So, How do I get to Martha’s Vineyard?
Over the past 10 years in the hotel industry on Martha’s Vineyard I have noticed a strange phenomenon. Many, and I mean lots and lots and lots, of 1st time visitors coming to Martha’s Vineyard book their accommodations and THEN ask ‘How do I get there?’
The first few times I gave all the travel options (there are also lots and lots of these – I’ll get to them in a minute, bear with me), didn’t think about the question too much and went about my day, but after a while I began to wonder – why book a hotel room if you don’t know how you are getting there? The answer is now totally obvious to me…because Martha’s Vineyard is such an awesome place to visit, that most folks are sooo excited about coming here, they’ll work on the details later. Also, lots of people forget that we are an Island. AND we don’t have a bridge.
So, I hear you say, How DO we get there?
Well, the 1st, and most frequently used option, is the Steamship Authority ferry service. This service is the ONLY car ferry (although we suggest leaving it behind – gridlock on vacation isn’t fun !) and makes the 45 minute trip about 14 times a day. It takes some really bad weather before these ferries are cancelled, so they are also the most reliable option and gives them their well deserved tag line of “The Lifeline to the Islands”. More about them in another post.
There are also a number of other passenger only ferry services from New Bedford has year round service and there is seasonal service from Falmouth (to Oak Bluffs orEdgartown), Hyannis and Quonset Point, RI.
Another option is to fly directly to the island. You can do this year round on Cape Air, or seasonally on US Airways.
So, you can see why it took a while to go through all these options with people on the phone – and with so many travel options, I can see why they didn’t plan their travel before they booked their rooms!
