Getting to Smith Island
There is only one way to get to Smith Island. By boat. There are no bridges to the island and there is no air strip on the island. There are, however, plenty of boats that make the trip daily and will be happy to take you along.
From Crisfield, Maryland
Cruise to Smith Island from Crisfield with Capt. Thomas on the Chelsea Lane Tyler, a comfortable twin hull boat with an enclosed area on the lower deck and a sun deck on the upper level. This boat leaves daily from Somers Cove Marina at 12 30 from Memorial Day weekend to mid October. Reservations are required. 410-425-2771. Tickets are picked up at the Captain Tyler Motel in Crisfield. More Information.
You will find other options located at the Crisfield City Dock. The Island Belle and the Captain Jason take passengers to Ewell. The Captain Jason II stops in both Ewell and Tylerton. Each of the boats leave the City Dock in Crisfield at 12 30pm and 5 00pm and leave Ewell at 4 00pm and 5 00pm and Tylerton at 7 00am and 3 30pm. More Information.
You can also ride your own boat out to the island. There are a few slips at Smith Island Marina, which is located next to the Bayside Restaurant, where the ferries dock.
From Reedville, Virginia
The "Spirit of the Chesapeake" departs from the Chesapeake Bay Camp Resort in Reedville, Virginia at 10 00am and returns at 4 30pm. Runs from May to October. Reservations are required. More Information.
Getting to Smith Island
About Smith Island
Smith Island is Maryland's only inhabited Chesapeake Bay Island that is unattached to the mainland by bridge or causeway (Tangier Island, located 15 miles to the south, is located in Virginia). Smith Island is located about 12 miles off the shore of Crisfield, Maryland, where boats ferry visitors, residents, mail and supplies back and forth from the island daily.
The island was first mapped by Captain John Smith in 1608. The island is named for Henry Smith of Jamestown, who was granted 1,000 acres there in 1679. There are a little over 200 year around residents living on the three villages (Ewell, Tylerton and Rhodes Point) on Smith Island.
Smith Island is actually a collection of small islands, most of which are not inhabited. There are three distinct communities on Smith Ewell, Tylerton, and Rhodes Point. Ewell is the largest, and is where the tourist boats bring visitors and the mail boat brings supplies. Ewell is also where the visitor center and the island's three restaurants are located. You can get to Rhodes Point by land from Ewell, but if it's beauty and the old time Island ways your looking for you can go to Tylerton by mail or ferry boat. Rhodes Point is the island's boat repair center and the location of the island's marine railway, where boats can be lifted out of the water for repairs.
The Smith Island way of life is tied to the Chesapeake Bay, where resident watermen harvest fresh seafood, mostly in the form of crabs, clams, and oysters.
The Island's only legal picking house is located on Tylerton. You can visit the Crab meat Co-Op and watch the women of Tylerton pick crabs and sing. They love visitors! Or get one of the old timers to take you out on their boat for a few hours of fishing or Proging (looking for indian artifacts along the shore lines.)
Over 4,000 acres of marshland on the island are managed as the Martin National Wildlife Refuge.
Smith Island Getaway on Tylerton
Board the ferry in Crisfield for a ten mile voyage to the idyllic watermen's village of Tylerton on Maryland's Smith Island in the Chesapeake Bay. Small 8 foot wide roads, no motor vehicles and no nonsense or pollution. Tylerton has sixty residents separated by water from the rest of Smith Island, and is the remote place you didn't think existed anymore.
This is the community Tom Horton celebrated in his "An Island Out of Time". Walk or use bikes go birding in canoes and kayaks engage locals in the Drum Point Market while eating a crab cake or buying a local made candle or other item. Or visit the Island's Crab Picking Coop Enjoy learning about island's history and culture from a local charter a waterman's working boat for tutorial on his craft tour soft shell crab shanties visit the Smith Island Cultural Center in Ewell read marvel relax and enjoy a home you can truely call a haven of rest.
The Washington Post says this of Tylerton
"Breathtaking, almost overwhelming Chesapeake Bay views, on the less populous end of barely populated Smith Island."
You belong here and now you can afford a home on the Island. There are a few for sale as of 14 September 2009 but they go fast! The most expensive one is on Tylerton Road and bit away from the center of the community. It needs a porch and some updating on the inside. There is one for sale on Tuff Street that was put in in the 1970's and has had a recent update on the outside to include the roof and siding and new windows and doors.
However, our personal favorite is just across from Bugeye Street on Union Church Road. It is a 1900's farmhouse with new replacement windows, pellet stove heat, and loads of charm. The new french door at the front of the house will look great leading to the porch you put on! It has 3 beds and 1 bath, just right for that get away you have always wanted and at a very affordable price! It is listed for $135,000, A good buy and a great location.
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