300px|thumb|right|Brigantia heading down St. Augustine's Reach towards the City Centre landing stage
Bristol Ferry Boats is a brand of water bus services operating around Bristol Harbour in the centre of the English city of Bristol, using a fleet of distinctive yellow-and-blue painted ferry boats. The services were formerly owned by the Bristol Ferry Boat Company, but are now the responsibility of Bristol Community Ferry Boats, a community interest company that acquired the fleet of the previous company.
The company operates scheduled ferry services, along with educational and public boat cruises and private hire of boats. Scheduled services operate on two routes linking Bristol city centre to Temple Meads railway station and Hotwells, serving 17 landing stages throughout the length of the harbour, including one at Brunel's famous SS Great Britain. Services are provided on a commercial basis without subsidy and are subject to competition.
In 1992, the company acquired Emily, their first enclosed launch. In 1997 this was joined by Matilda, another enclosed launch and the first vessel purpose built for Bristol Ferry Boats.
Scheduled services
thumb|right|Matilda alongside the City Centre landing stage at the head of St. Augustine's Reach
Bristol Ferry Boats operate 364 days a year, with a single through route linking Temple Meads railway station and Hotwells via Bristol city centre. Services operate every 40 minutes. The following landing stages are served:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! #
! Landing stage
! class="unsortable" | For
|--
|1 || City Centre || The Centre, Watershed Arts Centre, Bristol Cathedral, College Green and City Hall
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|2 || Cannons Marsh || Millennium Square and At-Bristol
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|3 || Harbour Inlet
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|4 || Mardyke ||
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|5 || Hotwells-Pumphouse || Hotwells and Clifton Suspension Bridge (20 mins uphill walk)
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|6 || Hotwells-The Nova Scotia || Cumberland Basin and Underfall Yard
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|7 || Hotwells-The Cottage ||
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|8 || Marina || Bristol Marina
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|9 || Great Britain || Preserved Brunel steamship Great Britain
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|10 || Wapping Wharf ||
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|11 || Prince Street Bridge || Arnolfini Art Gallery, Queen Square, M Shed and Bristol Harbour Railway
|--
|12 || Bathurst Basin || Bathurst Basin
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|13 || Welsh Back || Welsh Back, Bristol Bridge, Llandoger Trow and St Nicholas Market
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|14 || Redcliffe Back ||
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|15 || Castle Park || Castle Park and Broadmead shopping district (with Cabot Circus and Galleries malls)
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|16 || Temple Bridge || Cheese Lane Shot Tower
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|17 || Temple Quay || Bristol Temple Meads railway station
|--
|}
Fleet
The fleet of the Bristol Ferry Boats comprises the following vessels:
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! width="100" | Name
! width="50" | Built
! width="50" | Acquired
! width="50" | Passenger Capacity
! class="unsortable" | Notes
! class="unsortable" | Image
|--
| Brigantia || 2006 || 2006 || 48 || Steel-hulled enclosed launch. Purpose-built for Bristol Ferry, based on the design for Matilda but equipped with a retractable wheelhouse and a wheelchair lift. || 200px
|--
| Emily || 1927 || 1992 || 48 || Wooden-hulled launch, with a length of and a beam of . Built by M W Blackmore of Bideford, and previously used at Scarborough and in Gloucester Docks. Originally fully enclosed, a refit in 2022-3 saw part of the roof removed, so as to provide a mixture of open and enclosed seating, and give her the air of a Venice water taxi. || 200px
|--
| Independence || 1927 || 1980 || 46 || Wooden-hulled open launch, with a length of and a beam of . Built to operate in the shallow waters of the Severn and Wye, she also ran for a time on the Erewash Canal. || 200px
|--
| Juno || 1990 || 2024 || 48 || Wooden‑hulled launch, with a length of , a beam of , a canopy over the stern section, wheelhouse for the skipper, and open bow. Built in 1990 for service at Whitby as the Oban Marina Ferry, later operated on the River Tees by RiverShack; donated to Bristol Ferry Boats in 2024 and refurbished for service in 2025.|| 200px
|--
| Margaret || 1952 || 1977 || 28 || Wooden-hulled open launch. Built, by Hinks of Appledore, for service in Lynmouth replacing a vessel wrecked in the flood of 1952, and later used as a ferry across the Avon between Shirehampton and Pill. Rendered redundant by the opening of the Avonmouth Bridge, she moved to the floating harbour in 1977 and became the first of the yellow and blue harbour ferries. She was re-engined in 2005 and given a new keel in 2008. || 200px
|--
| Matilda || 1997 || 1997 || 48 || Steel-hulled enclosed launch, with a length of and a beam of . Purpose-built by and for Bristol Ferry at Underfall Yard. || 200px
|--
|}
The Matilda and Brigantia are licensed to operate on the tidal Avon downstream from Bristol through the Avon Gorge to Avonmouth, as well as throughout the floating harbour and on the upstream Avon to Pulteney Weir in the city of Bath. The other vessels are restricted to operating in the floating harbour and upstream Avon between Cumberland Basin and Pulteney Weir.