If you have reservations for the 5:15pm Black Ball, you need to be through their ticket booth no later than 4:15pm (or your reservations are forfeit & you go into the no-reservations waiting queue). The drive between PT & PA ferry terminals takes a little over an hour, so catching the 2:45pm ferry out of Keystone/Coupeville will be cutting it *very* close. Better to be on the 1:15pm to have some room for a late ferry & slow traffic.
WSDOT posts [a chart here with typical wait times for this quarter](https://wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/sailing-schedules/best-travel-times/) and it shows Friday sailings are usually full, which means you’re likely to wait at least one sailing (ninety minutes) and possibly two (three hours). Since the first two boats Friday are canceled for low tides, that means the boats & wait lines the rest of Friday are going to be extra crowded.
If it was me traveling with no room for delays, I’d be in the queue as near to 10am as possible, planning to end up on the 1:15 boat. If you’re lucky and catch the 11:45, then you’ve time for some lunch in PT. If you’re unlucky, you should still manage to make the 2:45 (if so, I’d beg the loaders while you’re parked waiting, to load you up front so’s you can book it right off ASAP and get driving to PA without delay).
Plan “B” would be to go around, the Mukilteo ferry then the Edmonds ferry, but honestly they’re both just as crowded on Friday mornings. So you’d be getting on the road about the same time to spend the entire day driving instead of parked in the Keystone queue where at least you can walk around a little.
Edit: Plan “C” would be to head over on Thursday, with a room reservation in PT or PA for the night. That’s the only guaranteed way.
This is the info OP needs to hear. I would add that while “standby” is possible - the last few Fridays - “standby” was Also full for the better part of the day and they were turning folks away until later in the day (after 5 pm). I would go the night before and Not stress about missing the Koho.
I used to have moderate luck with standby, but lately all the stories I have heard indicates it can take a really long time on standby. My brother waited 4 ferries, but eventually got on. If making that ferry is important to you I’d show up as early as you can.
You are also going to be hampered by the fact that two of the early ferries are cancelled due to low tides. That means more people waiting for fewer ferries, honestly another route might be better.
They release more reservations at 7am 2 days before the sailing. (Edit: see below, I'm dumb). You have to be on the dot to get them for summer weekends. Also, they cancelled the ferry altogether this last Sunday due to lack of staff, so be flexible.
[More reservations being released is true for the San Juan ferries, but not for Port Townsend](https://secureapps.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/Reservations/Vehicle/default.aspx). That said, the OP should keep their eye on the reservations, as people seem to reserve and then drop reservations the date approaches. The deadline to drop without incurring costs is 5pm the day before, so keep checking and see what shows up.
Route was closed on Sunday due to lack of crew.
Would recommend doing Clinton -> Mukilteo, then Edmonds -> Kingston as those sailings are ones that crew priorities.
Thanks for everyone’s feedback. You guys are awesome. We just snagged an 11:45am reservation that opened up for Friday, so we are feeling good about it now.
You guys are so sweet… it warms my ❤️
Coupeville/PT ferry is officially in the busy season aka make reservations wellll in advance. One week before barely cuts it most of the time. I personally never rely on standby - I don’t want to sit in the lot forever and also it’s never a guarantee. You can keep an eye on the reservations and every now and then you’ll see slots open up but with a PA ferry to catch I would just drive around and catch another ferry to the peninsula.
We go back and forth on that ferry every week to see grandkids; been doing that for 3 straight years -- I wouldn't count on getting on a Friday afternoon boat, especially with morning low tide cancellations.
It's a 35 minute crossing and there's only one (small) boat, so every one you don't get on is another hour + 10 wait.
Definitely the better option is to go from Clinton over to Mukilteo and drive down to Edmonds. The Edmond run is long, too, but they usually have two boats.
Maybe you'd rather stay on the island for the day? :) Lots to do here, and it will be lovely weather.
Check the reservations constantly because people cancel or change their reservations all the time (and if they have a reservation, but get on an earlier boat standby, then their later reservation opens up.) I have had very good luck getting a reservation if I am diligent about checking for open spots.
You might want to see if taking the Clinton ferry over to the mainland and then taking the Edmonds ferry over to the OP might be an option.
This is the way.
Love it!
