Smith Island Day Trip from Maryland: Ferry + Food Guide

I’ve been wanting to visit Smith Island for a while. Smith Island is Maryland’s only inhabited offshore island, located in the Chesapeake Bay and accessible by passenger ferry. Partly because it’s literally changing shape over time, and also it feels remote in a way that’s hard to find on the East Coast

The island is slowly sinking and eroding, and there are fewer than 300 people who still live there full time. As a result, it is one of those places that exists on borrowed time.

So my wife and I took the ferry from Point Lookout to spend a day exploring it.

Getting to Smith Island: Ferry from Point Lookout

We boarded the Smith Island Cruises ferry mid-morning and spent the two-hour ride just watching the water stretch out in every direction. The captain of the ship was super informative and pointed out some interesting landmarks as we cruised across the bay.

It’s not a quick trip, but on a summer day, it’s exactly the kind of slow ride that sets the tone for the rest of the day — similar to other Chesapeake Bay trips I’ve done like Tilghman Island.

Exploring Smith Island: Ewell & Rhodes Point

Once we arrived, we rented a golf cart (bikes are also available), which is the easiest way to explore.

We made our way through:

Ewell
Out toward Rhodes Point
And every quiet stretch of road in between

It’s a small island, but the charm is in the pace — open water views, marshland everywhere, and very little traffic beyond the occasional golf cart.

The Roost: Locally Roasted Coffee

We stopped at The Roost for iced coffee as we made our way towards Rhodes Point. The beans are roasted on the island and gave us the right amount of pep we needed on a hot August day.

It’s a small shop, but exactly what we needed — coffee, baked goods, and the shop owner was so lovely to chat with for a few minutes.

Smith Island Cultural Center

After we completed our golf cart ride around the island, we visited the Smith Island Cultural Center and Museum. The museum fee was $3 to enter, but so worth it.

It’s a small but meaningful stop that helps provide some context to life on the island. Filled with history, watermen culture, and a deeper look at how life on the island has evolved (and in many ways, stayed the same).

Lunch at Bayside Inn

We wrapped up our visit to Smith Island with a stop for lunch at the Bayside Inn, one of the two restaurants on the island.

We kept it simple:

Cheeseburger
Fried shrimp basket

Both were exactly what they needed to be — straightforward, fresh, and perfect after a morning outside. The crab-forward items all sounded delicious, but neither of us were in the mood unfortunately.

Smith Island Cake (Obviously)

Our favorite part of the day came after lunch, no trip here is complete without a taste of Maryland’s official dessert, Smith Island cake.

We tried:

A slice of peanut butter chocolate cake
A slice of the classic Smith Island cake to take home

These were so much better than the Smith Island cakes I’ve tried in Baltimore and it’s worth the day trip alone to bring back a whole cake.

Heading Back

By 2:30pm, we were back on the ferry heading to Point Lookout.

The return ride was much quieter – everyone on the boat was clearly wiped from their day in the sun. And there was plenty of bird watching to do as we pulled away from the pier.