Martha's Vineyard Insider Tips

Trustees of Reservation property with  a fabulous south shore ocean beach and a pond. Mid-June to mid-September- for your visit to the beach, please get tickets and adhere to the times on your ticket. www.thetrustees.org Timed Entry & Visit Passes. Nonmember Vehicle: $20 Weekday/$25 Weekend, Trustees Member Vehicle: $8 Weekday/$10 Weekend; Contributing Member and above: Free. Pedestrian/bicyclist $5. Children 15 and under free.

Chappaquiddick's Beaches!

Wasque and Cape Pogue are beautiful beaches that you can walk onto.. Take the "On Time" Ferry from Edgartown. There is often a line. Bring cash for the ferry! Or- with an over-sand vehicle permit from The Trustees and a 4-wheel drive vehicle you can go over sand to some other phenomenal beaches and even see the lighthouse! Tours to the Lighthouse leave from Mytoi.

Lucy Vincent and Squibnocket in Chilmark and Philbin in Aquinnah are beautiful to explore and even sit and ponder the ocean from. They are only for town residents in the summer, but during the off season (May, June, September, October) they are free for anyone to enjoy and big time local favorites. 

(When you know, you know...!)

We have walk on passes to lend you, but you can not park there  during the summer.  Bikeable. A nice walk from the parking lot to a  beautiful protected beach with life-guards.  

Land Bank Property – Tisbury Great Pond beach and canoe, boat and kayak launch to a pond/ocean barrier beach. Nice trails and lovely short walk to Sepiessa Point beach. 

 Next to Katama South Beach is accessible via 4-wheel drive vehicle, requiring an expensive over-sand vehicle permit. There are restrictions. Driving on sand is like driving on snow on steroids! 

  Aquinnah (near the Aquinnah  aka the Gay Head Cliffs). Parking, for a fee, near the Aquinnah traffic circle. Walk down the hill or along a boardwalk to the entrance to the beach.

Edgartown- Katama right and left fork. Popular public ocean beach with soft sand, big waves. lifeguards and free parking.

Edgartown and Oak Bluffs Public beaches – State beach, Bend in the Road and the infamous Jaw's Bridge! Popular beaches with calm water and a bike path.

Free parking on the road.

Great museum. Tuesdays-Sundays 10am-5pm. Art, photos, artifacts, the beautiful Fresnel lens, exhibits, events and history of Martha’s Vineyard. First Light Cafe serves good food. Ask us about passes. https://MVmuseum.org  

 Wampanoag tribal land – see the brightly colored clay cliffs, the spectacular view and the lighthouse. Visit souvenir shops and the shops of artisans as well as food stands.

Polly Hill Arboretum – West Tisbury – great gardens, interesting plantings and nice walking.  

Chilmark Flea Market always has some interesting finds that are locally made and quite the mix! Wednesdays & Saturdays; June 25 - September 10. 9am - 2pm

AKA Chappaquiddick 

 ❤️ Mytoi (Japanese Garden), beaches. Catch the"On Time" Ferry from Edgartown – there is often a line. Bring cash for the ferry.

 Beaches, kayaking and walking trails on Chappy at Wasque and Cape Pogue. Beautiful moraine. 

YMCA – Beautiful facility with an Indoor pool, gym, classes and a cafe. Airport Fitness – gym, sauna, pickleball and indoor tennis 

Mansion House VH - gym, pool, classes, on Main Street

Tennis- There are several outdoor courts at the High School and the West Tisbury School. Fun for all ages! 

Martha’s Vineyard Playhouse ❤️ Vineyard Haven has a great schedule of plays and Shakespeare productions outdoors 

at the amphitheater. http://mvplayhouse.org/theater/ 

MV Film Center❤️ 

shows Fine movies inVineyard Haven. https://mvfilmsociety.com 

There  are also movie theaters in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs and Vineyard Haven 

Art openings and gallery shows all over the Island: some of our favorites are: the Field Gallery and Granary West Tisbury, Eisenhauer Gallery, Edgartown, and Featherstone Center for the Arts https://www.featherstoneart.org/

 Outside and indoor venues with lots of great musicians and performers throughout the summer. https://www.mvconcertseries.com 

MV Chamber Music Society ❤️   -  https://MVCMS.org Check website , MV Times and Gazette for programs and venues  

 At Grange Hall, West Tisbury. https://vineyardartisans.com/#Festivals. Locally crafted and judged arts and crafts. Indoors and outdoors, rain or shine, 10am-2pm Sundays and Thursdays. Great food, free parking and admission, and a playground for kids.  A Vineyard Summer tradition and the only weekly juried art show where the public can meet over 70 artisans and buy directly from them. Many demonstrations and a wide range of media. 

