What Bear Island Looks Like Once the Hammocks Beach Ferry Stops for the Year

The Hammocks Beach State Park ferry has six days left in 2026: Friday through Sunday this week and again next week, with the last trips on Sunday, October 25. After that, the schedule goes quiet. There is no ferry service in November, December, January, February or March.

Bear Island stays open through all of it. According to the park, both the island's campsites and the Simmons Mainland Campground are open year-round. When the ferry stops, you need a different way to reach the island, and the rules that matter change with it. In summer the limit is capacity at the ticket window. In winter the limits are the visitor center's check-in deadline, a closed bathhouse and the water between the mainland and the island.

The last two weekends run on summer rules

On these final October weekends the ferry runs hourly. It leaves the mainland from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and leaves Bear Island from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Round-trip fares are $10 for adults ages 13 to 61 and $5 for children 3 to 12 and seniors 62 and up. Children 2 and under ride free.

These are the ticket rules most likely to catch someone on a last-minute trip, as printed on the park's facility status page:

• Tickets are sold the day you go, first come, first served. There are no online or advance reservations.
• Every passenger needs a ticket, babies included.
• Pets are not allowed on the ferry.
• Carts and wagons have to be collapsible.
• Each ticket is for a specific departure time. If you miss yours, you exchange it at the park office for the next open departure, and missed departures get no priority.

Payment is by Discover, Visa or MasterCard. The schedule can also change without notice because of mechanical problems, staffing, weather, or the island hitting its Coast Guard passenger limit for the remaining departures. On a warm late-October Saturday, that last reason is the one that can end your day early.

The island already looks different on these weekends. The Bear Island concession stand has closed for the season, and no lifeguards are on duty. The ferry is the last summer service still running.

What stays open, and what closes when

The ferry ends on October 25. The other services wind down on their own dates, so the off-season starts in stages. Here's the order, using the park's own pages:

For about three weeks, from October 25 until the bathhouse is winterized in mid-November, the island has running water and showers but no ferry crowds. Anyone who can get there on their own has the island at its quietest while it still has its main comfort.

The paddle route to the island

The park lists five marked paddle trails. The one to Bear Island is the middle option in both length and difficulty.

Onslow County Tourism says the Bear Island route starts at the mainland kayak launch near the visitor center. It's marked white over orange and ends at the island's campsites. The park's 2.7 miles is one way, so a day trip means paddling more than five miles in total.

The park hasn't published full trail descriptions yet. Its trails page asks paddlers to contact the park for details. The county tourism page suggests checking the weather and currents before you launch. An NC Tripping guide to Bear Island updated in June 2026 warns about strong currents, spots where you may have to carry your boat at low tide, and wind. In the off-season, with no ferry running and no lifeguards, a call to the visitor center before launching is the closest thing to an official conditions report.

If you're bringing a motorboat, the park's boat ramp is in the maintenance area and open daily. It has eight trailer parking spaces. You need a permit, which means showing an Annual Pass at the visitor center or paying the $7 ramp fee, and every boater has to check in. Park, emergency and construction vessels have priority at the ramp.

Boats and rentals once the ferry stops

Local operators fill part of the gap. Their off-season schedules vary, and none of the published information confirms service through the whole winter.

Lady Swan Tours runs the Lady Swan, a 40-foot Coast Guard-inspected boat. Its website says its Bear Island water taxi is "available everyday," weather permitting, and asks you to call to reserve at 910-325-1200. The site doesn't say whether that applies in December or February, so the phone call answers that question too.

Paddle NC is the park's on-site concessionaire. Its posted hours run Friday through Sunday, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., from Labor Day through November, with weekday appointments. That means rentals at the park are available on weekends through the same late-fall window when the bathhouse is still open. No hours are posted for December through February.

Swansboro Paddle rents kayaks and paddleboards seven days a week. Rentals launch from its Swansboro location, though, not the park. Its boat taxi goes to Shark's Tooth Island, not Bear Island.

Onslow County Tourism also lists Marsh Cruises and Pogie's Fishing Center among the operators offering Bear Island taxis or specialty trips. Their winter schedules aren't published in that listing, so confirm before you plan around them.

Camping out there in winter

Bear Island has three year-round camping areas. Sites 001 through 008 are primitive oceanfront sites on the beach. There's also an improved group site on the oceanfront. Sites 012 through 014 are primitive boat-in sites on the sound side, which you can only reach by canoe, kayak or private boat, and which have no ferry or bathhouse access. Since those sound-side sites never had ferry access, they work the same in January as in July. Once the ferry stops, the oceanfront sites are reached the same way. Book through the park's camping page.

The check-in deadline matters more in winter. Campers have to check in at the visitor center before 5 p.m. to get an overnight parking permit. Late check-in isn't allowed, and getting to the island is the camper's responsibility. If you're paddling 2.7 miles after work in November, plan your launch time around that deadline.

A few more rules apply all year. Open fires aren't allowed anywhere on Bear Island, and as of October 1 the park's status page also notes a statewide burn ban. At high tide, the park says to use the path behind the beachfront campsites because of erosion. The red-lens-only lighting rule on the beachfront covers roughly May through October, the park's sea turtle nesting window.

For a softer night, the Simmons Mainland Campground at 100 FFA Camp Road, outside the main gate, has 12 full hook-up sites, 7 non-electric sites, 2 primitive sites, a group site and 4 camper cabins. The cabins have a two-day minimum year-round. The campground gate is open 24 hours.

What the island offers after the crowds leave

The mainland side stays busy with its own routine. The visitor center is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and the gate to the visitor center and trails is open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.

On the island, NC Tripping's guide says the shell supply often peaks in winter. It also lists migratory shorebirds, herons, egrets and osprey among the birds visitors may see. Those come from a travel guide, not a park count, so treat them as likely sightings rather than guarantees. The paddle trail map marks a "Seasonal Protected" area near Huggins Island but doesn't give its dates or exact boundaries. If you're planning the Huggins loop, ask about it when you check in.

The park's current ferry page covers only the 2026 season, which opened on Friday, April 3. Check that page in early spring for 2027 dates.

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