Dog-Friendly Nantucket

Jetties Beach, Nantucket

One Short Day… on Nantucket!

Nantucket is one of my favorite places I have visited in the United States. In fact, I think it has officially become my top beach/ocean spot in the country! It is the cutest island I’ve ever been to and I wish we had spent more time there. Nantucket immediately met and then quickly exceeded all of my expectations for that ideal New England waterfront cottage getaway. It’s been less than a week since our day on Nantucket, and I have already told about twenty people that they must come with me next time.

Getting There

Getting to Nantucket from Cape Cod is extremely simple, for humans and dogs alike! Alice and I took the Hy-Line Cruises high-speed ferry from Hyannis. The ride itself is only one hour, and we arrived to the dock about half an hour before the departure time. It was pretty crowded and a bit disorganized getting on in Hyannis, and I did feel uncomfortable with the lack of social distancing going on. I got in what I assumed was the line and stood six feet behind the person in front of me. But almost everyone else was standing within a couple feet of the groups around them. Once we got on the ferry, we went straight to the top level so we could be in the open air and sunshine and distanced ourselves as best we could. All passengers were required to wear masks except when eating or drinking (which had to be done in the outside areas of the boat). The ferry was $77 round trip, and Alice was free! There were many other dogs on our ferry - all on leashes, no muzzles or carriers were required. Dogs are allowed in all parts of the boat except for a clearly marked area around the snack bar.

The views of Nantucket as you enter the harbor are gorgeous, and give you a taste of the adorable island you’re about to explore! The wharf/marina area was incredibly crowded when we got off the ferrry, so we fled to an outdoor lunch spot about a fifteen-minute walk away.

Lunch

I ordered a sandwich (and a few waters) at Something Natural, which is a cute restaurant that backs up to a park with a really nice lawn. There were a bunch of picnic tables stacked up that looked like they are usually out in the grass, but I guess they aren’t doing that now because of COVID. Still, we found a very nice shady spot in some soft, green grass that Alice loved. The food was pretty good, but I was extremely disappointed to learn they did not have a bathroom! The quest for a bathroom become a theme throughout the day….

Lighthouse & Beach

Next, we walked over to the Brant Point Lighthouse. I love lighthouses - probably because I never saw any growing up (land-locked states!) and I think they are so beautiful. This was a very cute one with great views of the harbor! Dogs aren’t allowed on lifeguarded beaches in the summer between 9:00am and 5:00pm on Nantucket. But the beach on the south side did not have a lifeguard present, so we hung out in the sand for a bit, out of everyone’s way, enjoying the view.

Snacks & Cider

We ventured back toward the wharfs, in search of a cold beverage - and a bathroom! We stopped at one of the first places we spotted with plenty of outdoor tables available: The Charlie Noble. The hostess greeted Alice with a treat and watched her (tied her to a tree next to the hostess stand) while I hurried in to use the restroom. The restaurant had a great deal on a shrimp cocktail special, so I ordered that along with my favorite cider, Wölffer Rosé!

‘Sconset

My friend Lizzie has visited Cape Cod & Nantucket frequently with her family, and she urged me to go to ‘Sconset (which is short for Siasconset), a historic district on the eastern edge of the island. It is not walkable from the main part of Nantucket, so we took The Wave! The Wave is a bus system that takes you to different parts of the island. It is $3 per ride, and dogs can ride for free! We got on at the Washington St stop, which has a bus going to ‘Sconset every half hour. This stop also has a screen that shows where the bus is in real time so you know exactly when it will arrive. You pay as you board the bus, but make sure you have exact change! The bus will not give change back, instead it gives you a card with your balance that can be used on your next ride.

About thirty seconds after we got off the bus, I saw a sign for public restrooms - hallelujah! Then we explored this historic area. The tiny houses in this neighborhood have all been around for hundreds of years and have impeccably manicured yards and gardens - it actually reminded me of my friend’s grandmother’s community in Sweden that I visited a few years ago. Alice and I walked up and down nearly every street, and stumbled onto paths and walking bridges that eventually brought us to the beach. It was about 4:00 at this time, so dogs still weren’t technically allowed on the beach. But we sat at the top of the sand, far from the water, and enjoyed the ocean view for a bit. I had hoped we could stop at The Summer House for a glass of wine (I called the day before to confirm that they allowed dogs), but they were closed between lunch and dinner and I didn’t want to wait around for an extra hour. It looked really beautiful from the outside though!

Shopping & Sangria

Alice and I hopped back on the Wave and returned to the marina. There were several cute shops along the Old South Wharf, so we looked around for a bit - every shop was fine with Alice joining me. We discovered another public restroom around the corner - clutch! Then we got an outdoor table at Slip 14 and I enjoyed peach sangria and the most delicious esquites I’ve ever had. At this point, I decided I did not want to go back on the 7:05 ferry. So I called Hy-Line Cruises and requested to move my reservation back to the 10:00, which they did - no fee, no questions asked.

Sunset on the Beach

I wanted a good beach sunset, so we walked up to Jetties Beach since it faces somewhat West. Here, we witnessed one of the most beautiful sunsets I’ve ever experienced! I didn’t even try to get Alice in the water, the waves were way too big for her comfort level (read: not very big at all, she’s just irrationally afraid of waves). But we did play in the sand for a while and took approximately one thousand pictures! It wasn’t overly crowded, and we didn’t see any other dogs. This was strange, since we had read in multiple places online that dogs were allowed on all beaches after 5:00pm, and we had seen/met many other dogs around the island. There wasn’t a lifeguard on duty anymore, and no one seemed to notice or care about Alice’s presence, so I assume it was allowed. It was an absolutley stunning sunset, I am so glad I decided to switch to a later ferry!

There is a large bar and restaurant called Sandbar set further back on the beach. The gift shop of this restaurant also had a public restroom - hooray! - so I tied Alice up just outside and rushed in. When I came back out, there were several young children talking to and petting Alice. Luckily, she is very patient and good with kids! And she was probably too focused on looking for me to even notice them.

Dinner

We weren’t initially planning on eating dinner on Nantucket, so I hadn’t even considered making a reservation. Once we were back near the marina, most places we passed seemed quite full! But we finally stumbled onto an outdoor seating area for a restaurant called The Club Car that had three empty picnic tables. The host said those tables were needed for a later reservation, but when he saw it was just me and Alice… he sat us and told us we only had about 45 minutes before the table would need to be cleared and cleaned. The prices at this place are outrageous! It’s a nicer Mexican-ish spot, but $10 for chips & salsa?! I ordered a delicious cocktail with mezcal and strawberry that was $17 I believe, and a chicken quesadilla for around the same price. Both were really good, but those prices were silly. The staff was incredibly friendly and took great care of Alice though, so we would definitely return.

Then, sadly, it was almost time to check in for our ferry back to Hyannis. I wanted to grab some ice cream on our way back to the dock, but the line was about 40 people long! So we skipped that mess and listened to music on a bench on Straight Wharf until it was time to line up for the ferry. Alice made some new human friends on the boat, of course, and stared down everyone going back and forth from the snack bar until she couldn’t keep her little eyes open any longer. Then she curled up on my lap and napped the rest of the ride back. The island is very walkable, but it would be a lot for someone who isn’t used to walking a lot every day. Living in New York City, we are used to walking a ton, so moving between all of these places on foot was manageable - my fitbit claims we walked over 27,000 steps and over 12 miles that day! What an exhausting, but WONDERFUL day exploring Nantucket!