Rottnest Island This Summer: Pinky Beach Music Sessions, The Mezz and Quokka Tips

Ferries from Fremantle and Hillarys

Rottnest Express sails from Fremantle's B-Shed and Northport, and it is the sensible default. If you're sleeping on the island the return is $94.50 from Fremantle and $142.50 from Perth, as overnight visitors pay a higher admission fee. Add a bike to the same booking and it's waiting at the jetty when you step off, from $39 a day with a helmet.

Rottnest Fast Ferries leaves from Hillarys Boat Harbour at 56 Southside Drive, north of the city, and the crossing takes about 45 minutes. An adult return is $95, a child aged 4 to 12 is $57, and overnight visitors pay $102. If you're staying up around Scarborough or Joondalup, it saves you the run down to Fremantle. From central Perth or Fremantle it wastes a morning.

Rottnest Air Taxi does it in 12 minutes from Jandakot Airport, with returns from $133 and one-way flights from $99. You see the salt lakes and the reef pattern on the way in. Summer sea breezes knock a light aircraft around, so leave this one alone if you fly badly.

Bikes, the bus and rickshaws

The island is car-free, so a bike is the real transport. The sealed loop runs about 22 km and is mostly flat, which is 1.5 to 2 hours of riding before you stop anywhere. Pedal & Flipper hires push bikes, e-bikes, snorkel sets and paddleboards from Bedford Avenue, just behind the pub, and opens 8:30am to 5pm. Book online before you sail, because the island runs out in summer. For an e-bike you must be 18 and leave a $200 deposit, refunded when you bring it back.

Shade on the ring road is thin. On a 38°C day take the Island Explorer bus instead. A day pass is $35 for an adult and $25 for a child. It loops the island all day, calling at Wadjemup Lighthouse, Geordie Bay, City of York Bay and the West End. Buy it at the island ticket booth when you land, as you can't buy online on the day you travel. There's no commentary, bikes aren't allowed on board, and at busy stops in January you may be left waiting for the next one.

Rotto Rickshaws reopened on 1 November and runs 90-minute guided tours at 9:45am and midday from its hub beside Dôme Café in Thomson Bay. The canopied electric rickshaw takes you along Pinky Beach, Geordie Bay, Fay's Bay and Parakeet Bay, past the salt lakes, with a live guide. It's $91 to $106 a person, depending on the date. This is the easiest way to reach the quokkas and the northern bays with no pedalling, and children from three can ride with a parent. Walk-ups are taken if there's space.

Pinky Beach and the pub

Pinky's Rottnest Island sits behind the dunes at Pinky Beach on the ocean side of the Discovery resort, looking across to Bathurst Lighthouse. It's open year round and anyone can eat there, not only people staying. Buffet breakfast runs 7:30am to 10am, all-day food 11am to 8pm, and the dinner menu from 5pm to 8pm. The Sunset Deck outside, a food-truck setup, runs October to March.

Staying there means a canvas tent with a private ensuite, a pillow-top bed and a ceiling fan, about a 1 km walk from the pier through the township. There's no air conditioning, which is hard work on a 40°C January night. You can't bring your own alcohol in, and the resort goes quiet at 10pm.

For music, the island has one pub. Hotel Rottnest stands on the sand at Thomson Bay and puts on DJs most weekends through summer, plus other live entertainment and sport on the screens. The bar opens at 11am and the kitchen runs 11:30am to 8:30pm. There are no table bookings, so on a hot Saturday you take your chances with everyone else coming off the bikes. Public holidays add a 15% surcharge.

Swimming at The Basin

The Basin is a short signposted walk or ride out of the settlement past the tennis courts, and you can only get there on foot or by bike. The beach is narrow, the water is shallow and calm, and there are small rock pools for children, picnic shelters and toilets. There's no kiosk, so carry water and food. It's the busiest beach on the island on a hot day.

If you came for fish, the marked snorkel trails at Parker Point and Little Salmon Bay on the south coast are quieter. Underwater plaques with handles tell you what you're looking at as you follow the trail. Swimming costs nothing beyond the admission fee, $21.50 for an adult day visitor and $11 for a child, and snorkel and flipper hire starts at $22 a set.

The guns and Wadjemup

The Captain Hussey train climbs from the settlement up to Oliver Hill Guns & Tunnels, with tours daily at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm and 1:30pm. Tickets are $40 for an adult and $20 for a child, and ferry travel isn't included. A guide walks you through the Second World War gun emplacement and the tunnel system beneath it. The tour takes about 45 minutes. There's roughly 700 metres of walking and a long flight of uneven steps. Skip it if stairs or confined spaces are a problem.

Wadjemup Lighthouse stands alone on the ridge in the middle of the island, and the guided climb gives you both coastlines at once. It's $15 for an adult and $7 for a child, and the last tour leaves at 2:30pm. Buy a ticket at the Visitor Centre or at the lighthouse itself. Children must be at least five, and under-12s need an adult with them.

Wadjemup is the island's Noongar name, and the place was used as an Aboriginal prison. Go Cultural Aboriginal Tours & Experiences tells that history with Whadjuk Noongar Traditional Owner Walter McGuire, who was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in February 2026. You meet at the Visitor Centre at the end of the main jetty, and the walk opens with a sand ceremony, then Dreamtime story, Noongar language and song. The one-hour version is $80 to $90 a person and the two-hour one is from $150, adults only, with a smoking ceremony. Book ahead, as the short walk needs ten people to run.

Dinner in the settlement

Frankie's on Rotto is in the Thomson Bay settlement mall under the Moreton Bay figs, with a playground directly opposite. The kitchen does hand-stretched sourdough pizza, pasta and salads, 11:30am to 8pm daily, with breakfast from 8am in summer. They'll deliver to island accommodation if you'd rather eat at your place.

Samphire Rottnest at 1 Bedford Ave has the best run of bars. Four of its venues take non-guests. Lontara does South-East Asian food and Isola Bar e Cibo does Italian pasta and seafood. The Bayside Bar pours cocktails over Thomson Bay from noon to 9pm, and the Poolside Bar runs from noon until sunset. Walk-ins go on a waitlist with no promise of a table, so reserve. The Samphire Club and The Beach Club are for in-house guests only, so day visitors can't get in.

Lobster pots off Thomson Bay

The Luxe Island Seafood Cruise is four hours on the Crusader III from $379 a person. You pull the lobster pots, the catch goes into a seven-course seafood banquet, and the boat anchors so you can swim off it on float mats. It runs October to April and takes guests aged 18 and over. Dietary requests need 72 hours' notice, and severe food allergies can't be catered for.

Before you go

Book your bikes before you sail, and book the Wadjemup walk well ahead, as it needs ten people to go. The rickshaw tours, the Sunset Deck and the seafood cruise only run through the warm months. Your ferry fare doesn't cover the bus, the train or any tour.

See the Perth guide and the Perth hotel search.