Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park Ferry Center — Local services in Boston

We visited on a Wednesday afternoon in mid-June 2025.

We took the 2:30PM ferry out to Spectacle island. Unfortunately we had tickets for George's Island but they cancelled all tickets because watermain repairs and this was the only other option. We had pretty low expectations but the island was better than we expected.

We paid about $25/adult (12+) and $18/child (30-11yr old). We did pay for our tickets online and they were available up to at least 10 mins before the ferry time because we had another family member join in last min and was able to get a ticket online. The ferry itself was barely filled. maybe 15 folks total.

We waited by the sign for Gate 5. It was about a 30 min trip. Very pretty leaving Boston Harbor in overcast skies. The ferry itself was fairly clean and had a bathroom and you could purchase snacks. There was a nice breeze and honestly very gentle rocking. I took a nice little nap both there and back. Crew was amazing and very nice. It was king of cool to have the whole ferry basically to ourselves.

Overall the weather was great except for a little sprinkle of rain but the overcast sky meant we weren't burning from the sun. There is very little shade on the island in general and on the trails. We would probably not visit the island again and aim to visit one of the other Boston...

Take a picnic lunch and spend a day on Georges Island to explore Fort Warren. Views of Boston from the ferry and the islands are terrific, the 45-minute boat ride to Georges is fun. (Hint: if you want to explore an old fort without the expense or schedule of a boat ride, drive and park at Castle Island in Dorchester.) It is a 5-star day, but I took one star because you used to be able to visit more than one island in a day (Georges for the fort and Spectacle for the view), but they seem to be separate tickets now. Plus, inflation has bitten the boat tickets, too - but enjoy the day trip anyway and then walk to Quincy Market and Fanuel Hall when you get back from the island. You...

We took the ferry to Spectacle Island. While the island itself was beautiful and full of stunning scenery, the ferry ride was unfortunately very unpleasant. There were multiple summer activity groups with large numbers of children on board, and no crew member or staff made any effort to enforce basic rules or remind the kids (or their chaperones) to respect other passengers. The constant running, shouting, and lack of supervision made the trip noisy and...