When Spring’s in Air, Ferry Trip Is Real Toot

For many Orange County residents, the throaty toot of the Balboa Island ferry is as certain a sign of spring as the crack of the bat or the songs of the birds.

The ferry whistles blow in other seasons, of course, as daily commuters cross between Balboa Peninsula and the island, but in the colder, grayer months the ferry is mostly a workhorse. It’s the coming of sunny weather that turns it into one of the county’s true E-ticket rides.

“In the spring and the summer, business increases quite a bit,” said Bob Snyder, the operations manager of Balboa Island Ferry Inc., the company that operates the three boats. “It gets to be more of a tourist attraction than a business. When the weather gets nice, you see all sorts of traffic out there: cars, bikes, pedestrians, everybody.”

It’s one of the shortest boat rides one is likely to find, but it can be one of the most visually exciting. During the two minutes it takes the ferry to travel the 1,000 feet between island and peninsula, passengers get a panoramic eyeful of not just the east-west harbor channels and the anchorages, but of the Newport Center skyline, the hills above the bay, the showplace homes along the waterfront and the Balboa Pavilion near the peninsula landing dock.

It’s also cheap. A one-way trip costs 55 cents for a car and driver, plus 20 cents for each passenger; 30 cents for a bicycle and rider, and 20 cents for a pedestrian.

A ferry has been running regularly between island and peninsula since 1909, according to Snyder. Since 1919 the ferry has been a cottage industry, run by the Beek family. From mid-September through early June, two boats run daily from 6:30 a.m. until a third is added about 4 p.m., with service ending at midnight. From June through mid-September, however, all three boats--the Admiral, the Commodore and the Captain--run during the daylight hours and one ferry is kept running 24 hours. Most of the ferry pilots, Snyder said, are students who started work on the ferries as ticket takers in high school and obtained their Coast Guard licenses in college.

“They do a pretty good job of dodging things out there,” he said.

Still, there is the odd incident. About 10 years ago, Snyder said, a woman drove her car onto the ferry and apparently mistook the accelerator pedal for the brake and drove through the barrier on the end of the boat and into the bay. She was fished out, uninjured. On another day, a car full of young men “who probably weren’t seeing too well” drove through the barrier at the dock and found no ferry on the other side, Snyder said. They, too, plunged into the bay and were rescued without injuries.

For many riders, the ferry offers a sense of permanence, Snyder said.

“I’ve been working here for 38 years, myself,” he said. “And I see faces all the time from that long ago.”

THE BALBOA ISLAND FERRY

Where: Landings located at the foot of Agate Avenue on Balboa Island and Palm Street on the Balboa Peninsula.

Hours: 6:30 a.m. to midnight from mid-September through early June; 24 hours from early June through mid-September.

Fares: Car with driver, 55 cents (20 cents extra for each passenger); cyclist, 30 cents; pedestrian, 20 cents.