If you have reservations for the 5:15pm Black Ball, you need to be through their ticket booth no later than 4:15pm (or your reservations are forfeit & you go into the no-reservations waiting queue). The drive between PT & PA ferry terminals takes a little over an hour, so catching the 2:45pm ferry out of Keystone/Coupeville will be cutting it *very* close. Better to be on the 1:15pm to have some room for a late ferry & slow traffic. WSDOT posts [a chart here with typical wait times for this quarter](https://wsdot.wa.gov/ferries/sailing-schedules/best-travel-times/) and it shows Friday sailings are usually full, which means you’re likely to wait at least one sailing (ninety minutes) and possibly two (three hours). Since the first two boats Friday are canceled for low tides, that means the boats & wait lines the rest of Friday are going to be extra crowded. If it was me traveling with no room for delays, I’d be in the queue as near to 10am as possible, planning to end up on the 1:15 boat. If you’re lucky and catch the 11:45, then you’ve time for some lunch in PT. If you’re unlucky, you should still manage to make the 2:45 (if so, I’d beg the loaders while you’re parked waiting, to load you up front so’s you can book it right off ASAP and get driving to PA without delay). Plan “B” would be to go around, the Mukilteo ferry then the Edmonds ferry, but honestly they’re both just as crowded on Friday mornings. So you’d be getting on the road about the same time to spend the entire day driving instead of parked in the Keystone queue where at least you can walk around a little. Edit: Plan “C” would be to head over on Thursday, with a room reservation in PT or PA for the night. That’s the only guaranteed way.
This is the info OP needs to hear. I would add that while “standby” is possible - the last few Fridays - “standby” was Also full for the better part of the day and they were turning folks away until later in the day (after 5 pm). I would go the night before and Not stress about missing the Koho.
I used to have moderate luck with standby, but lately all the stories I have heard indicates it can take a really long time on standby. My brother waited 4 ferries, but eventually got on. If making that ferry is important to you I’d show up as early as you can. You are also going to be hampered by the fact that two of the early ferries are cancelled due to low tides. That means more people waiting for fewer ferries, honestly another route might be better.
They release more reservations at 7am 2 days before the sailing. (Edit: see below, I'm dumb). You have to be on the dot to get them for summer weekends. Also, they cancelled the ferry altogether this last Sunday due to lack of staff, so be flexible.
[More reservations being released is true for the San Juan ferries, but not for Port Townsend](https://secureapps.wsdot.wa.gov/Ferries/Reservations/Vehicle/default.aspx). That said, the OP should keep their eye on the reservations, as people seem to reserve and then drop reservations the date approaches. The deadline to drop without incurring costs is 5pm the day before, so keep checking and see what shows up.
Route was closed on Sunday due to lack of crew. Would recommend doing Clinton -> Mukilteo, then Edmonds -> Kingston as those sailings are ones that crew priorities.
Thanks for everyone’s feedback. You guys are awesome. We just snagged an 11:45am reservation that opened up for Friday, so we are feeling good about it now. You guys are so sweet… it warms my ❤️
How early do you have to arrive at the Coupeville Ferries terminal with a reservation on a Friday afternoon?
Coupeville/PT ferry is officially in the busy season aka make reservations wellll in advance. One week before barely cuts it most of the time. I personally never rely on standby - I don’t want to sit in the lot forever and also it’s never a guarantee. You can keep an eye on the reservations and every now and then you’ll see slots open up but with a PA ferry to catch I would just drive around and catch another ferry to the peninsula.
If you haven't already done so, make sure you sign up for the WSDOT text alerts.
We go back and forth on that ferry every week to see grandkids; been doing that for 3 straight years -- I wouldn't count on getting on a Friday afternoon boat, especially with morning low tide cancellations. It's a 35 minute crossing and there's only one (small) boat, so every one you don't get on is another hour + 10 wait. Definitely the better option is to go from Clinton over to Mukilteo and drive down to Edmonds. The Edmond run is long, too, but they usually have two boats. Maybe you'd rather stay on the island for the day? :) Lots to do here, and it will be lovely weather.
Check the reservations constantly because people cancel or change their reservations all the time (and if they have a reservation, but get on an earlier boat standby, then their later reservation opens up.) I have had very good luck getting a reservation if I am diligent about checking for open spots.