Standard 2026 season timetable (1-30 September pattern), confirmed live on 18 September 2026
Departures 1–10 / 10
Departures 1–10 / 10
Crossing time
~15 min
Frequency
every 30 min
Operator
South Sands Ferry (run by the Tucker family since 1986)
Map – South Sands Ferry
| Fare type | Price |
|---|---|
| Adult, single | £5.25 |
| Child (1-15), single | £3.95 |
| Pushchair | Free |
| Dog | Free |
Every ticket is for one journey only (no return fare). Card, contactless, Apple Pay and Android/Google Pay are accepted on board or via the operator's ticket website; there is no cash option. Pre-paid 10-trip and 20-trip cards (with one or three free trips built in) are also sold, but their price is not shown publicly — it only appears after logging into the ticket site — so it is not published here as a figure. All fares in pounds sterling (GBP).
The South Sands Ferry is a seasonal passenger boat linking Salcombe town centre with South Sands Beach, on the seaward side of the Kingsbridge Estuary in south Devon. Run by the Tucker family, who have operated it since 1986, the service uses a 30-passenger vessel, Harvest Reaper, departing from the Whitestrand pontoon in the centre of Salcombe for a scenic, roughly 15-minute run down the estuary.
What makes the crossing distinctive is how it ends: South Sands has no jetty or pier at all. Instead, a purpose-built amphibious 'Sea Tractor' — a tradition on this route since the 1980s, when a retired military vehicle first did the job — drives out into the shallows to meet the boat wherever the water happens to be that day, so passengers step straight from the boat onto the tractor and are carried onto the sand. It is the reason the ferry can keep to a fixed clock timetable even though there is no fixed landing point: the tractor, not the boat, absorbs whatever the tide is doing.
The ferry runs a single season each year, currently Saturday 28 March to 16:30 on Saturday 31 October 2026, after which it takes its published winter break for maintenance and crew leave before returning the following spring. Within the season, sailings leave every 30 minutes from both ends; as of 18 September 2026, the operator's own live departure board confirms the standard pattern of a 09:45 first sailing and 17:15 last sailing from Salcombe (10:00 first, 17:30 last from South Sands), a schedule that shortens again from 1 October and 25 October as the season winds down.
An adult single costs £5.25 and a child £3.95, with pushchairs and dogs carried free; there is no cash option, only card, contactless and mobile wallets, and no advance booking for a specific sailing — passengers simply turn up in good time and wait for the next boat.
- Arrive at the slipway a few minutes before departure; vehicle queues build quickly in summer.
- Check the operator's notices before travelling — tides, weather and maintenance affect sailings.
- Confirm accepted payment methods: several crossings are contactless-only.
Frequently asked questions
It is running. The 2026 season operates from Saturday 28 March until 16:30 on Saturday 31 October 2026, and the operator's live departure board on 18 September 2026 showed normal half-hourly sailings, with the last boat at 17:15 from Salcombe and 17:30 from South Sands. The winter break begins 1 November.
An adult single is £5.25 and a child (aged 1 to 15) single is £3.95. Pushchairs and dogs both travel free. Multi-trip cards (10 or 20 journeys, with one or three free trips included) are also sold, though their price is not published without logging into the ticket website.
South Sands Beach has no jetty. Instead, an amphibious 'Sea Tractor' — a tradition on this route since the 1980s — drives out into the water to meet the ferry boat on every crossing, and passengers transfer directly from boat to tractor before being carried up onto the sand.
The boat trip between Whitestrand pontoon in Salcombe and South Sands takes about 15 minutes, according to the operator.
The operator notes that services can occasionally be affected by weather and tidal conditions, but the Sea Tractor is specifically designed to reach the boat regardless of the state of the tide, which is why the ferry can run to a fixed half-hourly timetable rather than a tide-dependent one.
Every 30 minutes in each direction. As of 18 September 2026 the last sailing is 17:15 from Salcombe and 17:30 from South Sands; this gets earlier from 1 October (16:45/17:00) and again from 25 October (16:15/16:30) as the season closes on 31 October.
No cash — only major credit/debit cards, contactless, Apple Pay and Google/Android Pay are accepted, either on board or via the operator's website. There is no booking for a specific sailing; tickets bought online still just mean turning up and waiting for the next boat.
Yes to both, and both travel free. Pushchairs must be folded before boarding, and dogs should be kept on a lead and supervised while boarding and disembarking.