Below are common questions from visitors to Nantucket Island and answers as of 2025.
If you do not see your question on this FAQ page, please send an email to us at info@nantucket.net –> PLEASE NOTE: questions on where to find housing on Nantucket will NOT be answered by our staff. If you are looking for short-term accommodations (2-weeks or less), please visit our LODGING PAGES. If you are looking for long-term housing (longer than 2 weeks), we suggest you contact one of the real estate offices on Nantucket.
This FAQ page was last updated in April 2025.
As of 2023, wearing of face-coverings is being left up to the passengers. Any passengers who deem it prudent to wear face-coverings while riding the ferries to Nantucket must bring their own, as the ferry lines do not supply them to passengers.
Spring on Nantucket (April, May, and June), when our island wakes from its winter slumber is a beautiful time to visit the island. There are no crowds at any of the beaches, and though the water is still too cold for all but the most daring swimmers – and the surfers – beach walks are peaceful, and you can find many treasures from the sea. Weather tends to start cool and windy in April with average temps (in Farenheit) from the high 30s to the low 50s. In May average temps are between the high 40s and 60 degrees; and during June, average temps rise to the high 50s to high 60s. This is also the start of Festival Season, with the Daffodil Festival in April, the Wine & Food Festival in May, and Nantucket Book Festival and the Nantucket Film Festival during June.
If it’s action you prefer, Nantucket’s peak season is July, August, and early September. The waters around Nantucket have warmed for swimming; beaches have lifeguards (through Labor Day); all shops, museums, and restaurants are open; there are plenty of activities and events to fill every day of your visit.
Our Independence Day events are fun for all ages, and popular peak-season festivals & fundraisers include Weekend at the Library, the Garden Festival, the Nantucket Dance Festival, the Nantucket Comedy Festival, Nantucket by Design, Nantucket Race Week, and the Boston Pops on Nantucket Concert. The curtains are up on island theatres, there are walking tours, bus tours, nature walks, kayak tours, fishing trips, and boat charter tours.
Average temps from July into mid-September range from the mid-60s into the 80s.
Autumn on Nantucket Island is our favorite time. After Labor Day, the crowds thin and our island community re-emerges. Most restaurants and shops stay open into mid-October. The weather is usually sunny and warm, with cool ocean breezes giving a pleasant reminder that winter is a few months away. Average temps from mid-September through early December range from the 40s to the low 70s.
Nantucket Noel is what the Nantucket Island Chamber of Commerce calls the period from early November through December. Thanksgiving morning is when the Nantucket Atheneum holds it’s Cold Turkey Plunge. The evening after Thanksgiving, the Chamber holds the annual Tree Lighting ceremony, when the dozens of 6-foot Christmas trees that line Nantucket streets are lit and carols are sung. The first weekend of December is the annual Nantucket Christmas Stroll, when Santa travels to Nantucket by boat, there’s live music and street performances, a holiday market and more.
Those who treasure time alone to relax will enjoy Nantucket’s Quiet Season: January through March. This is the time to take long walks on Nantucket’s trails and beaches, go surfing, visit with your lucky friends who live on Nantucket, take a guided hike with Nantucket Walkabout, read the books on your reading list, visit Cisco Brewers for some live music. A few restaurants are open year-round.
Nantucket weather in deep winter is raw, cold, and often windy, with temps between 20 degrees and the low 40s. Typically, the island does not get much snow, though we remember a year several decades ago when Nantucket had a significant snow storm every week, and the town closed Orange and Main streets
Two of the three ships in the Boston Tea Party were Nantucket ships. In the 1700s & 1800s, Nantucket was the whaling capitol of the world. In the 1900s, Nantucket became a famous summer resort. Now Nantucket Island is famous for Daffodil Festival, Nantucket Wine & Food Festival, Nantucket Film Festival, Nantucket Comedy Festival, Cranberry Festival, and Christmas Stroll.
Yes, car rental agencies are currently offering rentals. Book in advance online because some currently have limited inventory. Car rental agencies
Yes, Nantucket bike shops are open for rentals. Advance reservations are recommended. You’ll find a list here and there is a map of island bike paths here
Yes, the Nantucket Regional Transit Authority (NRTA) buses operate year-round, but their schedules do change depending on the season. Their website: NRTAWave.com has the most up-to-date information. Taxi service and ride share services are also available on Nantucket.
Surfcasting is currently permitted, and beach stickers for vehicles on Town beaches are being sold online https://www.paybill.com/nantucketpolice/BeachVehiclePermit/default1.asp
Yes, lifeguards are posted on Nantucket Town beaches to safeguard the public enjoying the waters around our island. Visit the Insiders Guide to Nantucket for daily beach conditions.
Click here for more beach guidance from the Town of Nantucket.
There are no fees to access island beaches by foot, nearly all of Nantucket’s 110-mile coastline is free and open to the public. Some beaches are part of private property, and there is a fee to drive onto beaches. Beach permits for cars are purchased from the Town of Nantucket and permits to drive onto the Coskata-Coatue Wildlife Refuge are available from the Trustees of Reservations
Yes, there are several options for public bathrooms in downtown Nantucket. Visitors Services at 25 Federal Street has men’s and women’s bathrooms (access around back of the Visitor Center) that are open every day from 9 am. And, if you have traveled to the island aboard a Steamship Authority vessel, there are bathrooms in their terminal on Steamboat Wharf. The airport (mid-island) also has bathrooms.
Yes, Nantucket Cottage Hospital is an affiliate of Massachusetts General Hospital and a member of Partners Healthcare.
Since 1911, Nantucket Cottage Hospital has cared for island residents and visitors with compassion and integrity. In February 2019, the new medical facility opened on-island. Our new hospital enhances access, safety and privacy for patients, allowing us to better serve the island community with a broad range of medical services. We are proud that Nantucket sets a national standard for small community hospitals by offering expanded outpatient services with capacity for inpatient care and surgery, giving patients a central location for all their healthcare needs, including primary, emergency, and specialty care, as well as diagnostic testing.
Nantucket is a place of natural beauty, and during the pandemic restrictions, outdoors is the perfect place to be. Rent a bike or a car and visit our island lighthouses, explore the village of Siasconset, take a walk at the Linda Loring Nature Foundation or on one of the many Nantucket Conservation Foundation Properties. Golf courses are open, fishing and sailing charters are accepting passengers, and guides are offering walking tours. Children’s playgrounds are open, with some restrictions and cautionary notes.
Camping is not permitted on Nantucket Island unless you are on private property with the permission of the homeowner or a member of the Scouts of America participating in an organized trip at Camp Richard.
Town bylaws state: No person shall, between the hours of 8:00 p.m. and 8:00 a.m., set up on any property, public or private, without permission of the owner thereof, a camp or tent or sleep in the open or in a vehicle within the territorial limits of the Town of Nantucket. Any person violating this chapter shall be punished by a fine of not more than $200 for each offense.
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