (the town approved the license transfer in May and new owner Brian Scall took the wheel in August), its first new owner in about two decades. The 90-second crossing to Chappaquiddick runs exactly as it always has.
The restaurant map moved more than usual this year, concentrated in Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven.
The Wave (Vineyard Haven) opened in mid-May on the harbor and became the town's new place to try. Esh (Circuit Avenue, Oak Bluffs) is the March rebrand of Dos Mas, now progressive American. Inkwell Beach Club took over the former Chowder Company space on Oak Bluffs Avenue and soft-opened in July as a restaurant and event venue; it briefly launched under another name before a trademark dispute forced the rename, so do not confuse it with the Inkwell Beach House hotel nearby. The Chowder Company itself is in its new, smaller room at 14 Kennebec Avenue, the former Red Cat Kitchen space, open since spring. Jetty Beach House moved into the former Lobsterville Bar and Grille space. And the Black Dog family is turning the old Mikado spot at 6 Circuit Avenue into Coastwise Pub; it opened during the summer as The Black Dog Pub, serving daily from breakfast through dinner (7 AM to 10 PM).
The Chowder Company’s new front at 14 Kennebec Avenue, benches outside and the sandwich board asking whether it is the best lobster roll in New England.
Jetty Beach House, raw bar and cocktails in the old Lobsterville spot: the sign is up and the porch is busy.
The Black Dog Pub sign in Oak Bluffs.
Two notes on old favorites: Murdick's Fudge kept its three island shops closed through the 2026 summer, and they were still closed in September (the family says it will reopen, and the fudge is available online in the meantime), and the Homeport in Menemsha continues its second act as an upscale seafood house and oyster bar, with a takeout Back Door window at lunch. Our restaurant guide tracks the full picture.
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The Lightkeeper's Inn in Edgartown reopened after renovation. In Oak Bluffs, the hotel formerly known as Isabelle's Beach House now operates as the Inkwell Beach House (the hotel; see the restaurant note above for why the names are confusing this year). The Vineyard Harbor Motel picked up Martha's Vineyard Magazine's Best Budget-Friendly Lodging nod for 2026, no surprise to anyone here: it has been the island's budget bed for years. And the island's only campground changed hands, sold to an off-island resort operator, with camping continuing as usual this season. The full landscape, town by town and price band by price band, is in our Where to Stay guide.
Inside the Flying Horses in Oak Bluffs, the carousel that turned 150 this summer.
The Gay Head Lighthouse opened for the 2026 season on Memorial Day weekend, its first full season with the rebuilt lantern deck and new lens (the town of Aquinnah has owned the light since 2015). It ran daily through Labor Day weekend and then Friday to Monday, 10 AM to 4 PM, until Indigenous Peoples' Day (October 12 in 2026; the town of Aquinnah's lighthouse page has the current hours), $6 to climb, and the view over the cliffs is the best on the island. As always up there: the cliffs are protected Wampanoag tribal land, so no climbing them and no touching the clay.
In Oak Bluffs, the Flying Horses Carousel celebrated its 150th birthday on July 25: built in 1876, the oldest operating platform carousel in the country, $5 a ride, brass ring and all.
The Martha's Vineyard Museum is running "Jaws at 50: An Island Story" through December 31, 2026, the exhibit built around last year's 50th anniversary of the movie that made the island Amity. Pair it with our filming locations guide if you want the full tour.
No fireworks this year: Oak Bluffs canceled its August fireworks entirely for 2026, both the Friday, August 21 show and the Saturday rain date, citing rough seas and the safe loading of the fireworks barge. The town announced the decision on August 20 and promises the tradition back in 2027. Grand Illumination went ahead as planned two nights earlier.
The island's mini golf is back: Jesse Steere III, the owner of Shirley's Hardware, bought the former Island Cove course on State Road in Vineyard Haven in January and reopened it this summer as Steere the Course Mini Golf and Grille: eighteen holes plus food and live music. It is the course's next chapter after more than three decades in the middle of Vineyard Haven.
Harbor View Hotel launched a voluntary 1 percent "MV Community Fee" on guest bills in August, with every dollar going to the Martha's Vineyard Community Fund for island nonprofits; guests can ask to have it removed. The long-shuttered Island Theatre in Oak Bluffs remains closed (since 2012), though the town spent the summer debating whether to buy it, so its next chapter may finally be coming. And on the health front, alpha-gal syndrome became a reportable condition in Massachusetts in March 2026, a sign of how seriously the island's lone star tick problem is now being taken; long pants and permethrin remain the cheapest travel insurance the Vineyard sells.
The steady state, for everything that did not change: six towns, no traffic lights, hardly a chain in sight, and a ferry ride that still resets your blood pressure somewhere off West Chop. Our events calendar and island FAQ stay current for the rest.
The Steamship Authority’s new Woods Hole terminal opened June 25, 2026 after 21 months, elevated and storm-resistant with a proper waiting room. VTA buses stay fare-free through June 30, 2027 with a real-time tracker at vta.mytransitride.com, and the Chappy Ferry changed hands, with Brian Scall at the wheel from August.
Most visitors do not: free buses, the bike paths and taxis cover the down-island towns. Re-check bus times late in the season; the fall schedule starts October 4.
Fact-checked August 20, 2026 with an update on August 21. Where an opening is still in flux, the page says so rather than guessing.
No. Ticketing and boarding are the same as before; it is a much better place to wait.
Section by section on this page; our year-round guide keeps the running list.
Island tip of the day Driving No. 16 of 86 New tip at midnight, island time
Driving an EV? The island's only DC fast charger is at the Harbor View Hotel and it is Tesla-only. Town Level 2 chargers: free in Aquinnah and West Tisbury, 25¢/kWh at the Oak Bluffs and Edgartown park-and-rides.
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), the one fast-charging site in Chilmark and what we could not verify, no Supercharger, the ferry's EV rules, and how to run an electric week on a 20-mile island.
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.
Every public restroom we know of on Martha's Vineyard, town by town: the two ferry terminals (open year-round), Kennebec Avenue in Oak Bluffs, Church Street in Edgartown, the Stop and Shop lot in Vineyard Haven, West Tisbury Town Hall, the Menemsha beach lot and the Aquinnah cliffs, which beaches have them (not State Beach), what is seasonal, and the fallbacks that work in winter.
The Hamptons or Martha's Vineyard? A New York scene two to three hours away by Jitney or train, with ocean beaches behind a $750 season permit, against a six-town island reached by an hour's flight or a day's train and boat, where thirteen beaches are free to all, the bus is free and the nights are quiet. Getting there, beaches, beds, towns, nightlife, children and cost, honestly.
Newport or Martha's Vineyard? A drivable Gilded Age city with the Breakers ($32), the free 3.5-mile Cliff Walk, festival weekends at Fort Adams and a late harbor front, against a six-town island reached by an $11 ferry with twenty beaches, a free bus and quiet nights. Getting there, sights, beds, nights, children, weddings, and doing both from Rhode Island.
Block Island vs Martha's Vineyard, honestly: a 9.7-square-mile island with one village and a $12 year-round ferry from Point Judith against 96 square miles, six towns and an $11 boat from Woods Hole. Size, ferries (the car fare gap is huge), beds, beaches, the week versus the weekend, and which one fits your trip from Rhode Island.
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