Aug 12, 2026

Chappaquiddick With a Dog: 8 Things to Know, Including the Island's Most Permissive Beach

An island off an island, ninety seconds away, where one beach lets a well-controlled dog off the lead every month of the year while its neighbour bans dogs for six.

Luis ZamoraCo-founder of PetCompass; Dog Dad to Banzo and Tuck

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts10 min readThings to Do

Chappaquiddick is an island off an island, reached by a 527-foot ferry crossing that takes about ninety seconds. It is also, unexpectedly, where the best dog access on Martha's Vineyard is.

Chappy Point Beach permits dogs under immediate control, year round. No April closure, no leash requirement, no seasonal switch. That is the single most permissive dog rule on the whole island, and it sits a few hundred yards from a Trustees beach that bans dogs for six months of the year.

Getting there involves a ferry that takes no cards and stops at midnight. Here is what to know.

1. The crossing is 527 feet and does not go anywhere else

53 Dock Street, Edgartown, running between Memorial Wharf and Chappaquiddick Point. The Chappy Ferry is explicit that it provides no service to the mainland or to Nantucket. It goes across, and back.

Fares, effective 1 August 2025, all round trip: passenger $5.00, car and driver $17.00, bike and rider $8.00, moped or motorcycle including operator $10.00. No pet fare appears in the published fare schedule.

Discount books exist and are worth it for a longer stay. Fifty passenger round trips for $193 works out at $3.86 a crossing.

2. It takes no cards. None.

Island check or cash only. The ferry states it plainly: no credit or debit cards. There are cash machines in Edgartown, including three banks on Main Street.

This catches almost every visitor once. Sort the cash before you join the vehicle line, not when you reach the deckhand.

3. It stops at midnight, and missing it is not an emergency

First run 6:45 a.m., year round. Last ferry midnight in summer, 11:15 p.m. off-season.

There is an earlier option, one way only. The ferry runs a 6:00 a.m. trip from Chappaquiddick only for an extra $20, and you must notify the captain aboard one of the ferries before 5:00 p.m. the day before. The fee is paid in advance and is non-refundable.

The ferry's own FAQ is blunt about the rest, noting in parentheses that missing the last run because you stayed too late on the Vineyard side does not qualify as an emergency.

With a dog, treat the last ferry as a hard deadline. There is no bridge and no walking home.

4. The genuine emergency procedure, which matters more with an animal

If something happens on Chappaquiddick when the ferry is closed, the ferry publishes the protocol.

Call 911 from a landline. Call 508-693-1212 from a mobile. The Communications Center notifies emergency personnel and the ferry operator.

Chappaquiddick has resources of its own. Several EMTs live on the island and are notified immediately. The Edgartown Fire Department maintains a firehouse on Chappaquiddick with two fully equipped fire trucks, operated by a staff of trained Chappaquiddick residents, and there is an emergency phone at the front of the firehouse.

None of that is a veterinarian. Human emergency cover on Chappy is genuinely good. Animal cover is on the main island, on the far side of a ferry that has stopped running. See emergency and after-hours vets on Martha's Vineyard.

The practical rule. If your dog has a known condition, do not spend the night on Chappaquiddick without thinking that through first.

5. Chappy Point Beach: immediate control, year round

The best dog rule on Martha's Vineyard, and it is a Land Bank property right by the ferry landing.

Dogs under immediate control year round. No seasonal change at all, which puts it in the most permissive of the Land Bank's seven dog policies.

Immediate control is not the same as off leash. It means effective control without a lead: reliable first-time recall, no uninvited approaches, and no going into vegetation or water when told not to. If your dog cannot do all three, it is a leash beach for you.

And it is still a nesting coastline. Keep well clear of any post-and-string fencing and of the dune line, for the reasons in the plover closures that explain every dog rule here.

6. Three more Land Bank properties, same permissive rule

Chappaquiddick is unusually well served by the Land Bank, and three further properties carry the same year-round immediate-control policy.

Poucha Pond Reservation. On the pond system behind Wasque, and the natural pairing with a beach walk.

Tom's Neck Farm Preserve. Open farmland character, on the road out to Wasque.

Ben Toms Preserve. The quiet one.

One property differs. Caleb's Pond Preserve requires dogs leashed from April to September, with immediate control permitted otherwise.

So on Chappy, four Land Bank properties are open all year on the same terms, which is a better hit rate than anywhere else on Martha's Vineyard.

7. The Trustees own three sites here, and all three restrict dogs

This is the contrast that makes Chappaquiddick confusing. Two landowners, a few hundred yards apart, completely different rules. Full detail in the Trustees properties and the rule at each.

Wasque, 200 acres. Dog walking is listed among the things to do, and the property is open daily, 24 hours. But dogs are not allowed on the beach from 1 April to 30 September. On upland walking trails they are permitted year round, on leash.

Cape Poge Wildlife Refuge. Dogs must be kept on a leash from October through April. Over-sand vehicle access is subject to occasional closures in June and July to protect rare nesting shorebirds.

Mytoi, 14 acres. A secluded Japanese garden of exotic and native plantings around a pond. Visitors are asked to refrain from biking or dog walking within the garden's fences.

