Isle of Wight Ferries

Isle of Wight Ferries Wightlink - They operate a car and passenger service between Portsmouth and Fishbourne (45 minutes), and between Lymington and Yarmouth (30 minutes). It also operates a passenger-only service between Portsmouth Harbour (train station) and Ryde Pier Head (train station) called the Fast Cat"(20 minutes) because the boats used are catamarans.

Wightlink and its forerunners have provided ferries to the Isle of Wight for more than 160 years. In October 2006 Wightlink announced that it intended to built two new ferries for the Yarmouth to Lymington route. These are going to be slightly bigger than the original and will only hold 360 while the existing ferries hold 500 passengers. The two ferries are not expected to enter service till June 2008 but will arrive at the solent in May. Recently Wightlink have announcent that a third ferry will be built for the route and will enter service in spring 2009

Ferries Isle of Wight Red Funnel - Red Funnel is a British Isle of Wight ferry company. Red Funnel's cross-Solent fleet comprises of fast speed passenger ferries and vehicle ferries that serve the Isle of Wight. They sail around the clock, 364 days a year between Southampton and East and West Cowes.

In 2001 The company was sold to JP Morgan Partners Inc. by Associated British Ports Holdings who had acquired the company in 1989 as a White knight to fend off a hostile take over by Sally Lines. In 2004 the company was sold again in a management buy-out backed by the Bank of Scotland for £60 million. The company was sold on from HBOS to the Prudential's infrastructure specialist Infracapital in a deal valuing the business at more than £200m in June 2007.

Hover Craft IOW Hovertravel - Hovertravel is an Isle of Wight ferry company we are the only ferry company operating in Britain with a passenger hovercraft, after Hoverspeed stopped using their craft in favour of catamarans. The company operates between Southsea Common, next to Clarence Pier, and Ryde Esplanade transport interchange.

Terminal facilities are provided at both ends, and services run every 30 minutes during daylight hours. However, in high season (generally July and August) the frequency increases to every 15 minutes or less. The crossing time is less than 10 minutes, and is therefore the fastest route across The Solent from land to land. However, the inconvenient site of the Portsmouth terminal means this is not reflected for through journeys.