Island FAQ

An island seven miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts. You can only get here by boat or plane. About 20,000 people live here year-round; summer pushes that past 100,000. Six towns share the island: Aquinnah, Chilmark, Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Tisbury (Vineyard Haven), and West Tisbury. Each runs its own beaches, its own parking rules, and in a few cases its own liquor laws, which is why the honest answer to most island questions starts with “depends on the town.”

The Wampanoag have lived here for thousands of years and still do. Aquinnah is home to the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, one of two federally recognized tribes in Massachusetts. Bartholomew Gosnold put the island on English charts in 1602. Whaling money built Edgartown’s captain’s houses in the early 1800s; when whaling collapsed, the Methodist camp meetings in Oak Bluffs grew into a Victorian cottage resort, and the island has been a summer place ever since.

Three ways:

• Drive + ferry: 1.5–2 hours to Woods Hole, then the Steamship Authority ferry, about 45 minutes to Vineyard Haven or Oak Bluffs.
• Bus + ferry: Peter Pan runs from South Station to Woods Hole (about $24–40); the walk-on ferry is $22 round trip. Cheapest door-to-door, and no parking to think about.
• Fly: Cape Air covers BOS–MVY in roughly 40 to 45 minutes of scheduled flying time, with seasonal routes added in summer.

Every route, fare, and strategy: our 2026 ferry guide.

• Drive + ferry: 4.5–6 hours to Woods Hole depending on traffic. Bringing the car across? Reserve the ferry slot before you leave. See the next question.
• Direct ferry: Seastreak sails from East 35th St in Manhattan to Oak Bluffs on select summer weekends: about 5 hours, $175+ each way.
• Train or bus + ferry: Amtrak or bus to Providence or Boston, then a connecting bus to Woods Hole.
• Fly: seasonal nonstops from JFK and LaGuardia to MVY, plus flights from White Plains.

The Steamship Authority is the only car ferry and the only year-round service, and it sails only from Woods Hole. Walk-on tickets need no reservation and are sold in the SSA app or at the terminal; a car needs a vehicle reservation. Every other boat is passenger-only and seasonal (Falmouth, Hyannis, New Bedford, and Rhode Island). The crossing takes about 45 minutes.

• Walk-ons: no reservation needed, ever; $11 each way, departures roughly hourly in season.
• Vehicles: reserve as early as you can. Reservations are effectively required year-round now that the traditional standby line has been suspended since November 2024, and summer weekends sell out months ahead.

Schedules, fares, and booking strategy: the complete ferry guide.

Most visitors don’t. VTA buses connect all six towns and are fare-free through June 30, 2027. The down-island towns are walkable, and bike paths link Oak Bluffs, Edgartown, and Vineyard Haven. Taxis and rideshares cover the rest.

Bringing a car costs $127 to $168 each way at peak (under 17 ft: $127 Monday to Thursday, $168 Friday to Sunday through September 14, then $127 flat through October), before passenger tickets. Many families park at the Steamship lots in Falmouth ($25 a day in season, $20 in winter) and walk on. With the free buses, that usually wins on both cost and stress.

• Late June–early September is classic beach season: everything’s open, the water’s warmest, and prices and crowds peak.
• September is the local favorite: the ocean holds its warmth, crowds thin after Labor Day, and the fishing Derby takes over the island.
• May–June: quieter and cheaper, with businesses opening up week by week.
• November–April: most seasonal restaurants close and ferries run less often. Quiet, but for some people that’s the point.

Summer runs 75–82°F (24–28°C) with cooler nights. The surrounding ocean keeps spring cool (55–65°F) and stretches fall: September days in the 70s are normal. Winter hovers 40–50°F with more wind than snow. Pack a layer even in August: evenings by the water drop fast.

• Agricultural Fair: four days at the Ag Hall in West Tisbury every August; running since 1858.
• Grand Illumination Night: the Oak Bluffs gingerbread cottages hung with hundreds of paper lanterns, one evening each August.
• Striped Bass and Bluefish Derby: five weeks of serious fishing, mid-September to mid-October.
• Film Festival in March and the Food and Wine Festival in the fall.

