Last updated August 3, 2026
The coast looks different from the water, and you don't need a narrated cruise to see it. Four working boat routes run from this corner of Maine: a passenger ferry across Frenchman Bay, a mailboat to the Cranberry Isles, a state car ferry to Swans Island, and the boat from Stonington to Isle au Haut, the most remote piece of Acadia there is. These are transport, not tours. You share the deck with islanders, groceries, and the mail, and at the far end you get a real island for the day. For the tour boats, the whale watches and the schooner, see boat tours; this guide is the other kind of day.
Schoodic by sea
Across Frenchman Bay without touching the road
A passenger ferry run by Downeast Windjammer crosses Frenchman Bay daily from roughly Memorial Day weekend through late October, leaving the Bar Harbor Inn Pier (1 Newport Dr) and landing at the Schoodic Marine Center in Winter Harbor in about 50 minutes. In 2026 it runs five departures each way a day, leaving Bar Harbor at 9, 11, 1:30, 3:30, and 5:30; confirm current times with Downeast Windjammer before you build a day on them. It turns the Schoodic Peninsula, the mainland arm of Acadia, into a boat day: cross the bay, then in season pick up the Island Explorer's Schoodic route on the far side to loop the point without a car. By road the same trip is about 42 minutes around the head of the bay, so the ferry isn't a shortcut; it's the better story. Read up on the peninsula in Schoodic — Acadia without the crowds.
The Cranberry Isles mailboat
One of the last mailboat routes in the country
From the Northeast Harbor town pier, the Beal & Bunker mailboat runs year-round, carrying passengers, mail, and freight to Great Cranberry, Little Cranberry (Islesford), and Sutton Island. It has carried the islands' mail since 1951, one of the last mailboat routes in the country, and it feels like it: coolers and lumber on the deck, islanders who know the crew, no cars on the far end. In summer a second option, the seasonal Cranberry Cove ferry, runs from Southwest Harbor and Manset, roughly late May to October.
Little Cranberry is the day trip: walk the one road, look back at the whole Acadia skyline from the water side, and visit the Islesford Historical Museum, a small National Park Service museum of island life. It's seasonal, so check current hours. A dock restaurant has operated by the town float most summers; check whether it's open this year before promising anyone lunch. The islands ask nothing of you but a return-boat time you must not miss; confirm the last departure before you wander.
Swans Island by car ferry
The state ferry from Bass Harbor
The Maine State Ferry Service runs a car ferry to Swans Island from the Bass Harbor terminal (45 Granville Rd, Tremont), about 40 minutes each way, with roughly six round trips a day in season. Vehicle space is tight and reservations go early in summer, so the low-stress version is to walk on or bring bikes and leave the car at the terminal. The island's reward is Burnt Coat Harbor and its lighthouse, a lobstering harbor that tourism has barely touched. The terminal sits on the island's quiet side, so pair the crossing with the Quiet Side and make a full day of that end of MDI.
Isle au Haut — the far Acadia
The park section almost nobody sees
About half of Isle au Haut, a big wooded island south of Stonington, is a section of Acadia National Park, and it is the park at its emptiest: rough coastal trails, no crowds, no gift shop. The Isle au Haut Boat Services mailboat, a nonprofit outfit, runs year-round from Stonington to the island's town dock, and in season, roughly mid-June through mid-October, it also stops at the Duck Harbor landing, the National Park Service dock where day-trippers get off. Take the morning boat and you get about four hours ashore, enough for the Duck Harbor area trails; check current sailings and fares with the operator before you commit, because the schedule is the whole plan.
Fair warning on the geography: Stonington is not next door. It sits at the tip of Deer Isle, down the Blue Hill peninsula, roughly an hour and a half from the house, so this is a full committed day, and it pairs naturally with seeing Stonington itself, one of Maine's prettiest working harbors, covered in around the bay. If your group wants remote Acadia without the boat logistics, Schoodic delivers most of the feeling for a third of the effort.
Getting to the piers
| Departure point | Drive time | | --- | --- | | Bar Harbor Inn Pier (Schoodic ferry) | ≈30 min | | Northeast Harbor town pier (mailboat) | about 35 min | | Bass Harbor terminal (Swans Island) | about 40 min | | Stonington pier (Isle au Haut) | roughly 1 hr 30 min |
Bar Harbor is the measured figure; the others are estimates. The three MDI piers cross the one bridge, so add margin on summer middays; Stonington is a mainland drive down the Blue Hill peninsula. See getting here & drive times.
The shape of a ferry day
Pick by the day you want. The Schoodic ferry is the car-free park day; the mailboat is the small-island morning, best with children who like boats more than itineraries; Swans Island is the long, quiet lobstering-island day; and Isle au Haut is the committed one, remote Acadia for the group that wants trails nobody else is on. Whichever you choose, the day runs on someone else's clock: note the return sailings before you commit, arrive at the pier with margin, and treat the last boat as sacred, because missing it means an unplanned night or an expensive private pickup. Pack layers even in August, since the bay is cooler than the land.
Common questions
How do you get to Schoodic without driving?
Take the passenger ferry run by Downeast Windjammer, which crosses Frenchman Bay daily from roughly Memorial Day weekend through late October, from the Bar Harbor Inn Pier to the Schoodic Marine Center in Winter Harbor, in about 50 minutes. In season it connects with the fare-free Island Explorer's Schoodic route on the far side, so you can loop the point without a car.
Can you take a car to the Cranberry Isles?
No. The Beal & Bunker mailboat, which has run year-round from the Northeast Harbor town pier since 1951, and the seasonal Cranberry Cove ferry from Southwest Harbor carry passengers and bikes only; vehicles and heavy freight move by barge by arrangement, which day visitors never need. The islands are small enough that you walk them.
Can you take a car to Swans Island?
Yes, the Maine State Ferry Service car ferry runs from Bass Harbor, about 40 minutes each way with roughly six round trips daily in season. Vehicle space is limited and reservations go early in summer, so walking on or bringing bikes is the easier plan for a day trip.
What is there to do on Little Cranberry Island?
Islesford, on Little Cranberry, is a walkable lobstering village with a working waterfront and long views back at the Acadia skyline. The Islesford Historical Museum, a small seasonal National Park Service museum, tells the story of island life; check its current hours. The main obligation of the day is simply not missing the return boat.
How do you get to the Isle au Haut section of Acadia?
By the Isle au Haut Boat Services mailboat from Stonington, which runs year-round to the island's town dock and, roughly mid-June through mid-October, also stops at the Duck Harbor landing inside the park. The morning boat gives day-trippers about four hours ashore for the Duck Harbor trails. Stonington is roughly an hour and a half from Eagles Nest, so treat it as a full-day outing and confirm sailings with the operator first.
Are these ferries the same as the boat tours?
No. These are working ferries: scheduled transport for islanders, mail, and freight that visitors can ride, with no narration and no loop back to where you started. For whale watches, lobster-boat trips, and the sunset schooner, see our boat tours guide instead.