Newport Hi-Speed Ferry (Perrotti Park) — Attraction in Newport

This ferry ride should be marketed along with the Breakers tour, the sunset cruise and all the other popular destinations in Newport! For a different reason: being on the open water for 60 minutes between Newport and Block Island is as close to a meditative state as I have ever been. Oh, and I’m too hyperactive to meditate, can’t swim and suffer from seasickness. Last year during our visit to Newport we took the ferry to BI, I had no idea what to expect, and the ride in was wrought with misery and queasiness. This year, as a supremely pleasant surprise to myself, I felt no queasiness. I stood at the back of the boat going to the island, and at the front of it coming back. It was absolutely SPECTACULAR! The air, breeze, the kaleidoscope of cloud formations, the endless blur of the ocean as far as the eye could see, it was a much needed therapy for a bedraggled and very stressed New Yorker. My husband and I loved it so much we did it twice. I highly recommend this service for anybody visiting Newport. The staff are very professional and accommodating, your ticket contributes a modicum to the boat maintenance, and the experience is stellar both on and off the boat. I am back in NYC now and jonesing for what was just yesterday. Thank you to the crew,...

At first, while I was on this "Hi-Speed Ferry", I was like really??? It seemed to be going the same speed if not slower than the Staten Island ferry, but soon enough the ferry picked up incredible speed and I was actually impressed by how fast it was going. The seating downstairs were nice and comfortable and super cushiony while the seating upstairs were harder and thinner, but not uncomfortable - just uncomfortable when compared to the downstairs seating.

Something to note is that if you want to sit upstairs, those seats usually fill up faster than the downstairs seats, so keep track of when the ferry is arriving and try to be early or at the front of the line when they begin to scan tickets.

Even though there is no large city view like New York or anything, I took some of the best pictures while traveling on this ferry which definitely made me love the ferry even more. There ended up being a surprise storm up there so fair warning, if that happens, you'll probably want to go back downstairs which usually leads to crowding so don't try to wait until...

The ferry that leaves NewPort to Block Island is seasonal, we had 2 options, one that leaves at 9 & the other at 12 and there is a return ferry at 5 pm. It's a one hour journey. BI has amazing beaches, so if you wanna spend some extra time at the beach plus get a tour of BI (if it's your first time here) I would suggest take the 9 a.m. ferry. Once there, you have these taxis that take you on a tour which lasts for a little more than an hour- Sue was our taxi driver, an amazing person who patiently answered our questions, spoke about the history of BI. It's a standard $100 for the tour. We did have time to walk around the beach before we took the ferry back to NP.

Note: They do have places to stay, bikes and cars to rent.

A beautiful, quaint little island to add to your trip when you are there at...