How to Get to Put-in-Bay, Ohio: A Short and Sweet Guide

Getting to Put-in-Bay is part of the fun! Your holiday begins once you set foot on the ferry. Yes, Put-in-Bay, Ohio is an island on South Bass Island in Lake Erie, which means that it isn't as simple as driving there. I'm going to show you how to get to Put-in-Bay, including a few different options.

Once you reach Put-in-Bay, you'll experience all that this summer island destination has to offer with its assortment of restaurants, pubs, swimming pools, wineries and hotels.

There are a few ferry services that travel to Put-in-Bay that I'm going to outline. Our favorite is the Miller Ferry. It has the lowest fares, it accommodates a lot of people, and it runs all day long.

In fact, during the summer months, the Miller Ferry picks passengers up every half hour. The Miller Ferry is inexpensive and reliable, and it's our recommended way of how to get to Put in Bay, Ohio.

How to Get to Put-in-Bay: Leave Your Car Behind

I highly recommend leaving your car on the mainland. You won't need your car when you travel to Put-in-Bay.

The only people who really drive cars in Put-in-Bay are residents, though it's pretty close to being a car-free island. There aren't many parking spaces and even the hotels only have a limited amount of room for cars.

The best thing to do? Leave the car behind and rent a golf cart when you get there! That's one of the greatest things about Put in Bay: the preferred mode of transportation is by golf cart.

If you do need to take your car across to Put in Bay, you can transport it on the Miller Ferry. This ferry offers a limited amount of cars per boat ride on weekdays. Take a look at their guidelines before you travel.

How to Get to Put-in-Bay: Miller Ferry

First, you'll need to drive to Catawba Island, Ohio in order to take the Miller Ferry to Put-in-Bay. As we drove from southern Ontario, Canada, we ended up reaching the parking lot for the Miller Boat Line around 2:00pm.

This worked out perfectly for our schedule as we couldn't check into our hotel until 3:00pm. There are several parking lots for the Miller Ferry, and we had no issues finding a parking space.

The main parking lots at the Catawba dock are free. On weekends, it can get busier and you might find that all of the free parking spots are taken. In that case, there are some paid options for parking.

Tickets for a one way fare are $9.00 per person at the time that I wrote this article. Reservations are not required. Just show up and purchase your tickets.

All aboard! Justin, myself, and our friends sat up on the second level and enjoyed a great view from the front of the boat. There are plenty of seats and great views from all around.

The ferry ride is 18 minutes long, so you'll be there in no time. The Miller Ferry dock is located at the far southern end of Put-in-Bay Island, so you might be wondering how to reach your hotel or resort. Once we reached the shore, we had a few options.

We could walk to our hotel, the Bayshore Resort. It's about a half hour walk from the dock, but we'd have to lug our luggage and it was very hot outside. We could rent a golf car at the docks, although we decided that we wanted to rent one at the hotel. So, we went with option #3 - take the shuttle bus.

The shuttle is actually a school bus. For $3 per person, you can take the school bus and get dropped off anywhere on the island. The bus took us directly to Bayshore Resort. This shuttle is definitely the best option to get to your hotel. Besides, it isn't every day that you get to ride a school bus!

How to Get to Put-in-Bay: Jet Express Ferry

Another popular way to get to Put-in-Bay is by taking the Jet Express Ferry. The mainland dock for the Jet Express is located in Port Clinton, so don't drive to Catawba Island like you would for the Miller Ferry. In addition to Port Clinton, Jet Express also offers service from Sandusky, Ohio.

The Jet Express Ferry runs every 45 minutes, and it's the fastest way to get to downtown Put-in-Bay. While the ferry ride takes 25 minutes, you'll get dropped off right in the middle of town, so it will likely only be a short walk to your hotel.

You can book your tickets in advance or buy them in person at the ticket window. A one-way ticket on the Jet Express Ferry is considerably more expensive than the Miller Ferry at $24 per person. Furthermore, you'll need to pay for parking on the mainland ($15 per day).

Even though the Jet Express drops you off right in town, taking the Miller Ferry is a more cost effective trip. Plus, we didn't mind taking the shuttle bus from the Miller Ferry dock to the hotel. In my opinion, this is the second best way when you're looking for how to get to Put-in-Bay.

The Good Time Ferry

There's a third option for how to get to Put-in-Bay, though this is more of a sightseeing trip than strictly transportation from mainland Ohio. On the Good Time Ferry, you'll take a full day trip roundtrip from Sandusky to Kelleys Island and Put-in-Bay.

Depart Sandusky at 9:30am on a fully narrated, island-hopping cruise. Spend an hour and a half on Kelleys Island before returning to the boat. Then, travel to Put-in-Bay for a half day on the island (3.5 hours). The Good Time Ferry arrives back in Sandusky at 6:30pm after a full day of visiting these Lake Erie islands.

This is a great option for those looking to take a day trip to Put-in-Bay, plus you'll also be able to visit Kelleys Island. Though I suggest spending more time than a few hours on Put in Bay, this works for those making a weekend trip to Sandusky and looking for more things to do outside of Cedar Point.

Visiting Put-in-Bay by boat is all part of the adventure. Put in Bay is a great holiday destination for couples, families, and groups of friends as it can be a bit of a party island.

If you'd like to explore the island, there are plenty of fun things to do in Put-in-Bay, like kayaking to Gibraltar Island and venturing around by golf cart. There's truly something for everyone here, and it's one of the best places to go for a summer vacation in Ohio.