Guide to Lighthouse Boat Tours
and Ferries
in Rhode island
Rose Island Lighthouse
(Heading Eastward)
Below is a list of boat tours and cruises that offer specific lighthouse cruises around Rhode Island's Narragansett Bay, Newport Harbor, and along the south shoreline of Rhode island, here in New England. You may find while some may offer specific lighthouse cruises, some will pass by specific lighthouses as part of charters, narrated wildlife and historic tours, ferrying passengers, fishing tours and other types of excursions.
Rhode Island Fast Ferry
Offers weekly lighthouse tours in season. Their narrated high-speed ferry cruises cover ten Rhode Island lighthouses in Narragansett Bay. They also provde ferry services to Martha's Vineyard and Block Island. On Martha's Vineyard, they provide a narrated 2.5-hour sightseeing island tour on a scheduled bus.
1347 Roger Williams Way
North Kingstown, RI 02852
Phone: (401) 295-4040
Email: info@fastferry.com
Lighthouses: Beavertail Lighthouse, Poplar Point Light, Plum Beach Lighthouse, Conanicut Light, Dutch Island Lighthouse, Plum Beach Light, Newport Harbor, Ida Lewis Light, Rose Island Light, and Castle Hill Light.
Save the Bay Tours
Organization for lighthouse and coastal preservation provides nature and seal watching tours. For those who are not in a hurry, they provide an extensive 7-hour Ultimate Lighthouse Tour covering most of the lighthouses in Narragansett Bay. The cruise includes a stopover lunch to explore the grounds of Rose Isand Lighthouse.
100 Save the Bay Drive, Providence, RI 02905
Phone: (401) 272-3540 x103
Lighthouses: Beavertail, Castle Hill, Lime Rock (Ida Lewis), Newport Harbor, Rose Island, Prudence Island, Hog Island, Bristol Ferry, Conanicut Point, Poplar Point, Plum Beach, Dutch Island, Nayatt Point, Pomham Rocks, Conimicut, and Warwick Light.
Coastal Queen Cruises
Offers weekly, narrated, lighthouse boat tours most of the year. Their special lighthouse tours will take you up close to the lighthouses that surround the Newport Harbor and lower Narragansett Bay area, with panoramic views of Rose Island Lighthouse, Castle Hill Light, Goat Island Lighthouse and more. They offer maximum comfort as this tour boat has a weatherproof interior that can be heated, and an open-air covered deck where the clear side curtains can roll up for catching the ocean breezes or rolled down for warmth on chilly days.
5 Bowen's Landing, Bowen's Wharf
Newport, RI 02840
Phone: (401) 423-9900 x1
Email: info@cruiseri.com
Lighthouses: Newport Harbor Lighthouse, Ida Lewis Lighthouse, Rose Island Lighthouse, and Castle Hill Lighthouse.
Classic Cruises of Newport
Newport Harbor excursions aboard a newly restored Elco Motor Yacht, called the Rumrunner, built during prohibition in 1929 for local bootleggers, or go sailing on the 72-foot Schooner Madeleine, the 80-foot Schooner Adirondack II, or 48-foot Sloop Eleanor, which include sunset sails. All offer views by the Newport lighthouses, and they have a special "Lighthouses and Mimosas" Cruise to view those lighthouses in the southern end of Narragansett Bay.
22 Bowens Wharf, Newport RI 02840
Main Office: (401) 862-8441
Tickets: (401) 847-0000
Lighthouses: Newport Harbor Light, Ida Lewis Light, Rose Island Light, and Castle Hill Light.
Block Island Express and Cross Sound Cruises
Leaving out of New London, CT, and Orient Point, NY. From these two locations, they provide a fast ferry to Block Island, and have three lighthouse cruises with Cross Sound Cruises. They include the Classic Lighthouse Cruise, the Lights and Sights Cruise, and the Long Island Lights Cruise. They also promote special bicycle tours around Block Island.
