North Carolina Ferry System

08/07/2025

It's National Lighthouse Day, and along our NC Ferry routes, you can spot four very unique examples of coastal beacons. Of course, our Swan Quarter-Ocracoke and Cedar Island-Ocracoke routes will take you right past the Ocracoke lighthouse (1823), the second-oldest continuously operating lighthouse in the US!

On our Southport-Fort Fisher route, you'll see the remnants of Price's Light (1849) up close. In the distance, you can spot the Bald Head Island lighthouse (1817), the oldest lighthouse still standing in NC, as well as a relative newcomer, the Oak Island Lighthouse (1957) on Caswell Beach.

So celebrate National Lighthouse Day with an NC Ferry ride!

08/04/2025

We want to wish a Happy 235th birthday to our partners at the United States Coast Guard!

It was on August 4, 1790 when the U.S. Revenue Cutter Service was founded by Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton. The Revenue Cutter Service was later merged with the U.S. Lifesaving Service in 1915 to officially become the Coast Guard, but the 1790 date is considered to be the Coast Guard's official birthday.

Thank you for your service! We salute you!

08/01/2025

Today's the day! The 11th Annual Ocracoke Fig Festival is underway, and it's a great chance to catch any of our ferries to Ocracoke Village and enjoy a weekend to 'fig out' on fig preserves, fig cakes, fig trees and fig cookbooks, as well as a lot of other fig family fun! More info at: ocracokefigfestival.com

In honor of this weekend's festival, here's a favorite ferry family fig cake recipe, shared by Mrs. Lynn Peele, from the local cookbook titled "One Women’s Tribute to Hatteras Island Style Cooking. In honor of Amanda Austin Scarborough":

Cake Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sugar
2 cups in flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup figs, cooked and chopped
1 tsp. allspice
1 tsp. vanilla
3 eggs, well beaten
1 cup chopped pecans

Toppings:

½ cup buttermilk
1 cup sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
1 tbsp. light karo syrup
1 cup butter
1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation
Cake: Cream sugar, eggs, and buttermilk. Add flour, salt, baking soda, nutmeg, and allspice, beat. Add figs, nuts, and vanilla. Bake at 325 for 40 minutes

Topping: Combine all ingredients except vanilla in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add vanilla. Pour over the cake. ENJOY!

07/28/2025

Did you catch the SpaceX launch early Saturday morning? It made for a spectacular light show in Eastern NC. This one is from our Cherry Branch Ferry Terminal!

📸 : Chief Engineer J. Quinton “Bud” Collins, Jr.

07/24/2025

We see all kinds of pets on our ferries: dogs, cats, horses, etc... but, Holy Cow! These miniature cows on the Currituck-Knotts Island ferry (with their own life vests, no less) managed to turn a few heads!

07/17/2025

We had a great visit with Diesel Mechanics students from Cape Fear Community College on our Southport-Fort Fisher route yesterday! They got a chance to see the inner workings of M/V Lupton up close and to hear from our own engineers about the various machinery it takes to keep our ferries running. Thanks for coming aboard!

07/15/2025

Congratulations to Christine Riley Akinnagbe, who showed off her during last week's Team Spirit Ferry Foto Challenge! But we want to see more, so we're extending the challenge for one more week. Send us a picture in the comments of you or your friend on a ferry showing off team spirit (college or pro). We can't wait to see which team gets the most support!

07/09/2025

As you may already know, each of our vehicle ferries carries a color stripe and insignia of a state college or university. Now it's your turn! Post a pic of you or your family on an NC ferry showing team spirit for your favorite college or pro team! Bonus points if your team matches the one on your ferry.

07/07/2025

We hope everyone out there had a fun and fantastic Fourth this weekend, and many thanks to those who sent in their Red, White & Blue ferry fotos! We'll have a new Ferry Foto Challenge coming at you TOMORROW, so stay tuned!

07/02/2025

It's Fourth of July Weekend! For this week's Ferry Foto Challenge, show off you or your friends' best American flag-waving, red, white and blue Fourth of July fashions on board a North Carolina Ferry! We can't wait to see them!

📸: Amy Edge

07/02/2025

A heads up for those traveling to Ocracoke today: tonight's fireworks show has been cancelled due to the threat of high winds and thunderstorms. All other Independence Day activities will go on as planned.

07/01/2025