The North Carolina Department of Transportation’s Ferry Division has begun taking reservations for visitors wishing to visit Ocracoke Island, as Hyde County has lifted the state of emergency Wed., Sept. 7.

Ocracoke residents and emergency personnel with green and purple stickers and an Ocracoke driver’s license will ride toll exempt until Highway 12 in neighboring Dare County is open for traffic. Reservations are recommended to ensure space availability.

Residents of Hatteras village in Dare County will also be allowed to ride the Cedar Island-Ocracoke and Swan Quarter-Ocracoke routes toll exempt with a driver’s license showing proof of residency.

Those with purple or green stickers going to Ocracoke and residents of Hatteras village can make a reservation by calling (800) 293-3779 and press 2 to be connected to the reservations center.  The center is open from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. daily. The online reservations system at the ferry website will not work for this type of waiver, because the web page is designed to accept only credit cards.

Those residents who do not make a reservation can still ride toll exempt, but it will be on a space availability basis. Those with reservations will be given priority, to avoid overbooking. If a resident makes a reservation via the 800-BY-FERRY number, they will still have to show proof upon boarding with the purple and green stickers and driver’s licenses.

The Cedar Island-Ocracoke schedule continues as follows:

• Departing Cedar Island at 7 a.m., 10, 1 p.m. and 3:30; and
• Departing Ocracoke at 7:30 a.m., 10, 1 p.m. and 3:30.



The Swan Quarter-Ocracoke schedule continues as follows:

• Departing Swan Quarter at 7 a.m., 10 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 4:30; and
• Departing Ocracoke at 6:30 a.m., 9:30, 12:45 p.m. and 4.

The Hatteras Inlet ferry is running on a reduced schedule to accommodate Hatteras Island residents who choose to return through Ocracoke via the ferries from Swan Quarter or Cedar Island.

Ferries leave the Hatteras village docks on the even hour.  The first ferry is at 6 a.m. and the last at midnight.  Ferries leave Ocracoke on the odd hour, beginning at 7 a.m. and ending with the last trip at 11 p.m.

Ferry information is available by calling 800-293-3779 (BY-FERRY) and pressing 1, or via Twitter at www.twitter.com/ncdot_ferry.