Most Solent crossings run to a timetable and sell tickets online; the Hamble ferry does neither. You stand at the water's edge in Hamble-le-Rice or Warsash and a small pink boat comes over, daily between 10:00 and 16:00 for now, with the last crossing at 15:50 and nothing at all when the weather turns. Bring cash: an adult pays £3.
Opening hours published by the operator and read on 7 October 2026, with no end date given. Last winter the ferry moved to weekends only from 1 November; nothing has been announced yet for 2026/27. Hamble Ferry — operating hours · 2026-10-07
Compare the Hamble ferry with the other crossings around the Solent and almost everything is the other way round. The Isle of Wight boats run to printed timetables, sell tickets online and carry far larger loads; this one waits for you, takes cash and carries twelve. They are businesses built around ports and piers; this is a boatyard whose owners trace their crossing back to 1493 and call it one of the river's longest-running services.
It is also a different kind of journey. Nobody takes the Hamble ferry to reach an island. People use it to save a lengthy detour by road between two riverside villages, Hamble-le-Rice on the west bank and Warsash on the east, or to keep going on foot along the Solent Way, Hampshire County Council's 60-mile coastal path, which simply tells walkers to take the ferry to Warsash.
And it is pink. The two boats, Claire and Emily, are purpose-built steel launches licensed for twelve passengers each, and the operator calls itself much more than a little pink ferry. On a sunny weekend it is hard to miss; on a stormy one it stays tied up.
Fares here are singles only, paid in cash to the ferryman: £3.00 for an adult, £2.50 for children from 2 to 12, and £1.50 even for a baby under two, which is unusual. Bicycles are charged per saddle at £1.00, so a tandem pays twice. Dogs, and parrots, ride free.
Prices have crept up. In spring 2024 the same list charged £2.50 for an adult and 50p for a bike, and the heading still carries a May 2020 date, which tells you nothing about when the figures last changed.
| Adult | £ 3 |
| Child (2–12) | £ 2.50 |
| Infant (under 2) | £ 1.50 |
| Bicycle, per saddle | £ 1 |
| Dog | Free |
Fare list read on 7 October 2026 and identical in a copy of the page from 16 April 2026; the page is still headed with a 2020 date although the prices have gone up since Hamble Ferry — fares · 2026-10-07
The crossing joins Hamble-le-Rice, on the west bank, to Warsash on the east, close to where the River Hamble opens into Southampton Water. It is a short stretch of river lined with moorings, and the boats are small enough to pull in at a pontoon on one side and a tidal hard on the other.
For longer journeys from this part of Hampshire, the Southampton–Cowes Red Jet, the Lymington–Yarmouth car ferry and the Portsmouth Harbour–Ryde Pier Head catamaran all reach the Isle of Wight. Further west along the coast, the Christchurch ferry works a similar small-boat trade in Dorset.
On the Hamble side the boat calls at the public pontoon by the Quay, at the bottom of School Lane. Just wait at the end where the ferryman can see you; if nobody is on the water, the operator's website gives a mobile number to call.
This is where Hampshire County Council's Solent Way walking route arrives from Hythe and Netley, and where its next stage, towards Hill Head, begins with the crossing.
At Warsash the boat comes in at a pontoon beside the Ferry Hard, a stretch of tidal riverbed that is very slippery whenever the water is not high. The operator also warns that oysters on the bed have sharp shells, so keep shoes on.
At low tide, walk down the ramp onto the Hard rather than heading for the end of the pontoon. There is a small ferry shelter on this bank.
The ferryman takes cash, and fares cover one crossing only: keep enough coins and notes for the trip back as well.
The boat may be on the other side or working on the river. The operator publishes a duty ferryman's mobile number on its site for exactly that moment.
Warsash's Ferry Hard is slippery seabed with sharp oyster shells. At low tide use the ramp, not the end of the pontoon.
The 60-mile coastal path from Milford-on-Sea to Emsworth relies on this boat. Southbound from Warsash it passes Hook-with-Warsash Nature Reserve on the way to Titchfield Haven and Hill Head.
Eastleigh Borough Council says a ramp can be arranged for wheelchair passengers if you phone ahead. The operator's own site does not mention it, so check before you travel.
Strong wind or rough water closes the ferry. If last winter's weekend-only pattern returns, one stormy weekend could mean no crossing for a whole week.
Set the hours against the bigger operators too. A timetabled ferry publishes its winter pattern months ahead; here the change is announced on the home page shortly before it happens. Last autumn the notice of weekend-only running from 1 November was not yet on the site in early October and was there by 10 November; the Christmas opening days followed by early December.
The fares tell the same story of a small business adjusting as it goes. Between spring 2024 and spring 2026 the adult fare rose from £2.50 to £3.00 and the bicycle charge doubled to £1.00, while the infant fare stayed at £1.50.
No. It runs on demand: wait at the pontoon in Hamble or at Warsash Ferry Hard and the boat comes across. If you cannot see it, ring the duty ferryman on the number given on the operator's website.
15:50, from either bank, while the ferry is open from 10:00 to 16:00. The operator stops ten minutes before the advertised closing time.
No, cash only: £3.00 an adult, £2.50 per child (ages 2–12) and £1.50 for an infant, each way.
Probably at weekends only. Last year Saturdays and Sundays were the only opening days between 1 November and April, on the usual ten-till-four hours. The 2026/27 winter hours had not been announced on 7 October.
£1.00 per saddle, paid on top of your own fare (£3.00 for an adult) every time you cross.
Yes. The operator describes itself as a little pink ferry, and both Claire and Emily carry the colour.
Eastleigh Borough Council's transport page says a ramp is available if you call in advance. The operator does not mention it on its own site, so phone first.