Charlevoix is the last stop on the Michigan mainland for anyone headed to Beaver Island, the largest island in Lake Michigan. From a dock beside the downtown drawbridge the boat runs 32 miles of open lake to St. James on Paradise Bay, and the company that runs it, the Beaver Island Boat Company, gives the crossing as a little over two hours. There is no bridge, no causeway and, from the end of the boat season until April, no boat: the only link then is a flight of about a quarter of an hour.
That is why the calendar matters more here than on most crossings. The 2026 season began on April 8 and ends on Friday, December 18. In high summer the boats run up to four times a day; now, in late September, it is one sailing a day, and not every day: no boat on September 29 or October 1, and through most of October and November the Tuesday and Thursday gaps continue. In December it drops to Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The second thing that surprises people is the car. Passengers simply buy a ticket and board, but every vehicle needs a reservation made by telephone, and the boat that replaces the regular ferry during its October dry dock cannot take trailers at all. Plan the car first, then the dates.
A single fall sailing, and some days with none at all
September 25 to October 4, except Tuesday Sept. 29 and Thursday Oct. 1
| From Beaver Island Boat Company, Charlevoix Dock | From St. James ferry dock, Beaver Island |
|---|---|
| 10:30 | 13:20 |
October 5 to October 25, no boat on Tuesdays or Thursdays
| From Beaver Island Boat Company, Charlevoix Dock | From St. James ferry dock, Beaver Island |
|---|---|
| 08:30 | 11:20 |
October 26 to November 30
| From Beaver Island Boat Company, Charlevoix Dock | From St. James ferry dock, Beaver Island |
|---|---|
| 10:30 | 13:20 |
December 1 to December 18, Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays only
| From Beaver Island Boat Company, Charlevoix Dock | From St. James ferry dock, Beaver Island |
|---|---|
| 08:30 | 11:20 |
Beaver Island Boat Company 2026 Ferry Schedule (first sailing April 8, last December 18), read from the operator's schedule page and printed PDF on September 24, 2026; all trips weather permitting Beaver Island Boat Company — Ferry Schedules · 2026-09-24
Fares per person, per pet, per bike, and a car priced by its length
Passengers never book. You buy a ticket on the day, at either office, and it carries no date or time: it can be used on any departure within a year of purchase. Vehicles are the opposite. Every vehicle and every trailer needs a reservation, and the only way to make one is to phone and talk to someone, on 231-547-2311 in Charlevoix all year or 231-448-2210 on the island from April to December. There is no online booking and the company does not take reservations by email.
The car price covers the car only; each person aboard, driver included, needs a passenger ticket as well. The senior fare is a dated ticket sold only for travel between April 8 and May 17 or between September 14 and December 18, so it applies now; like the longer vehicle rates, it appears only on the operator's rate page, with no second publication to check it against.
| Adult | $ 33.50 |
| Child 5–12 | $ 21 |
| Child 4 and under | Free |
| Senior 65+ with ID, dated off-season ticket | $ 16.75 |
| Pet on the passenger deck | $ 12 |
| Adult | $ 67 |
| Child 5–12 | $ 42 |
| Senior 65+, dated off-season ticket | $ 33.50 |
| Adult book of 20 one-way tickets | $ 603 |
| Under 7 ft 6 in tall, up to 16 ft long, one way | $ 110 |
| Same, round trip | $ 220 |
| Under 7 ft 6 in tall, 16 ft 1 in to 19 ft, one way | $ 120 |
| Motorcycle 350 cc and over, one way | $ 50 |
| Bicycle | $ 12 |
| Electric bicycle | $ 20 |
| Kayak or canoe, empty | $ 25 |
| Motorcycle 91–349 cc | $ 35 |
| Moped, 90 cc or less | $ 20 |
2026 fares as published by the Beaver Island Boat Company and read on September 24, 2026; the rate page was last revised on August 21, 2026 Beaver Island Boat Company — Fares & Rates · 2026-09-24
Bridge Park Drive in Charlevoix, Main Street in St. James
Each end sits in a town center, and neither has a ticket window for vehicles: a car's place is settled on the phone beforehand, and the dock crew only checks it in.
Beaver Island Boat Company, Charlevoix Dock
The mainland office is downtown, tucked into the slope on the south side of the US-31 drawbridge over the Pine River channel and facing Round Lake. Turn east onto Bridge Park Drive just south of the bridge. The office is open all year, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at weekends; the dock itself opens an hour earlier.
What the dock does not have is anywhere to leave a car for the day: the spaces around it are municipal meters. Day-trippers use the free city lots within walking distance, the DeWitt Lot on Park Avenue west of Bridge Street and the beach lot on Palmer Street, which is connected to the dock by the Pine River Channel walkway. Overnight parkers need a permit and a lot about a mile away (see below). Indian Trails buses also stop on the north side of the building.
St. James ferry dock, Beaver Island
The boat lands in the middle of St. James, on Paradise Bay, the island's main town and its commercial center. The island office on Main Street keeps shorter hours than Charlevoix: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8 a.m. to noon Tuesday and Thursday, and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at weekends, from April to December.
The municipal marina on the same bay is a separate facility with its own season; it is not where the ferry ties up. The Beaver Island Historical Society's Mormon Print Shop museum is a few doors along Main Street, and its Marine Museum occupies a 1906 net shed on the harbor.
