What's Brewing, Barley?

Even though both of my humans are lifelong New Englanders, they’re new to Rhode Island and neither had ever been to Block Island before. So when they saw “dog friendly” while planning our day trip, they got really excited. The question was – how dog friendly is the Island? The answer? VERY dog friendly.

The dog friendliness started with the ferries. We took the traditional ferry from Point Judith. A same day round trip ticket for an adult works out to be about $23 after taxes and fees. That’s about $3 more than the Steamship Authority charges for Woods Hole – Martha’s Vineyard. There are a number of ferry options – there are high speed ferries from Newport, Point Judith and London. There’s even a ferry from Montauk. The traditional (slow) ferry from Point Judith takes about 55 minutes and is the only ferry that carriers cars (more on that below). The fast ferry from Point Judith will get you there in 30 minutes. So it’s really not much of a hassle to do a day trip. On board, there is plentiful indoor and outdoor seating.

You reserve your outbound ferry time (to Block Island), but there’s no reservation for the return. If you’re looking to return Friday/Saturday/Sunday evening, I would get to the ferry at least 1/2 hour before departure, and I would not try to show up at the last minute for the final ferry of the day. The return trips get very full, fast. Our 5:15 ferry filled up by 4:55 and departed at 5:05. It was very full when we boarded at 4:40.

You do not need a car. The island is small, and there are plentiful bike and scooter rentals (or you can bring your own on the ferry). If you want to bring your car, you need to call the Block Island Ferry and reserve a slot. But it’s much easier to park your car at one of the many lots in Point Judith. Parking will run you $10-20 depending on the day, and all of the lots are an easy walk to the ferry (this is another advantage over Martha’s Vineyard from Woods Hole where you’re usually stuck taking a bus from a satellite lot). Many of the bike/scooter rentals have baskets and say that they allow small pets. We did not do this. As a “tweenie,” I’m a bit too big for them. Plus, I’d rather use an actual dog basket like this one. Taxis are lined up near the ferry dock and accept dogs. We just walked. Several nice beaches as well as most of the island’s shops and restaurants are an easy walk from the ferry.

Now for the best part – dog friendly beaches! ALL beaches on the island are publicly accessible and dog friendly all day, every day! This is a huge departure from much of Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket where most beaches either don’t allow dogs at all or only do so during certain hours (before 9am, after 6pm, etc.). The rules state that dogs must be leashed on leashes no longer than 6 feet. In practice, many (most, even) of the dogs we saw were not on leashes. Considering the relatively low population on the island (there aren’t many hotels or homes) relative to the large quantity of beach area, it shouldn’t be hard to find a quiet spot for you and your pup. But it’s nice to know that you can go to any beach at any time without trouble.

Not only are beaches dog friendly, but businesses are too. Any restaurant with outside seating allows dogs. Most have water bowls for your pup too. I think dogs are technically only allowed at outdoor seating, but we had several offer us indoor seating too. We had a great dining experience at Beachead. Ballard’s is a party spot, but they have a large covered outdoor area right next to the ferry. The Surf also has a great covered deck as well as an outdoor beach bar with views. Mutt Hut is a super cute, friendly dog store right in the center of town, and most other shops are fine with your dog inside as well (many have signs on the door saying they’re dog friendly).

Now that we have a day trip in the books, we’re going looking into spending a few days on the island. It looks like there are a number of pet-friendly accommodations. But day trip or overnight, it’s hard to beat Block Island with a pup in the summer!