To celebrate turning dirty 30, the Catalina Express company wants to give away free ferry passes to anyone who wants to travel to Catalina on his or her birthday. It'll save you up to almost $72 for a round-trip ticket.

The company, which shuttles passengers year round from ports in Cali to the island, will foot the bill for your round-trip Catalina boat ride. You won't even have to cough up any hidden taxes or fees. The one glitch is that you must travel on your birthday. Though, you can take a ride back within 30 days after your b-day.]]> Jennifer Kester 2011-05-13T11:18:14-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2011/2/10/16330/1456

Anybody want to start a rogue floating casino, or maybe finally give your museum-size collection of McDonalds' Happy Meal toys a home that'll attract tourists? Buy a decommissioned Staten Island Ferry for $500,000 and that'll do the trick! The odd eBay listing hit the interest of the internet today, with only a little over one day left to bid.

According to the listing, it's the former Gov. Herbert H. Lehman boat, originally built in 1965 at a cost of $42 million. Decommissioned in 2007, the orange hulk has been sitting in the Bronx awaiting a buyer...and apparently it's available to be shipped to you! "Use as a Ferry, Floating Attraction, Casino or Private Club," they say! ]]> JetSetCD 2011-02-10T16:03:30-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/11/10/11747/567

This upcoming January 2011, it'll be a whole two years since US Airways Flight 1549 suffered a bird strike just after leaving LaGuardia Airport, which shut down all its engines and forced the plane to land in the Hudson River, with no fatalities. Now better known as "The Miracle on the Hudson," Flight 1549 got the attention of the world, a book deal for its pilot "Sully" Sullenberger, and a vodka party for all the passengers on its first anniversary. But that's not all!

While walking down 6th Avenue in Manhattan the other day, we did a double-take when a NY Waterways bus drove by, and we spotted an advertisement on its side for the "Miracle on the Hudson." What are they selling? Are they actually trying to make some money off this accident? You see, the NY Waterways ferries were the first responders on the scene when the plane dropped in the drink, as they were making their usual rounds Hudson River trips between New Jersey and Manhattan. So now, apparently, the ferry company is trying to take their hero role to the bank. ]]> JetSetCD 2010-11-10T11:35:36-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2010/2/19/14341/1507

If you're planning on taking a trip to Italy and haven't yet experienced the unique event of crossing the Strait of Messina by train, you must add it to your bucket list. We've done it six times, and each time we discover something new between the boot of Italy and the island of Messina. For one, when you take a train, your train is loaded into the belly of a ferry to make the crossing, and you're free to wander the ship and sightsee during those 35 minutes of open water.

Doing this is very easy, can be very cheap, and will yield you some of the best photographs and stories of your trip. That is, unless you sleep through the whole thing, it's that seamless a transportation transition! The video above is filmed from the front of a train car as it goes into the ferry of the "Ferrovie dello Stato"—or Italian railway—and then sits on the tracks inside for the crossing.

The Guide to Taking the Train across the Strait of Messina, after the jump]]> JetSetCD 2010-02-19T16:25:19-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/6/11/72943/3073

Santa Catalina Island, better known simply as Catalina, is close enough to LA to be part of Los Angeles County. The rocky island is just over 25 miles away from the mainland, making it a prime destination for meandering locals and vacationing tourists. In between gorgeous beaches and deluxe hotels, the Island boasts stunning reefs, creepy shipwrecks, and a century-old casino.

The problem, and this is where the "island" part becomes kind of important, is that in between Los Angeles and Catalina is a huge body of water. Turns out, this is one of the few places in LA you can't reach by car, no matter how long you're willing to sit in traffic.

Luckily there are a variety of options for getting to the Island paradise. They begin at very reasonable prices and then quickly get more expensive, albeit significantly more comfortable.]]> Omri 2009-06-11T15:54:27-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/5/29/13218/7677

If Yellowstone and the Grand Tetons have always seemed a little too, er, remote, try Governors Island: The former military base-turned-public park in New York Harbor is back for another season of wild-enough fun with a skyline.

An operational base for the Coast Guard and Army until 1996, the island is now co-managed by the National Park Service and a nonprofit which last year solicited plans for a redesigned isle to suit its profile as "the park at the center of the world." Until that's underway, though, you can enjoy the creepy old army hospitals and footpaths which mark the grounds.

Governors Island opens Saturday and will be open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays through October 5. Catch the free ferry from the Battery Maritime Terminal (at South Street and Whitehall Street) and you can stay all day for free.

Related Stories:
· Governors Island [Official Site]
· National Parks coverage [Jaunted]

[Photo: epicharmus]]]> egw 2008-05-29T13:45:01-05:00 40.701467 -74.012506 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2008/4/9/73346/97518

Exotic Morocco is one of those countries we always want to know more about. Romantic and spicy, remote yet not that difficult to get to and holiday mecca for plenty of European travelers--we want to go.

And now we know the best way to get there: by ferry from Spain. The UK Times tells us you can get there in as fast as half an hour, but to savor the experience more, they recommend taking an older ferry to travel from Algeciras, Spain to Tangier, Morocco. It takes about two and a half hours.

Our tip is to buy a Moroccan beer on board, sit back and relax while Morocco slides into view. You'll skip all the hassles of lost baggage and flight delays that the average budget flight can bring and even if you don't find meaning in Morocco, you'll have a romantic start to your exploration of northern Africa.

Related Stories:
· Take the Ferry from Spain to Morocco [UK Times]
· Find Meaning in Morocco [Jaunted]

[Photo: ferry-site]]]> amandak 2008-04-09T09:00:02-05:00 Search Jaunted string http://www.jaunted.com/search/