Catching the Davis Park ferry from Patchogue

Parking, and what it costs

The lot at the terminal is run by the Town of Brookhaven, not by the ferry company, so nobody at the ticket window can help you with it. For non residents the published rates are $4 an hour Monday to Friday, $5 an hour on weekends and holidays, $25 for the day and $150 for the week. Pay at the meters by the terminal or in the FlowBird app with your plate, zone 8003. If the lot is full there's overflow at the South Shore Boat Yard, a short walk away. The parking booth is (631) 758-2740. We read the $25 day rate off the meters ourselves on 27 September 2026; the hourly and weekly figures are the ones the ferry company publishes.

A day trip that costs $25 to park is a day trip you can walk to from here instead. It's ten minutes on foot.

Getting on the boat

Be there 15 minutes before departure. The ferry company says latecomers may not be allowed to board, and on a busy Saturday they mean it.

Tickets are sold in person only, at the terminal, right before you board. There are no online or digital tickets, and a ticket doesn't hold you a seat on any particular boat. Cards have a $10 minimum.

The fare is $23 round trip and $17 one way. Their website doesn't publish prices, so we called and asked on 27 September 2026. For anything else, a child or senior rate or a multi-trip book, ask them on (631) 475-1665.

What you can bring

• Dogs are welcome. They ride leashed and cost $6.75 each, whatever the size.
• One carry-on and one smaller personal item per person. Carts and coolers on wheels count as freight and get loaded by the crew, so don't plan on carrying one aboard yourself.
• Leave the bikes here. Town ordinance keeps bicycles, skateboards and scooters off the Fire Island boardwalks.

The fall timetable

These are the Davis Park times from the ferry company's Fall 2026 timetable, read on 27 September 2026. The schedule thins out three times between now and December, which catches people. Check davisparkferry.com the morning you go, because trips marked weather permitting get pulled in high wind, and in the fall any trip can be.

Watch Hill runs on the same dates, which we confirmed by phone on 27 September 2026. Its departure times are its own, so ask at the window if that's the side you want.

If you miss the last boat back

Call the ferry, (631) 475-1665, straight away. Their own answer is that they may be able to accommodate you, which is not a promise of anything. Plan around the last departure instead: from mid October that's 4:00 PM on a weekday, which arrives earlier in the day than most people expect.

December through March

There's no scheduled service at all in those months. We called on 9 September 2026 to check, because "limited winter schedule" is the sort of thing that puts a guest at an empty terminal. The same company will run a water taxi on request instead, so a winter crossing is a phone call and a private boat rather than a timetable. The bay itself is worth seeing in February, and what else is open in winter is its own page.

Staying half a mile away

The Joyful Beach House is on the mainland side of the same bay, two bedrooms, sleeps 4, with the driveway that keeps you out of the terminal lot. Guests do the island as a day out and come back to a kitchen and their own beds. More on that in the Fire Island alternative and the local guide.