Round Lake, the Pine River channel, then open water to Paradise Bay
The boat leaves from Round Lake, Charlevoix's inner harbor, goes out under the drawbridge through the Pine River channel and then runs 32 miles across open Lake Michigan, north and slightly west, to Paradise Bay. The company gives the time as just over two hours. On the timetable the gap between leaving Charlevoix and leaving the island again is 2 hours 50 minutes, the difference being unloading and loading.
Beaver Island is 13 miles long and 6 wide, with two lighthouses, seven inland lakes and more than 100 miles of mostly clay and gravel roads, which is why many visitors bring a car rather than rely on bikes. No other Great Lakes run covered here comes close in length; the Madeline Island run on Lake Superior takes 20 to 25 minutes, and on the other side of Michigan the Harsens Island car ferry crosses a river channel rather than a lake.
Reservations, freight and the cooler question
- A car means a phone call
Vehicle bookings opened on February 16, 2026 and are taken only by phone. As a rule you may book only for yourself, up to two vehicles, one trip per call. Have the make, model, year and exact length and height ready.
- Vehicles 90 minutes early
Booked vehicles must be checked in 1 hour 30 minutes before departure or lose the place. Keys stay with the dock crew, fuel cans are refused and propane tanks are declared at the dock. Passengers buying tickets should arrive an hour ahead.
- Two bags, then it is freight
A ticket covers one carry-on and two bags adding up to 50 lb. Coolers of any size, camping gear, golf clubs, tires, beer, wine and groceries count as freight and are paid for before you sail.
- Overnight parking is a mile away
Permits cost $6 a night or $30 a week in the company's lot on Stover Road or the Island Airways lot. A driver-only shuttle runs to the dock; a one-way valet to the lot costs $25. Cars left overnight on Charlevoix streets are towed.
- Dogs ride upstairs
Pets travel on a short leash on the upper deck, never in the main cabin, at $12 each way. They ride free if they stay in a carrier inside your vehicle; service dogs are free.
- After December 18, fly
Island Airways, flying the route since 1945, crosses in 15 to 20 minutes from Charlevoix airport all year, weather permitting. Fresh Air Aviation also flies it.
Mail boats, a crowned king and an island that bought back its ferry
At least nineteen different boats have worked between Charlevoix and the island, starting with the wooden steamer Nellie in 1890; every one carried the mail, and islanders called each of them the mail boat. The first car went over in 1920, one vehicle on the stern of the 100-foot Sanford. The first ferry built for the route was the original Emerald Isle of 1955, which took nine cars and 125 passengers. The present company took shape in 1984, when islanders and property owners formed it to bring the ferry back under the control of people with a stake in the island, and selling shares to people with no tie to the island or to Charlevoix was discouraged.
St. James itself has a stranger history than most harbor towns. James Jesse Strang brought his breakaway Mormon followers here in the late 1840s, had himself crowned king, and was shot by two former followers in 1856; his people were driven off the island soon after. Irish settlers followed, which is where the company's America's Emerald Isle comes from. Today the boats make about 375 round trips a year and carry more than 40,000 passengers and 6,500 vehicles, and the transportation authority has federal and state grants lined up for a new vessel and a rebuilt island dock, with no service date yet.
The Emerald Isle, and the older boat that stands in for her in October
What Beaver Island first-timers get wrong at the Charlevoix counter
Can I book a place for my car online?
No. The Beaver Island Boat Company takes vehicle reservations only by phone, speaking to a member of staff: 231-547-2311 in Charlevoix, open all year, or 231-448-2210 on the island from April to December. Email requests are not accepted, and a vehicle turning up without a booking goes on stand-by with no guaranteed space.
Does the boat run daily in October?
No. From October 5 to October 25 the single daily sailing leaves Charlevoix at 8:30 a.m. and St. James at 11:20 a.m., with no boat on Tuesdays or Thursdays. From October 26 it moves to 10:30 a.m. and 1:20 p.m., still with some Tuesdays and Thursdays off.
What changes when the Emerald Isle goes to dry dock?
The 1962 Beaver Islander takes over the route until October 25. It carries no trailers, its height limit is 6 ft 4 in over most of the deck (7 ft 6 in in one small area), and it has no wheelchair lift, only stairs to the passenger deck. The operator's web page and its printed schedule disagree on whether the swap starts on October 5 or October 12, so ask when you book.
Does a cooler count as luggage?
No. Coolers of any size are freight, along with camping gear, golf clubs, tires, beer, wine and groceries. They must be declared and paid for before the trip, at $0.14 a pound with a $5.00 minimum. Your fare includes one carry-on and two bags totaling 50 lb.
Where does the car stay while I spend a week on the island?
Not on the street, where overnight cars are towed. Buy an overnight permit, $6 a night or $30 a week, for the company lot on Stover Road or the Island Airways lot near the airport, about a mile from the dock. A shuttle takes the driver, alone and with only a carry-on, to the boat 30 minutes before departure from the company lot.
Do seniors pay less this fall?
Yes, on the operator's rate page: $16.75 one way or $33.50 round trip for travelers 65 and over with ID, as a dated ticket valid only for travel between September 14 and December 18 (and in spring, April 8 to May 17). Ordinary adult tickets are $33.50 one way.
After December 18, how does anyone get across?
By air. There is no ferry service between the last sailing and the spring restart. Island Airways and Fresh Air Aviation fly from Charlevoix airport; Island Airways gives the flight time as 15 to 20 minutes and says it flies in winter, weather permitting.
What happens if the lake is too rough to sail?
The company cancels, often a day ahead, posts it on its delays page and sends a text alert to anyone subscribed (text BIBCO to 844-661-0033). Vehicle reservations are moved to the next available sailing.