Rottnest Island Tours

A Rottnest Island tour is a day trip from Perth: a ferry of 30 to 90 minutes from Fremantle, Hillarys or the city, then a bike, a bus tour or a guided ride around an island 11 km long where no private cars are allowed. The tour this page puts first is the most reviewed of the 39 Rottnest products we compared on GetYourGuide: Rottnest Fast Ferries’ Rottnest Island Full-Day Bike and Ferry Trip, with the 45-minute crossing from Hillarys Boat Harbour, an all-day bike, helmet and lock, and the island admission fee. It is from US$87 a person (checked October 2026) and rated 4.7 out of 5 from 2,992 reviews, and GetYourGuide’s own counter showed it booked 15 times on 22 October 2026.

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What the day looks like

The listing sets the timetable. You arrive at Hillarys Boat Harbour, north of Perth, 45 minutes before boarding to collect your tickets and bike from the operator’s office, cross in 45 minutes on a fast ferry, and have the day on the island. You ride wherever you like: the swimming bays along the north shore, Wadjemup Lighthouse in the middle of the island, or out to the West End, then catch the 4:30 pm ferry back to Hillarys, which arrives at 5:15 pm. A snorkel set can be added when you check out, and the operator offers courtesy pickup from selected Perth and Scarborough hotels on request.

Recent guests describe exactly that kind of day. One this October called it “so much fun to explore this wonderful island by bike” and singled out Pinky Beach for swimming; another, picked up in downtown Perth, said the pickup was a few blocks from the hotel and right on time. One guest found the rear brake on their bike did not work, so test yours before you leave the jetty.

Five other ways to do it

By bus, with commentary: SeaLink’s Rottnest Island Ferry and Bus Tour leaves from Perth or Fremantle and includes a 90-minute air-conditioned bus tour with a live commentary, with 1,548 reviews; the Rottnest Island bus tour page covers it. By bike from Fremantle: Rottnest Express’ Ferry and Bike Day Tour does the same day as the tour above from Fremantle. Just the ferry: SeaLink’s Ferry and Admission Ticket from Fremantle, the cheapest way across with the admission fee included. Fully guided, with lunch: Rottnest Fast Ferries’ Grand Island Day Tour, three and a half hours by historic train and bus with the Oliver Hill tunnels and a picnic lunch. Something different: Segway Tours WA’s Fortress Adventure Segway tour, or Skydive Geronimo’s tandem skydive with a landing on the beach.

Pick the Rottnest day that fits:

Prices and review counts as listed on GetYourGuide in October 2026, not a quote.

Where the tours go

Every ferry lands at the Main Jetty in Thomson Bay, beside the settlement of shops, cafes and the old limestone buildings. The swimming beaches most people head for are on the north shore within a few kilometres: Pinky Beach, The Basin, Geordie Bay, Parakeet Bay and Little Armstrong Bay. Wadjemup Lighthouse stands near the middle of the island, on its highest point, and the Oliver Hill gun battery and tunnels are just east of it. The south coast has the two marked snorkel trails at Parker Point and Little Salmon Bay, and the far West End has Cape Vlamingh and the fur seals at Cathedral Rocks. The full loop of the island is 22 km, which the Rottnest Island Authority puts at three to five hours by bike; the one-day plan splits it up.

Fremantle, Hillarys or Perth

The three ports set the length of your day. Fremantle is the closest, about 30 minutes across; Hillarys Boat Harbour, in Perth’s northern suburbs, is about 45 minutes; and Barrack Street Jetty in the city centre is about 90 minutes, because the boat goes down the Swan River and out past Fremantle first. Those are the crossing times the operators give on their listings. The bike and ferry day above leaves from Hillarys, and the ferry guide compares every port and ticket.

What the price includes

Every visitor to Rottnest pays an admission fee, set by the Rottnest Island Authority: A$21.50 for an adult day visit and A$11 for a child aged 4 to 16, valid from 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027. If you arrive by ferry, it is included in your fare, and every ferry package on this page lists it, apart from Rottnest Express’ plain return tickets, whose listings do not mention it. The bike tours add a bike, helmet and lock; the bus tours add the tour; the grand island tours add a lunch. Food on the island is not included in any of them. The price guide puts every option side by side, from US$61 a person for a ferry ticket to US$350 a person for the skydive (checked October 2026).

The quokkas

You will see them: the small, round-faced marsupials are around the settlement and under the shade of the trees all over the island. The Rottnest Island Authority’s rule is simple. You may look and take photos, but touching, petting and feeding them is not allowed. The quokka guide covers where to find them and why the island is named after them.

When to go

The tours run all year, and the interest does too: searches for Rottnest Island tours from inside Australia stay high in every month and peak from October to February. Spring and early summer bring the warm, long days for cycling; from August to December humpback whales pass offshore on their migration, and the fur seals at the West End are most active in the summer breeding season. On a very hot day, think about a bus tour instead of a bike: one guest who chose the bus on a 39-degree day in December called it “an airconditioned dream”.

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