After completing the main quest of revitalizing the town in Stardew Valley, you can discover a broken-down old boat in the back of Willy’s fishing shop. This ship used to be a ferry to the nearby Ginger Island. If you get the boat back up and running, you can go there whenever you want.
How to fix the Ginger Island ferry
After completing either the community center bundles or the Joja Mart town improvements, head to Willy’s shop. Once inside, go behind the counter and go through the door at the back of the shop. This will start a cutscene where Willy explains that the ship used to take people to nearby islands, but it needs some repairs before it can run again.
To repair the ship you need 200 hardwood, 5 iridium bars, and 5 battery packs. Hardwood can be found in the Secret Woods, where 12 pieces spawn every day. Iridium bars can be made from iridium ore and battery packs can be made using lightning rods to collect electricity during storms. After providing the materials, a cutscene will play the next night showing Robin and Willy fixing the ship. After that, you can spend 1,000G to go to Ginger Island.
What to do on Ginger Island
Once you make it to Ginger Island, you want to head to the eastern part of the island through the jungle. There you can find Leo, who won’t speak to you unless you become friends with the parrots. The parrots can be given Golden Walnuts to unlock new areas or repair broken structures. Golden Walnuts can be found around the island, sometimes buried, in trees, or dropped by enemies.
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To befriend Leo, you must go to the Volcano Dungeon and reach the top. There are 10 floors and at the top is the forge, which you can use to enchant weapons and tools. Once you reach the top, you can head back to Leo to befriend him and gain access to more parrots around the island. You can repair the resort, a bridge to a dig site, and more, but the first thing you should repair is the island farm, which can be found in the western part of the island. Once the island farm is restored, even more parrots are unlocked around Ginger Island.
There are many places to explore and unlock on Ginger Island, but once you befriend Leo and repair the island farm, you can explore and repair the island in whatever order you prefer. All unlocks and repairs are done using Golden Walnuts, so watch for them while you explore.