Five Great Reasons To Come To Put-in-Bay in May!
The fish are biting, the weather’s getting warmer, businesses are starting to open up. It’s a great time to head to the Bay! May is a great time to save some money on a Put-in-Bay trip. Rates are lower this time of year than in the peak summer months, so you can stretch your dollar a little farther and have an amazing vacation!
If you think you might be interested in heading to the Bay in May, it’ll help to know what’s on the calendar! Read on for a rundown of May’s big events!
Spring Fling at the Island Club: May 1-2
We’re starting May off with a bang! Scheduled for May 1–2, 2026, the Spring Fling returns to Island Club as one of the most anticipated early-season events on South Bass Island. Hosted by Island Club Rentals, this long-running customer appreciation celebration kicks off the start of the PIB season with two days of food, entertainment, and social festivities.
What began over 20 years ago as a casual get-together among friends has grown into a signature Put-in-Bay tradition. Now held at the Island Club Pavilion, Spring Fling continues to deliver a lively atmosphere and marks the unofficial beginning of the island’s busy season.
Blessing of the Fleet: May 12
The fleet of vessels that travel to and from Put-in-Bay are the lifeblood of the island. There’s no way that Put-in-Bay could exist as it does without not just the ferries, but Coast Guard and rescue vessels, fishing charters, and airplanes and medivac choppers that make sure South Bass Island can accommodate hundreds of thousands of visitors every summer.
Every year, including this year on May 12th, clergy from Put-in-Bay’s two churches, Mother of Sorrows and St. Paul’s Episcopal, bless these vessels, and a huge crowd comes out to offer their support for this great island tradition.
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South Bass Island Wide Garage Sale: May 16
It’s not exactly easy to have a garage sale on an island! So to make sure they’ve got enough customers, once a year the island residents turn the whole of Put-in-Bay into a garage sale!
Local businesses get in on the fun as well with discounts downtown. It makes for a great day of shopping and a fun Saturday at the Bay!
Memorial Day Weekend: May 22-25
The first of the three big family travel holidays on the Put-in-Bay calendar, Memorial Day Weekend does act as a sort of unofficial gateway into the full on Put-in-Bay season. Before Memorial Day Weekend, not all businesses have opened up for the year and the crowds are a little lighter, but from this weekend all the way to Labor Day, it’s PIB at full tilt!
Of all the events in this blog, this would be the one that it’s most urgent to start planning now! Lodging does remain at many of our top places to stay, but inventory is being scooped up fast. So if you want to spend a long weekend at the Bay, we recommend booking soon!
2026 putinbayohio.com’s Best Places To Stay!
- Island Club Rentals (islandclub.com) – 216-898-9951
- Commodore Resort (commodoreresort.com) – 419-285-3101
- Bird’s Nest Resort (birdsnestresort.com) – 419-285-6119
- Put-in-Bay Condos (putinbaycondos.com) 216-898-1105
- Victory Station Hotel (putinbayvictorystation.com) 419-285-0120
Put-in-Bay Dog Bowl: May 29-30
We’ve got an introductory event on the Put-in-Bay calendar this year, and we hope it’s the beginning of a new annual island tradition! DockDogs hosts the Put-in-Bay Dog Bowl, a dock diving competition! Registered canine contestants will be competing to see who can jump the farthest off a pier set up at McCann Field, to delighted spectators!
You can’t compete as a walk-up, pre-registration is required, but the event is open to the public and is meant to be a spectator sport with dog lovers making a ton of noise in the crowd, so while this event might not make you plan a trip all by itself, if you’re going to be here, and you love dogs, you should definitely stop by!
Bonus Event: Every Beautiful Spring Day at the Bay!
For a lot of people, May is their favorite time of the entire year, right at the height of spring, and it’s no exception at the Bay, with beautiful breezes, without the potential for really oppressive heat. The rain will get you on occasion but this time of year it’s gone as soon as it arrives. Most of May at the Bay will be warm, sunny and amazing!
Rates are lower than the summer months, and there are no crowds to contend with. A May visit to Put-in-Bay is a great way to start spring off right, so we hope we’ll SEE YOU AT THE BAY in May!