The practical version. In summer, Wasque's trails yes, Wasque's sand no, Mytoi's garden no, and Chappy Point Beach yes.

8. The queue is the whole logistical problem

Direction matters by time of day. The ferry's own guidance: the lines are longest from Edgartown to Chappaquiddick in the morning, and longest from Chappaquiddick back to Edgartown in the afternoon.

So go against the flow. Cross in the afternoon, come back in the morning, and you will barely queue.

The vehicle line forms on Daggett Street and when busy extends back onto Simpson's Lane. In summer, approach via Pease's Point Way, turning left off Main Street, drive 0.15 miles, then right onto Simpson's Lane. When it is busy there is often a police officer at Daggett and North Water to help.

In July and August a deckhand walks off the boat to collect fares and direct passengers and bikes aboard after the first two cars have loaded. Off-season you simply pay on the boat.

Consider leaving the car. A dog, a bike, and a $8 round trip beats a $17 car fare and a queue, and Chappaquiddick's distances are walkable to the nearer properties.

The eight at a glance

#	The thing	The detail
1	The crossing	527 feet, Memorial Wharf to Chappaquiddick Point
2	Payment	Island check or cash only, no cards
3	Hours	First 6:45 am; last midnight summer, 11:15 pm off-season
4	Emergencies	911 landline, 508-693-1212 mobile. No vet on Chappy
5	Chappy Point Beach	Immediate control, year round. Best on the island
6	Three more Land Bank sites	Poucha Pond, Tom's Neck Farm, Ben Toms, same rule
7	Trustees sites	Wasque sand closed 1 Apr to 30 Sep; Mytoi garden no dogs
8	The queue	Longest outbound in the morning, inbound in the afternoon

Why one small island ends up with the best and the strictest rules

It looks like an accident. It is not, and understanding it saves you a wasted crossing.

Two landowners with different jobs hold adjacent land here. The Land Bank buys land for public enjoyment alongside conservation, and it writes a rule per property. The Trustees hold Chappaquiddick's wildlife refuges and its designed garden, which are the three land types least compatible with a loose dog anywhere.

So the geography of the rules follows the geography of the habitat. Chappy Point Beach sits by the ferry landing at the developed end. Cape Poge is a barrier beach with a shorebird colony at its tip. Those are not the same place and they should not have the same rule.

Which means the useful mental model is not "Chappaquiddick allows dogs" or "Chappaquiddick restricts dogs." It is: the near end is permissive, the far end is protected, and the boundary is a property line rather than a shoreline.

One more consequence worth planning around. Because the permissive properties cluster near the landing, you can have a genuinely good dog morning on Chappaquiddick on foot, without a car fare and without a queue. The properties that need a vehicle are mostly the ones that restrict dogs in summer anyway.

A day on Chappaquiddick with a dog

Cross in the early afternoon, against the queue, on foot or with a bike.

Start at Chappy Point Beach, right by the landing, where a well-controlled dog can be off the lead any month of the year.

Walk out to Poucha Pond Reservation, same rule, and quieter.

If it is October to March, add Wasque's beach, which is open then, and Cape Poge with a leash.

If it is April to September, take Wasque's upland trails instead and skip the sand entirely.

Leave Mytoi for a trip without the dog. It is one of the loveliest places on the island and dogs do not go inside the fences.

Be back before the last ferry. Cash in hand.

What to carry. Water for the dog, because these are conservation properties with no amenities. A towel, because the north-facing pond shores are shallow and inviting and your dog will find them. A short lead as well as a long one, since you will cross between immediate-control and leashed land without a sign to warn you. Tick repellent, because this is coastal scrub. And enough cash for the return leg, which is the mistake people make once and never again.

Frequently asked questions

Can I take a dog on the Chappy Ferry? Yes. No pet fare appears in the published fare schedule, so the dog crosses on your ticket. Passenger fares are $5.00 round trip and car and driver $17.00, effective 1 August 2025.

How long is the Chappaquiddick ferry crossing? 527 feet, which is the straight-line distance between Memorial Wharf in Edgartown and Chappaquiddick Point.

Does the Chappy Ferry take cards? No. Payment is by Island check or cash only. Edgartown's Main Street banks are the last cash machines before the crossing.

What time does the Chappy Ferry stop? Midnight on the summer schedule and 11:15 p.m. off-season. The first run is 6:45 a.m. year round. A 6:00 a.m. trip from Chappaquiddick only is available for an extra $20 if arranged with the captain before 5:00 p.m. the previous day.

Which Chappaquiddick beach allows dogs? Chappy Point Beach, a Land Bank property, permits dogs under immediate control year round. Wasque's beach is closed to dogs from 1 April to 30 September.

Are dogs allowed at Mytoi? Not inside the garden fences. Visitors are asked to refrain from biking or dog walking within them.

Sources

Fares, schedules, and property rules change, and nesting closures are posted at short notice. Land Bank dog policies were compiled from the Land Bank's own property pages in August 2026. Confirm before travelling. This article is general information and is not veterinary advice.