Phone: (860) 444-4624 or (401) 466-2212 (Block Island)
Phone: (860) 444-4620 (Lighthouse Cruises)
Lighthouses: Watch Hill (RI), Avery Point (CT), New London Ledge (CT), New London Harbor (CT), Morgan Point (CT), Race Rock (NY), Little Gull (NY), North Dumpling (NY), Bug (NY), Orient Point (NY), Latimer Reef (NY) and Plum Island (NY)
Snappa Charters
Offers specific lighthouse tours around Narragansett Bay and to Block Island in addition to other adventure tours like sport fishing, whale watching, and shark tagging.
Mailing Address: 2 Congdon Dr., Wakefield, RI 02816
Boat Location: 33 State Street, Narragansett, RI 02882
Boat/Cell (401) 487-9044
Email: snappacharters@cox.net
Lighthouses: Block Island Southeast, Block Island North, Watch Hill, and Point Judith, Beavertail, Castle Hill, Lime Rock (Ida Lewis) Light, Newport Harbor, Rose Island, Prudence Island, Hog Island, Bristol Ferry, Conanicut Point, Poplar Point, Plum Beach, and Dutch Island, Sakonnet, Nayatt Point, Pomham Rocks, Conimicut, and Warwick Lighthouse.
Rhode Island Ferries
These Ferries will take you to the islands or around Newport where you can walk or hike to lighthouses. The Block Island ferries will get you to the dock, where can hike a mile to Block Island Southeast Light, then hike, or take a taxi to Block Island North Light. Some ferries allow you to bring your car but can be quite expensive. The Point Judith Dock allows you to visit Point Judith Light nearby.
Block Island North Lighthouse
Davis Park Ferry Co.
Ferry from Patchogue, Long Island, to Watch Hill, Rhode Island. You can walk to Watch Hill Lighthouse from the dock.
Phone: (516) 475-1665
Fax (516) 289-2185
Lighthouses: Watch Hill Light
Bristol - Prudence Island Ferry
Ferry will take you to Prudence Island where you can walk a mile to Prudence Island (Sandy Point) Light. Also passes by Bristol Ferry Light.
Phone: (401) 253-9808
Lighthouses: Bristol Ferry Light, Prudence Island Light
Jamestown Newport Ferry
Offers Hop-On Hop-Off service daily from Memorial Day to Labor Day at five stops: Jamestown, Rose Island Lighthouse and Newport's Fort Adams, Ann Street Pier and Perrotti Park. Cruises and tours are also available.
1 East Ferry Wharf
Jamestown, RI 02835
Phone: (401) 423-9900 x1
Lighthouses: Rose Island Light and Newport Harbor Light
Block Island Ferry
(401) 783-4613
Block Island is accessible by ferry from Point Judith, RI.
Take Sandhill Cove Road from Point Judith Lighthouse, to Galilee ferry landing.
Ferry service to Block Island is also available from Montauk Point, NY and New London, CT.
Lighthouse: Point Judith
Block Island Express
Out of New London, CT
(860) 444-4624
Viking Ferry
Out of Montauk, NY
(631) 668-5700
Books to Explore
My 300-page book, Lighthouses and Coastal Attractions of Southern New England: Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Massachusetts, provides special human interest stories from each of the 92 lighthouses, along with plenty of indoor and outdoor coastal attractions you can explore, and lots of tours. Look inside! |
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To order a signed paperback copy: Available from bookstores in paperback, hardcover, and as an eBook for all devices.
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The Rise and Demise of the Largest Sailing Ships: Stories of the Six and Seven-Masted Coal Schooners of New England In the early 1900s, New England shipbuilders constructed the world’s largest sailing ships amid social and political reforms. These giants of sail were the ten original six-masted coal schooners and one colossal seven-masted vessel, built to carry massive quantities of coal and building supplies, and measured longer than a football field! This book, balanced with plenty of color and vintage images, showcases the historical accounts that followed these mighty ships. These true stories include competitions, accidents, battling destructive storms, acts of heroism, and their final voyages. |