Dance the Yard in Menemsha has visiting dance companies in residence. Some performances are held in other locations such as the Performing Arts Center in Oak Bluffs. See the website for the schedule and to buy tickets

https://www.dancetheyard.org 

See friendly, furry gentle alpaca.  Farm & Gift shop are open daily: 10am-4 pm. Oak Bluffs. https://islandalpaca.com

A favorite activity of our grandchildren and kids of all ages, who vie for the brass ring. It is the nation's oldest platform carousel. Since 1884, the Flying Horses Carousel has delighted visitors in the town of Oak Bluffs.

 Barn & Bowl Bistro -Fun place to bowl, has decent food, bar. At edge of OB town center 

Has its own parking lot.

A fun, safe place for kids and families to play arcade games, win prizes and create memories. It has been in Oak Bluffs for 60 years.

West Tisbury Library - our local library is hopping with great events and is a pleasure for the whole family. You can even borrow instruments and games!

Vineyard Haven Mini Golf is 

fun for all ages! 

Open Wed-Sun 12pm – 8pm

Ice cream shop and grill. 

Vegan food truck!.

On Main Street, Vineyard Haven. Cute shop with a variety of things: home décor, books, baby clothes. Lovely owners provide tasteful selection at reasonable prices and free gift wrapping.   

These festivals are a Vineyard Summer tradition and the only weekly juried art show where you can meet over 70 artisans and buy directly from them. Many demonstrations and media, indoors and outdoors, rain or shine. Sundays: July 3 - September 25. Thursdays: July 7 - August 25. 10am-2pm each day at the Grange Hall in West Tisbury. Food, free parking and admission, and a playground for kids.  

Huge selection of locally hand crafted pottery, functional, artistic and well-made by Geoffrey in West Tisbury.

A West Tisbury landmark and a real Vineyard experience. Almost everything is there.  

In Vineyard Haven and Menemsha. Good quality clothes and sundries. 

 This nearby West Tisbury Land Bank preserve has several walks alongside Tisbury Great Pond pond, through woods and a short, level walk to Sepiessa Point. 

 A lovely Sheriff's Meadow property in West Tisbury off of Indian Hill Road. Beautiful wooded walk down to a Vineyard Sound beach and then a neat walk around a bluff.   

 This Land Bank property can be found off of North Road in Chilmark. Follow road to the trail head and then walk down a fabulous wooded, descent to a magical beach with its iconic Great Rock.   

 This Trustees preserve has a number of beautiful trails that meander around hills that border Vineyard Sound. One of the trails leads down to the water to breath-taking views of the Sound.   

 The Land Bank maintains this inland gem that haswooded trails that lead up to the actual Waskosims Rock, left there by the receding glacier that shaped much of Martha's Vineyard topography. 

Bringing a car on Island requires Steamship Authority early advance reservations. Woods Hole, MA. 

https://www..steamshipauthority.com

  It is expensive, though having your own transportation is sometimes the way to go!  As a passenger, you can also use the Island Queen,  from Falmouth. Reserve on https://islandqueen.com/

VTA public buses cover the whole Island. and are currently free! There is a bus stop about a 1/2 mile from JADE House on West Tisbury Rd. Our guests have found that the drivers are helpful and they truly enjoyed using the VTA. See routes and schedule on: https://vta.mytransitride.com 

https://www.vineyardtransit.com 

You can rent a car from Hertz, Avis and Budget at the Martha’s Airport as well as near the ferry in Vineyard Haven. The rates are often higher during the summer than during the shoulder seasons, and you might even want to rent a car for one epic day of exploring in the mix?!

Edgartown Bikes is an excellent bike shop with a large selection of bikes available to rent 508-627-9008 

There are many taxi companies on the Vineyard, and we have Lyft and Uber here as well.