Ferries from Marina/CMS

Lagos has a lagoon the size of a small sea and traffic that can turn a five-kilometre journey into an hour. The ferries from CMS on the Marina are the alternative — 48 active sailings run by the state operator, LagFerry.

Where the boats go

• Flour Mills — about 5 minutes, 5 sailings.
• Liverpool and Ebute Ero — about 10 minutes, 5 sailings each.
• Ogogoro — about 10 minutes, 3 sailings.
• Sagbokoji — about 25 minutes, 3 sailings.
• Five Cowries / Falomo — about 10 minutes, 2 sailings.
• Badagry — about 2 hours, 1 sailing.

Why the ferries matter here

Lagos Island, Victoria Island and the mainland are connected by three road bridges carrying an extraordinary volume of traffic. The lagoon runs underneath all of it, and a ten-minute crossing regularly beats an hour on the Third Mainland Bridge.

The state has invested in the network for exactly that reason, and the terminals have improved considerably.

⚠ Five sailings is the busiest route here

This is not a turn-up-and-go network. The heaviest leg has 5 departures and Badagry has 1; frequencies shift with demand and with the condition of individual jetties.

Confirm with the operator on the day. A ferry that beats the bridge is only useful if it is running when you need it.

Where CMS is

On the Marina, the waterfront street along the southern edge of Lagos Island, close to the business district and the main bus interchange. It is the most central of the terminals.

Badagry

The two-hour run west is a different kind of journey — along the coastal lagoon toward a historic town that was a major slave-trading port, with several museums recording it.