After years of stumbling and bumbling, it looks as though the passenger only Ocracoke Express is finally reaching the potential that was predicted for it.
According to the Ferry Division of NCDOT, the Ocracoke Express carried over 10,000 passengers in May and June of this year, the first two months of its seasonal operation. What makes that number so remarkable is it is just about 90 less than the high speed ferry carried in 2019, the best year the ferry had in the past and the last pre-pandemic year.
As the passenger ferry trip gets longer because of shoaling in Hatteras Inlet—it’s now an hour and there is a 15-20 minute ride to Ocracoke Village—the Ocracoke Express has become increasingly popular for day trippers.
Unlike the car ferry, which is free, the Express ferry takes reservations enabling riders to know when the ferry will be leaving. The wait to get on the passenger ferry can be up to an hour long.
The Ocracoke Express docks at Silver Lake in the heart of Ocracoke Village.
For folks who may not be familiar with Ocracoke, it would be hard to imagine a more pedestrian friendly town. In fact. even people who drive there, park their cars as soon as possible and walk. The streets are narrow, and the village is a compact area of locally owned galleries, shops and restaurants.
Ocracoke is part of Hyde County and the county does provide a free tram service.
What may, perhaps, be most remarkable about the numbers the ferry is posting this year, the ferry that is operating now is the state owned Ocracoke Express (there were a lot of stumbles getting the ferry built to specifications), seating 20 fewer passengers than the leased ferry the state had been using.
Ocracoke is the perfect day trip from all the magical places on the northern Outer Banks where our beautiful Brindley Beach Vacations homes are located.