Boston Harbor Islands

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Daily ferry service from Boston's Long Wharf to the Boston Harbor Islands has resumed for the summer season. For $15 per adult ticket, visitors can ferry to Georges and Spectacle islands via seven round-trip rides a day, to hang out on the beach, have a picnic or hike nature trails. Service starts at 9:30 a.m., with a total of seven different departures throughout the day, 75 minutes apart. The last return trip arrives at Long Wharf in downtown Boston at 5:55 p.m. Boats depart from Boston's Long Wharft North, next to the Long Wharf Marriott, adjacent...

PICK OF THE DAY Younger than springtime The classic Rodgers & Hammerstein musical, "South Pacific," is based on James Michener's "Tales of the South Pacific. " The story won Pulitzers for Rodgers & Hammerstein and Michener, and this production is based on the 2008 Tony-winning Lincoln Center Theater version. 8 p.m. (through May 13). $39-$74. The Hanover Theatre for the Performing Arts, 2 Southbridge St., Worcester. 877-571-7469. www.thehanovertheatre.org FRIDAY Cherish the two ladies The Irish band Cherish...

 To see a whole lot of waterfront — and waterfront attractions — meander along Boston's HarborWalk, which right now includes almost 40 miles of pedestrian- and bike-friendly public access at the water's edge. (Remember, it's not all continuous.)  617-482-1722, bostonharborwalk.com The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway runs from Chinatown to the North End — about a 30-minute walk if you don't stop to play in Rings Fountain or ride the carousel (which, by the way, has an opening party on May 17 from 6 to 8 p.m.)

 To see a whole lot of waterfront — and waterfront attractions — meander along Boston's HarborWalk, which right now includes almost 40 miles of pedestrian- and bike-friendly public access at the water's edge. (Remember, it's not all continuous.)  617-482-1722, bostonharborwalk.com The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway runs from Chinatown to the North End — about a 30-minute walk if you don't stop to play in Rings Fountain or ride the carousel (which, by the way, has an opening party on May 17 from 6 to 8 p.m.)

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com) Daily ferry service to Georges Island and Spectacle Island resumed on May 5. The following is a press release from the Boston Harbor Island Alliance: On Saturday, May 5, daily ferry service from Boston's Long Wharf to the Boston Harbor Islands resumed for the summer season. Visitors can now escape the city any day of the week via a scenic ferry ride to either Spectacle or Georges Islands. The seasonably warm spring will beckon outdoor enthusiasts to pack a picnic, relax on a sandy beach, and enjoy hikes...

RE “GETTING on tourists’ maps’’ (Business, June 1): I can never understand how the people and organizations promoting the use of the Boston Harbor Islands can continue to ignore the main barrier to increased attendance: that the ferries one needs to get there, besides being infrequent, are prohibitively expensive. If the “Boston Harbor Islands are a mere 15-minute boat ride away,’’ then why does that ride cost $14 for adults and $8 for children? The enormous amount of money spent on the new pavilion on the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway would have been...

As the crowd boards the ferry at Boston's Long Wharf, a sense of anticipation mingles with the smells of saltwater and suntan lotion. Young children tote beach towels and sand pails. Their parents carry coolers filled with picnic supplies. A group of hikers haul their backpacks, while an elderly man clutches a pair of binoculars and a birding guide. It's a diverse crowd, to be sure, but in common they are all embarking on an island adventure. Within moments, the ferry is underway, passing anglers casting their lines off the pier at Castle Island and gliding underneath the bellies of jumbo jets landing at Logan...

So it’s not a cruise ship to the tropics. The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands Seafarers’ Island Holiday is still a getaway. Author Stephanie Schorow will be along on the excursion to nearby Spectacle Island to discuss history of the harbor and sign copies of her book “East of Boston: Notes From the Harbor Islands.’’ Wear warm clothing and your hiking boots to explore more than 4 miles of footpaths and 360-degree views. Jan. 2. 11 a.m. departure, 3 p.m. return.

After just one of these Island Sunset Series trips, you might decide to put your furniture in storage, put the house on the market, and become an island dweller. The Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands invite you to tour Grape Island tomorrow, followed by Peddocks Island (July 29), Lovells Island (Aug. 5), and Spectacle Island (Aug. 19). Bring a picnic (no food or beverages available). July 1 6-9 p.m., rain or shine. $22, $20 seniors, $18 for ages 3-12 ($73 4-trip pass, $65 seniors)

On Saturday, the Volunteers and Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands will escort a group out to Rainsford Island, one of the less-visited islands of the harbor national park. “It’s magical out there,’’ said Suzanne Gall Marsh, who founded the Volunteers and Friends of the Boston Harbor Islands 30 years ago. The Hingham-based nonprofit offers guided tours of the Harbor Islands several times a year. She describes Rainsford as “the last frontier’’ because the 11-acre island isn’t accessible by public ferry, has no staff, and is home to...

(Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com) Daily ferry service to Georges Island and Spectacle Island resumed on May 5. The following is a press release from the Boston Harbor Island Alliance: On Saturday, May 5, daily ferry service from Boston's Long Wharf to the Boston Harbor Islands resumed for the summer season. Visitors can now escape the city any day of the week via a scenic ferry ride to either Spectacle or Georges Islands. The seasonably warm spring will beckon outdoor enthusiasts to pack a picnic, relax on a sandy beach, and enjoy hikes...

400,000 + That's how many people took advantage of the Boston Harbor Islands' countless charms last year. Ferries start running again this weekend, and tickets cost $15 for adults. 617-223-8666, bostonharborislands.org May 6 SHOP AND NOSH It's officially spring in the South End: The SoWa Open Market is setting up shop for the season, with arts and crafts, local produce, baked goods, flowers, fashion, food trucks, and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Sunday at the corner of Harrison Avenue and Thayer Street.

By Paul E. Kandarian, Globe Correspondent Daily ferry service from Boston's Long Wharf to the Boston Harbor Islands has resumed for the summer season. For $15 per adult ticket, visitors can ferry to Georges and Spectacle islands via seven round-trip rides a day, to hang out on the beach, have a picnic or hike nature trails. Service starts at 9:30 a.m., with a total of seven different departures throughout the day, 75 minutes apart. The last return trip arrives at Long Wharf in downtown Boston at 5:55 p.m. Boats depart from Boston's Long Wharft North, next to the Long Wharf Marriott, adjacent...

Christopher Klein is the author of the new book, ‘‘Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands. " The islands today are primarily recreational destinations, but they were once used for boxing matches, gambling, opium parties, hospitals, asylums, poorhouses, prisons, immigration stations, and garbage dumps. Klein, who lives in Andover, will be at the Old South Meeting House Wednesday, March 28, at 5:30 p.m. Q. I'm a lifelong Bostonian but felt like a newcomer when I read that there are 34 Boston Harbor Islands.

ABOARD THE VOYAGER III - There was nary a cloud in the sky, and the water was as smooth as glass, shimmering in the bright morning sun. National Park Ranger Hugh Hawthorne scanned the clear horizon as a flock of cormorants glided into the azure. "You really couldn't ask for a better day for a cruise - in January," he said. In an effort to draw visitors to the Boston Harbor Islands, which this time of year mainly appear to be barren, windswept spits of rock covered by bleached shrubs, state and federal officials have teamed up with the owner of a...

KIDS PIONEERING NEW OCEAN SCIENCE FRONTIERS What's new under the sea? Find out at a day devoted to cutting-edge ocean technologies. Scientists and engineers will be on hand with the latest in marine science. Sept. 17, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Free. New Bedford Whaling Museum, 18 Johnny Cake Hill, New Bedford. 508-289-2252, www.oceanobservatories.org SUMMER'S GRAND FINALE We feel sad just writing that. This walk should cheer things up with monarch butterflies, flowering plants, and other natural activity of the season.

400,000 + That's how many people took advantage of the Boston Harbor Islands' countless charms last year. Ferries start running again this weekend, and tickets cost $15 for adults. 617-223-8666, bostonharborislands.org May 6 SHOP AND NOSH It's officially spring in the South End: The SoWa Open Market is setting up shop for the season, with arts and crafts, local produce, baked goods, flowers, fashion, food trucks, and more from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. every Sunday at the corner of Harrison Avenue and Thayer Street.

AN ELDERLY gentleman hurried along the shoreline path of Deer Island on Sunday, pausing just long enough to tell a lolling couple that in just a few minutes the Norwegian Majesty cruise ship would be "so close you can reach out and touch it" as it passes by the southern tip of the peninsula bound for Bermuda. It was a bit of an exaggeration, but a grand view nonetheless. The 1983 guidebook "All About the Boston Harbor Islands" describes Deer Island, then the site of a dilapidated jail and smelly sewage plant, as "not exactly a typical pleasant Sunday excursion.

They're so close to the coast, but can seem so far away. In recent years, however, the Boston Harbor Islands are feeling closer. There's been a big push to entice more visitors out to the islands, and the effort appears to be successful: Last year 150,000 people visited the islands - a roughly 25 percent increase from the previous year, according to Thomas B. Powers, president of the Boston Harbor Island Alliance, the nonprofit organization that...

By Jessica Bartlett, Town Correspondent According to author Christopher Klein, although “Shutter Island” was a fictitious island off the coast of Boston, the 34 real Boston Harbor Islands are even more bizarre. At his book talk tonight at 7 p.m. at the Hingham Public Library, Klein will delve into the history, tales, and terrors of the land not far off the shores of Quincy, Hingham, and Hull, all things he explored while writing and recently revising his book “Discovering the Boston Harbor Islands: A Guide to the City's Hidden...