Hamptons resorts offer free boat rides connecting Baron’s Cove and The Pridwin

Look what’s making a splash on the hyper-competitive Hamptons summer scene: a free boat ride for guests between two resorts owned by Curtis Bashaw’s Cape Resorts.

In what appears to be a first-ever East End amenity, the little Scout XSF 215 transports guests from Sag Harbor’s Baron’s Cove to Shelter Island’s recently re-opened and redesigned Pridwin — and back.

The scenic, 40-minute ride “will enable guests to easily enjoy both Baron’s and Pridwin” without the hassle of the car ferry, which docks far from Baron’s in Sag Harbor, he said.

Bashaw reopened 1920s-era Pridwin on Peconic Bay’s Crescent Beach in 2021 in partnership with the local Petry family, which operated it since 1961.

After a two-year closure and $28 million redevelopment that started in 2019, it now boasts 49 rooms and private cottages.

Bashaw earlier rescued larger, 1960-vintage Baron’s Cove, on Sag Harbor’s picturesque marina, from motel oblivion when he took it over in 2013 and re-launched it in an expanded, more sophisticated form in 2015.

Since then, “Baron’s settled into the Sag Harbor rhythm,” Bashaw said. “The new pattern is for people to have longer stays than before.”

He had no intention for Pridwin to compete with flashy (and noisy) Sunset Beach down the road. “We didn’t try to be overly fancy or showy,” he said. “It’s low-key but very busy.”