Dates and the full list live on our events calendar.

More than you’d think. Ferries and buses run daily all year, and every town keeps a core of restaurants, cafes, museums, trails and shops that never close. Our guide to what is open year-round lists them town by town, and the winter guide and spring guide cover the quiet-season experience itself. Seasonal businesses open in waves through May and most are running by Memorial Day weekend.

• South Beach (Katama), the big Atlantic beach: real surf, free parking, lifeguards.
• State Beach: flat, calm water on Nantucket Sound, the family favorite, with the Jaws bridge along it.
• Lucy Vincent (Chilmark): clay cliffs and the island’s most photographed shoreline; town-sticker only in summer, open to everyone off-season.

Parking, stickers, and lifeguards are all town-run and change beach to beach. The details are in our beach parking and access guide, and every beach has its own page in the beach index.

Bike the shore road between Oak Bluffs and Edgartown, ride the two-minute Chappy Ferry and wander the Mytoi garden, watch the sunset at Menemsha with fish-market lobster, walk the Camp Ground cottages in Oak Bluffs, hike the Land Bank trails, kayak the ponds, or fish the fall Derby. Harbor sails and charter boats run all summer.

Five, each different:

• Edgartown Light: a ten-minute walk from Main Street, with harbor views.
• Gay Head Light (Aquinnah), up on the clay cliffs; moved back from the eroding edge in 2015.
• East Chop (Oak Bluffs) and West Chop (Vineyard Haven), the two harbor lights.
• Cape Poge: out on Chappaquiddick, reachable by sand road; a light has stood there since 1801.

Yes, with town-by-town rules. In summer most swimming beaches ban dogs during the day, but Fuller Street Beach in Edgartown allows leashed dogs year-round and Lobsterville in Aquinnah allows them on leash. Off-season, most beaches open back up to dogs. Always check the posted signs.

• John G. Rogers Memorial Dog Park (Tisbury): the island's purpose-built fenced dog park, off State Road near the Tisbury Park and Ride.
• Trade Wind Fields Preserve (Oak Bluffs): off-leash walking on designated trails.
• Other towns have informal spots rather than fenced parks; check with the town hall before you count on one.

A few institutions to start with:

• The Black Dog Tavern (Vineyard Haven): the harborside classic; the t-shirt came later.
• Art Cliff Temporarily closed Closed until further notice: the sign on the door and the diner's own website say temporarily closed as of 5 September 2026. No reopening date given. (through Oct 3) Diner (Vineyard Haven): expect a breakfast line.
• State Road Restaurant (West Tisbury): farm-to-table and a 2026 James Beard semifinalist; very hard to book.
• Larsen’s Fish Market (Menemsha): lobster on the dock at sunset.

Upscale kitchens book out about two weeks ahead on Resy in summer. Full picks, booking tips, and what’s new this year: Best Restaurants on Martha’s Vineyard (2026).

Depends where you’re standing. Edgartown and Oak Bluffs have package stores and full bars. Vineyard Haven restaurants have poured full liquor since 2017, and West Tisbury and Aquinnah restaurants can serve beer and wine. Chilmark is the island’s only fully dry town: every restaurant there is BYOB (corkage runs about $12 to $15 a bottle; confirm when you book). There are no liquor stores west of Edgartown, so buy your bottle down-island before heading up.

A rough peak-season day trip for two: $44 in ferry walk-on fares, $0 for the buses, $60–100 for lunch and dinner, plus whatever the ice cream line does to you. Overnight is where it adds up: mid-range summer rooms run $250–700 a night, and a family of four bringing a car pays roughly $320 to $400 round trip on the ferry alone.

Run your own numbers in the trip cost calculator. It covers ferries, hotels, dining, and activities with current prices.

About 20,000 people stay past Labor Day, and housing is the hard part: median home prices sit well past $1M, and year-round rentals are scarce because so many houses go seasonal. Work follows the seasons too: hospitality and the trades hire heavily in summer, while the hospital, the schools, and construction carry the winter. Groceries and utilities run 20–40% above mainland prices. Everything rides the ferry over.