Great day on the island. Now I catch this FREE ride back to Hatteras after a good meal, looking a wild horses, finding the light house and seeing a sunset from the beach side. Thanks to those locals working all day.

Free ferry... arrived for the 8:30am ferry but it didn't go... so ended up waiting for the 9:30am ferry. Someone came out on a golf cart and talked to all the pass holders, some of them left and came back... Nothing was said to us tourists... a little annoying to sit for an hour and a half with no info. Cars were parked so tight, I didn't think I could get out of my car but a few did.

Showed up at 910 for the 930. A little fog so we couldn't run. 4 hours later they are loading commercial vehicles over and over and not letting tourists off the island. Might want to rethink your vacation plans if you think Ocracoke actually cares about the tourists.

AVOID! Arrived 10:30 and departed at 2:30! 4 hours sitting waiting with no food and a hungry pregnant woman!!! Not enough boats! Too much time wasted! Drive the 3 to 4 hours around...seems fun to take this boat but NC ferry service is a bad joke & customers waiting feel like clowns 🤡 This service is basically only for huge tractor trailers & deliveries for those with priority pass (seemingly dislike tourists). "Free" and not worth it. BTW-Pick in the priority lane, Good Luck!

8/2023 We travel this way every year. My pro tip: Take the ferry just before sunset. Beautiful view. Great crew. Especially this cool guy that wanted the pic. Pilot on the bull horn was great too. Warned us all about the channel being bad. Might hit a sandbar. Weaved through sandbars in to Hatteras under spot light. Beautiful sunset. And a little adventure. Bring a cooler and snacks. This ferry is part of our must do every year. Thanks, folks.

The quality of service has noticeably declined over the past few years. It's advisable to take the posted schedule with caution as it doesn't seem to accurately reflect the actual situation. On a recent weekday trip to Ocracoke, we experienced an hour-long wait on the way there and over two hours on the return journey. It appears that there might be an attempt to incentivize businesses to purchase premium passes in order to bypass the lengthy queues.

If not trying to cross during the busiest parts of the day with delivery trucks, it can be efficient. We did have to wait 2 ferries out when we came around 10 am. No issue at 9:00 pm return. The 4 stars are completely for the guys on the boat. Went out of their way with kindness. Conversational and offered to take pictures of our family. Saw dolphins as a plus. Got to tailgate in the edge of the boat on the way over.

Free vehicle ferry operated by the North Carolina Department of transportation