Deer Lake Airport (YDF) → Pilley's Island ferry terminal
Deer Lake Airport (YDF) to Long Island
- Drive time
- 2h 22m
- Distance
- 171 km
- Routes
- 1, 380, 382
Free-flow estimate, Deer Lake Airport (YDF) to Pilley's Island ferry terminal — no stops, dry roads. The ferry after it is not included.Source: OSRM driving profile, terminal door to ferry terminal, checked 2026-08-30.
Then a ferry to Long Island
A short hop across the tickle — the shortest crossing on this site. The province lists the vessel as carrying sixteen automobiles, which is the number that matters: on a boat that size a queue is a real possibility rather than a theoretical one, and the schedule and vessel both change with the season.
Operated by the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador.
Current schedule →This is the quietest crossing on the site and the least known. Long Island sits in Green Bay, reached by a boat that runs across a kilometre of water from Pilley’s Island, and almost nobody plans a trip around it.
The drive is the long part: 2 hours 22 from Deer Lake, most of it on the Trans-Canada before the turn north. The crossing is minutes. What decides the day is whether the sailing you want is running and whether there is room on it — a sixteen-car boat fills.
Worth stopping for
Indian River
A green space mapped on Route 380, essentially on the driven line. OpenStreetMap records it as a nature reserve but not who runs it, and it is not on ParksNL's list of provincial parks or reserves — so treat it as a place to pull over rather than somewhere with facilities.
Stopping here adds about 1 min and 0.1 km to the drive.
Before you go
These change. We link the people who keep them current rather than copying numbers that go stale here.
Is the boat actually running today?Check on the day, every time
A schedule says when a sailing is meant to go, never whether it is going. Wind, ice and mechanical trouble cancel these runs, and the province publishes live ferry status separately from the timetable. This is the link to open the morning you travel — the schedule is for planning, this is for deciding.
Check it now →Ferry sailings and vesselChange through the year
The province publishes the schedule and states which vessel is running. On a sixteen-car boat serving a small community, the sailing you want is the one to confirm before you drive two and a quarter hours to the wharf.
Check it now →MooseYear round, worst between dusk and dawn
The province states that the likelihood of injury in a moose collision is twice as high between dusk and dawn as in daytime. Routes 380 and 382 are long, unlit and lightly travelled — and a missed sailing here means driving them again in the dark.
Check it now →Road conditionsYear round, matters most November–April
Check before you turn off the Trans-Canada. This is a long way to commit to for a boat you have not confirmed.
Check it now →
Questions people actually ask
How long is the drive from Deer Lake Airport to the Long Island ferry?＋
About 2 hours 22 minutes, covering 171 km — east on the Trans-Canada Highway, then north on Route 380 and Route 382 to the wharf at Pilley's Island. That is a free-flow estimate on dry roads with no stops, and it is the driving leg only; the crossing comes after it.
Should I fly into Deer Lake or Gander for this?＋
Deer Lake, though by less than most of this coast. It is 2 hours 22 from Deer Lake against 2 hours 59 from Gander — a 37-minute difference, which is one of the narrower margins on this site. If you are combining Long Island with something on the Gander side, the arithmetic may go the other way.
What is the ferry like?＋
Small, and short. The province lists the vessel as carrying sixteen automobiles and eighty passengers across a crossing of about a kilometre. That combination matters more than the distance: a full boat means waiting for the next one, and the schedule is thinner than the Fogo run. Confirm the sailing before you drive out.
How do I plan the day I fly home?＋
Backwards from check-in, not forwards from breakfast. The drive back to Deer Lake is the same 2 hours 22 it was coming out, but on departure day there is a crossing and a vehicle queue in front of it, boarding is not reserved, and a missed sailing costs a flight rather than an afternoon. Leave more slack than the drive time suggests.
Do I need a rental car?＋
Yes for the mainland leg — 171 km of highway with no realistic alternative. The ferry does carry vehicles, and Long Island is spread out enough that arriving on foot limits you to whatever is near the wharf.
Every distance, drive time and coordinate on this page was checked against its source on August 30, 2026. Origin: OpenStreetMap way/180061286 — passenger terminal. Destination: OpenStreetMap node/1524676985.