Port Aransas Ferry wait, right now
The waits TxDOT is posting on its Highway 361 signs, this minute.
To Port Aransas
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To Aransas Pass
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See the line for yourself
TxDOT's cameras at both landings — the stills load as you scroll and keep themselves current, each labeled with its capture time and how long ago that was.
Harbor Island landing — the line to Port Aransas
Port Aransas landing — the line back
Where these numbers come from
No estimates, no crowdsourcing: the waits above are read straight from TxDOT's Corpus Christi district feeds — the same data behind the electronic signs on Highway 361.
Highway message signs
TxDOT posts "FERRY WAIT TO…" times on the boards approaching each landing. When no wait is posted, the signs rotate safety messages instead — which usually means the line is short.
Live cameras
Cameras cover the stacking lanes on both sides of the channel — the four ferry views are embedded above, and the full district list lives on TxDOT's site.
Incidents & closures
Fog suspensions and lane closures come from the district's incident feed and appear as alerts under the wait times the moment TxDOT logs them.
The ferry in six facts
Everything first-timers ask about the Port Aransas ferry, minus the folklore.
Free, around the clock
The Port Aransas Ferry is free and runs 24 hours a day, weather permitting — operated by TxDOT, no ticket, no reservation, first come, first served.
A short hop
The crossing between Harbor Island (Aransas Pass) and Port Aransas takes under ten minutes; two to six boats run at once.
Cars, bikes & walk-ons
Drive on, bike on, or walk on. Stay in your lane in the stacking area and follow the deckhands' signals.
Fog can pause it
Dense fog or rough weather can suspend service — that's what the alerts above will show. Crossings resume as soon as it lifts.
Watch the wake
Dolphins surface in the ship channel constantly — the wait line and the crossing double as wildlife watching.
There's a no-ferry route
From Corpus Christi you can skip the boat entirely: JFK Causeway (Park Road 22) onto the island, then Highway 361 north into Port A.
When the wait gets long
Most of the year the ferry is a five-minute afterthought. The exceptions are predictable.
- Summer weekends and holiday Saturdays, roughly late morning through early evening — the classic 30–60 minute stretches.
- Spring break afternoons, both directions.
- Sunday evenings in season, leaving Port A, when everyone heads home at once.
- Fog mornings — service pauses entirely until it lifts, then the backlog clears over an hour or so.
The drive-around, when the signs say an hour
From Corpus Christi there's a ferry-free route the whole way: take South Padre Island Drive across the JFK Causeway onto the island, then Highway 361 north up Mustang Island into Port Aransas — about 45 minutes from town, zero boats involved. Coming from the north (Rockport, Aransas Pass), the ferry is the only direct road in, so a long suspension means looping through Corpus.
Across the channel and beyond
Once you're over the water: a full Port A day trip, things to do around the Coastal Bend, and the full visitor guide.