About Wightlink

The leading Isle of Wight ferry operator

Wightlink provide an award-winning ferry service between the Isle of Wight and Hampshire, bringing 4.3 million people together every year.

With three convenient routes and eight well-equipped ferries, we connect you with loved ones, business meetings, holidays, tradespeople, festivals, deliveries, wildlife and everything in between.

We’re true believers that your getaway starts on board, which is why we’ve fitted our ferries to the highest standards. Relax under the warm Solent sun on our outside decks, let the kids roam free in our play areas and taste some of the Isle of Wight’s finest food and drink in our cafés.

Our routes

When you book a Wightlink ferry, you can take your pick from three routes connecting the south coast of England with the Island.

If you’re bringing your vehicle with you, choose from the picturesque Lymington – Yarmouth or the well-connected Portsmouth – Fishbourne routes.

Travelling on foot? Our Portsmouth – Ryde FastCat will get you across the Solent in just 22 minutes, with ports on both sides of the Solent situated perfectly for onward rail and bus connections.

Portsmouth – Fishbourne

Due to coronavirus there are changes to this route/service
minutes
Vehicle and passenger ferry

Portsmouth Harbour – Ryde

Due to coronavirus there are changes to this route/service
minutes
Passenger only ferry

Lymington – Yarmouth

Due to coronavirus there are changes to this route/service
minutes
Vehicle and passenger ferry
map

At a glance

  • We're experienced at creating memorable moments, bringing 4.3 million people together sailing from 6 ports and up to 140 crossing per day in the summer.

  • Your getaway starts on board, with eight well-equipped ferries running on three convenient routes

  • When you sail with us, you know you're travelling sustainably. Our hybrid-energy flagship ferry, Victoria of Wight, is just one part of our pioneering Green Solent Project

  • With us, you can expect punctuality, reliability and speed, with crossing times starting at just 22 minutes

Award winners

British Travel Awards

Thanks to our hard-working colleagues and the votes of thousands of you, we’ve reached the top two at the prestigious British Travel Awards three years in a row. At the most recent ceremony, we picked up silver in the Best Ferry Company for Routes From/To UK Ports category.

Britain’s Best Ferry Operator

National Transport Awards

We were named Best Ferry Operator at the 2024 National Transport Awards, voted on by a panel of industry expert judges. A huge thank you to our hardworking crews and colleagues who put our customers first.

Wightlink named as Best Ferry Operator 2024 at the National Transport Awards

Environmental awards

Among our recent sustainability awards, we’ve picked up the Net Zero Navigator gong at the Maritime UK Solent Awards 2024, the Big Sustainability Award and the silver Green Tourism award.

Environment

Travel sustainably

With us, you get to travel overseas while minimising your environmental impact.

Travelling by ferry is far less damaging to the environment than flying and our pioneering Green Solent Project takes that one step further. Among many eco initiatives, we’ve introduced England’s first hybrid energy ferry and we have even more ambitious plans for the future.

Performance at a glance - August 2025

At Wightlink, we’re committed to more than just getting you across the Solent – we want every journey to be safe, reliable, and a positive experience.

Each month we share statistics to show how we are performing against our targets. It helps our customers to understand where we need to improve and where we are doing well.

🟢 Green – We’ve met or exceeded our target
🟡 Yellow– Just below target (within 10%)
🔴 Red – Missed our target (10% or more)

🚢 Service performance

Reliability: 99.5% 🟢

Punctuality: 89.7% 🟡

Cancelled sailings: 18

We carried 498,891 customers just like you in August.

🙂 Customer satisfaction

Customer satisfaction score: 98.1% 🟢

Complaints received: 90

Complaints per passenger: 0.02%

🦺 Safety

Full internal safety audit

A comprehensive internal safety audit has been undertaken in August, covering the full scope of the company’s Safety Management System (SMS) and all associated systems.

The audit examined policies, procedures and operational practices to ensure compliance with legal, regulatory, and company requirements.

❤️ Wightlink in the Community

We supported 1,350 journeys this month

Our focus is on making life better here on the Isle of Wight – especially for young people and for projects that care for our environment.

By giving a hand with travel, we hope to make it easier for local groups to do what they do best: inspire, support and bring people together

What this means for you
  • Reliable travel – 99.5% of our ferries sailed compared to our timetable available to you 24 hours beforehand.

  • Punctual travel – 89.7% of our ferries sailed within five minutes of the scheduled departure time.

  • Cancelled sailings – We cancelled 18 sailings.

    17 of these cancellations were due to mechanical breakdowns and one was the result of engine failure.

  • Satisfied customers – 98.1% of our customers rated the journey with Wightlink as positive.

  • Safe travel - To keep everyone safe and our services running smoothly, we regularly carry out audits and inspections both on board our ferries and ashore.

We want to hear from You

If you or the people you support have suggestions, challenges, or ideas, we’d love to hear them. Get in touch via email at [email protected] or use the form on our Contact Us page.

How reliability and punctuality are calculated

We measure our reliability against the timetable as it was planned four days in advance.

A sailing counts as “on time” if it leaves within five minutes of its scheduled departure. This is the same approach used right across the transport industry, especially in rail, so it gives a fair and consistent picture of how we’re doing.

To make sure our figures are accurate and trustworthy, the way we measure performance was checked and verified by an independent auditor in November 2024.

Meet the Team event

Our Meet the Team event is your chance to have a say on our services. The in-person sessions run three times a year on the Isle of Wight, allowing us to talk directly to you about ways we can further improve our service.

Members of our team from a range of departments will be in attendance, so you can talk to subject specialists about the issues important to you.

Attend Meet the Team

Our ferries

Our fleet of six vehicle ferries and two FastCat catamarans serve the Isle of Wight and mainland 364 days a year. Some have been with us for many years while others are new to the fleet – find out all about their history and see what facilities you’ll find on board.

Learn about our fleet of ferries

Careers

We’re always on the lookout for passionate, customer-focussed people to join our on board and ashore teams. With competitive pay, excellent benefits and a variety of roles, find your perfect job with Wightlink.

Careers

Why choose Wightlink

We’ve been bringing people together for over 160 years, so we know what it takes to provide a great ferry service. Get peace of mind with a reliable timetable, make memories on board with excellent facilities and enjoy overseas travel while minimising your environmental impact.

Why choose Wightlink

Our registered office

Wightlink Limited,
Gunwharf Road,
Portsmouth,
PO1 2LA 

Registered in England No. 1059267 

Certified to the ISM Code by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency