Not in high season. From 15 May to 15 September and at Easter you need a Xunta permit before buying your ticket. Outside those dates you have no paperwork to do: the ferry operator arranges it, because visits are guided-group only.
Nothing. It is a free administrative permit requested on the Xunta website. The only thing you pay for is the boat ticket.
Because what sells out is the National Park visitor quota, not the boat seats. In summer the cap is 1,600 to 1,800 people a day for the whole archipelago. If the Xunta calendar shows that day as full, no operator can sell you a valid ticket.
Up to 90 days before, with a maximum of 10 places per application. Once you have the provisional code you have just 2 hours to buy the ferry ticket before it expires.
With tickets sold online: Vigo, Cangas do Morrazo, Baiona, Moaña, Sanxenxo and Portonovo. The National Park lists Vigo, Cangas and Baiona as the usual bases — the ones on the ría de Vigo itself.
About 40 minutes from Vigo and from Cangas. From the ría de Pontevedra ports (Sanxenxo, Portonovo) it is longer, which is why those tickets cost more.
No. There is no vehicle transport and no roads on the islands: you arrive by passenger boat and walk once there.
No. Pets are not allowed on the boat to the islands.
Yes, only at the campsite on Faro island. And there is an important detail: campers fall within a separate reserved allocation, so their trip is guaranteed even when the day-visitor quota is full.
Yes. Boats run almost all year, but from 1 October to 14 May you can only visit in an official guided group, and the ticket already includes a one-hour guided visit.
The ferry docks at Monteagudo, joined to Faro island by Rodas beach. The third island, San Martiño, is not accessible on the regular ticket.
Yes. There is a restaurant right by the landing point and a café a little further, plus the campsite restaurant, Bar Serafín, Bar Begoña and Restaurante Rodas. Several reviews agree prices are steep: many people bring their own food.
The Xunta permit can be cancelled up to 15 days before the visit. A ferry ticket bought through Civitatis cancels free up to 14 days before. If you cancel, mind both deadlines.
Not necessarily: your phone is fine. In summer it is emailed to you and you carry it; the rest of the year the guide does. And remember to stop at the operator's desk before boarding to collect your ticket.
Still stuck on the big one? It is all on the permit page: that is the step everything else depends on.
THE PERMIT, STEP BY STEP →Answers based on the official Xunta de Galicia and National Park websites, the campsite site and the booking conditions, all checked on 14 August 2026.