Bald Head Island ferry: Deep Point to a golf-cart island, bags and tram included

Drop the bags before you park the car. At Deep Point Marina in Southport the checked luggage goes in at the lower level of the terminal, and only after that do you drive round to the lot, take a ticket and walk back to board. Get the order wrong on a summer Saturday and you are carrying three suitcases across a parking lot. The ferry that follows is the easy part: about 20 minutes across the mouth of the Cape Fear River to the marina on Bald Head Island, where a tram meets the boat.

It runs because there is no other way. The island has no bridge, and the Village keeps engines off its streets as far as it can: gasoline golf carts and ATVs are banned, any gas-powered vehicle brought over on the barge pays a permit fee, and people get around in electric carts, on bikes and on the tram, at a top speed of 18 mph. Fire Island's Kismet boats out of Bay Shore serve a barrier beach on much the same terms, where visitors arrive without a car. That turns the ferry into the island's front door and its delivery service at once, and it explains why the rules around it are so specific. Each ticketed passenger may check three pieces of luggage of up to 50 lb, bikes and boards pay extra, and the tram has to be booked along with the boat.

Running it is Bald Head Island Transportation, Inc., a private company regulated by the North Carolina Utilities Commission, which approves its timetable, fares and luggage policy. The summer table stays in force through October 31; on November 1 the winter table takes over, with the evening boats finishing earlier.

Summer sailings until October 31, then the winter table

Summer schedule (April 1 to October 31) and winter schedule (November 1 to March 31), read from Bald Head Island Transportation's departures board and printed schedules on September 24, 2026   Bald Head Island Transportation — passenger ferry departures · 2026-09-24

A round trip that includes the tram, and what costs extra

The standard ticket is a round trip, and it includes the tram on the island, both ways. You pick a return time when you buy it, online, in the app or at the Deep Point window, but you can change it later or simply turn up and board through the General line: every departure keeps at least 50 places for passengers without a reservation. The operator suggests buying and reserving at least three hours ahead. Children aged two and under travel free but still need a ticket to board.

Two cheaper tickets exist, both sold only at the island's own window and both for journeys that start on Bald Head: a same-day No-Frills round trip with no tram and no checked bags, and a same-day one-way. The charges for extra and bulky items were set when the current baggage rule came in, in 2022; the operator's luggage page still lists the charges but not the amounts, so treat the $23 figures as the last published rate.

Fares as published by Bald Head Island Transportation on September 24, 2026, with no effective date; parking rates effective January 1, 2025   Bald Head Island Ferry — Tickets · 2026-09-24

A 40,000-square-foot terminal at Deep Point, a marina on the island

Be at the terminal no later than half an hour before the boat, or 40 minutes if you are checking bags and taking the tram. Passengers with a reserved time must be in the Reservations line 15 minutes before the boat.

Down the Cape Fear River from Southport to the island marina

By the Village's reckoning the island lies about 3 miles from Southport, on the far side of the Cape Fear River; in a straight line the two terminals are a little under four miles apart. The boats take about 20 minutes, from the Deep Point basin to the harbor at the island marina.

It is the only crossing among the Southern ferries on this site where a visitor cannot bring a car across even if they want to, and the only one whose luggage rules are set by a state utilities regulator.

How the luggage, the tram and the lines actually work

• Three bags, 50 lb each

  Each ticketed passenger may check three pieces, none over 50 lb or bigger than a standard cooler. Tag every piece with a name and phone number; the operator has printable tags.

• Pack it as if you were flying

  Loose items must be in a closed bag or lidded container (the ticket window sells them), golf bags need a hood, and nothing travels unaccompanied.

• Book the tram with the ferry

  The tram is included in the general fare but has to be reserved with your ferry time. You can change the tram time up to two hours before.

• Bikes and boards pay per piece

  Bicycles, kayaks and surfboards travel on an oversize-baggage ticket and are handed over at the arrivals curb on the lower level at Deep Point.

• Dogs stay outside

  Pets ride on the outside decks only, never in the cabin, whatever the weather. No food or drink in the cabin, and no smoking or alcohol anywhere on board.

• Batteries go by barge

  Batteries are not allowed on the passenger ferry and must go on the freight barge. Building materials travel on the contractor ferry or the barge, not with visitors.

A private ferry, a public regulator and an authority that wants to buy it

Who should own the ferry has been argued over for most of a decade. In 2017 the General Assembly authorized a public Bald Head Island Transportation Authority, with a board drawn from the state, the county, Southport and the Village, as a public body able to buy and run the ferry, tram, Deep Point parking and barge. Its first attempt, a $47.75 million purchase in 2020 and 2021, stalled when the state's Local Government Commission held back the bond financing.

In 2022 Bald Head Island Limited, the developer's company that had long owned the system, agreed instead to sell it to a private investment firm, SharpVue Capital, and in August 2023 the Utilities Commission approved the transfer with conditions: no ferry fare increase for a year after closing, parking and barge rates held to inflation for six years, a ten-year investment plan and a 90 percent on-time target. In March 2026 the Village acknowledged open questions about whether the system had in fact been sold and who owns what. Since then the authority has been negotiating directly with Bald Head Island Limited for a purchase or a lease-to-own, and no agreement had been made public by late September.

Meanwhile the boats keep the island supplied. The Village's emergency plans rely on them for evacuation, and U.S. Postal Service parcels come over on dollies on the passenger ferry, while UPS and FedEx use the barge. In July 2026 silt in the island's harbor entrance forced the operator to switch to shallower contractor boats around low tide and to end service early on two days while the Village dredged.

Four aluminum boats, from the Sans Souci to the Ranger

Settling the luggage and tram questions at Deep Point