Rottnest Island (‘Rotto’), or Wadjemup to use its indigenous name, is one of the most beautiful places we visited on our road trip from Perth in Western Australia. Although Rottnest has a very dark history, being a place to which Aboriginal people were banished between 1838 and 1931 when the island acted as a prison and forced labour camp for them, today’s use is very different as a haven for outdoor activities. Cycling around Rottnest Island in search of quokkas is one of the most popular things to do.
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Why is Rottnest Island special?
Rottnest Island is a stunning, protected nature reserve of sweeping sandy beaches and turquoise waters. Without any cars on the island, you can really engage with nature and enjoy the peace and quiet. It is also home to the world’s largest population of quokkas which are thriving in this protected habitat.
Quokkas (‘kwoka’ in Noongar) are small marsupials, closely aligned to wallabies and kangaroos. In fact, these animals helped give the island its name – 17th century Dutch explorers came to the island and considered these animals to be large rats, so calling the island ‘rats nest’ (rottnest in Dutch). Sorry, but quokkas are much cuter than rats!
Where is Rottnest Island?
Rottnest Island is 33 km from Perth, and 19 km from Fremantle. The island is 11 miles long and less than half that wide, but you need to use bicycles or the island’s buses to explore because it is car free.
Ferries to Rottnest Island
There are two companies operating ferries to Rottnest Island – Rottnest Ferries and Sealink Ferries.
You can catch ferries to Rottnest Island from 3 places:
- Hillary’s Boat Harbour, north of Perth (45-minute journey)
- Elizabeth Quay, Perth (1.5-hour journey)
- Shed B, Victoria Quay, Fremantle (25-minute journey)
We prebooked our tickets and caught the SeaLink ferry from Fremantle to Rottnest Island, enjoying a pleasant 25-minute journey listening to Paul Simon’s You Can Call Me Al on the speakers and being offered ice-pops along the way.
Arriving at Rottnest Island
Welcome to Wadjemup Sculpture
When you arrive on Rottnest Island and disembark your ferry, you are met by the Past-Present-Future-Forever monument to the Whadjuk Noongar people, the traditional owners of the island, offering a welcome to the island.
Thompson Bay Settlement
Ferries arrive at Thompson Bay on the east of Rottnest Island, where you will find The Settlement, a collection of buildings including several restaurants, general store, souvenir shops, museum and bike hire outlets. It is a good idea to stock up on provisions in The Settlement before heading off on your journey around the island, as there are limited options elsewhere on the island.
As we had caught a very early ferry, on arrival we headed to Dome for breakfast to make sure that we were set up for our day of cycling around Rottnest Island. Dome was doing brisk business and our avocado and eggs on toast served us well.
Cycle around Rottnest Island or take the bus?
If you plan to cycle around Rottnest Island then you could choose the Island Ride, a 22 km bike ride around the whole of Rottnest Island. The Island Ride takes between 3 to 5 hours, depending on your fitness and how many stops you make. Shorter routes are available!
Bike Rental on Rottnest Island - Pedal and Flipper
If you want to explore Rottnest Island the energetic way, and on your own timetable, then hiring bikes is probably the best option.
The main place for bike rental on Rottnest Island is Pedal and Flipper. We made the mistake of not reserving our bikes beforehand at Pedal and Flipper, which meant that when we arrived, all the electric bikes had gone, and we were left with old-fashioned peddle bikes. I love a peddle bike, however, it soon became apparent on the Island Ride that the full cycling route was going to severely test our level of fitness, so my advice would be to book an electric bike in advance!
Note – You can also reserve bikes when you book the ferry, and pick them up on arrival, however we wanted to hire from somewhere where we could test out the size of the bikes.
Quokka Coaches Island Explorer
If, however, you would prefer to take the bus around the island, there is an excellent service called the Quokka Coaches Island Explorer. You can either stay on for the full loop, or hop-on, hop-off at any of the 19 stops around the island when something catches your eye.
You can buy tickets online before you travel to Rottnest Island or buy them from the Main Bus Stop in The Settlement between 8.00am and 3.00pm every day.
Note – Quokka Coaches also offer tours to the key places on the island where you benefit from commentary along the way. These tours will need prebooking.
If you are looking for a guide on exploring Rottnest without a bike, we’ve got you covered:
Where to find quokkas on Rottnest Island
If you’re wondering where to find quokkas on Rottnest Island, then you’ll be pleased to hear that they pop up all over the island. For some reason I had assumed that they would be shy and hard to find, but on Rottnest Island that certainly wasn’t the case.
We saw quokkas at Parker Point (a Mum and one year old according to the volunteer on site), at the Wadjemup Lighthouse, by the side of the road and even running between the tables of the bar back in The Settlement.
Take the Quokka Selfie Challenge!
Quokkas can look smiley when caught at the right angle which has led to the challenge of capturing a ‘selfie with a quokka’. Even though we found the quokkas to be quite tame, it was harder than it looked to get the right angle for winning quokka selfie photographs.
In terms of where to find quokkas elsewhere in Australia, they inhabit some smaller islands off the coast of Western Australia, such as Bald Island near Albany. There are also small populations in some forest and coastal areas between Perth and Albany. We saw signs for quokkas at the Valley of the Giants Tree Top Walk in Walpole, but sadly had no sightings of the quokkas themselves on that occasion. So if you go to Rottnest Island, make the most of the quokkas there!
Magical views around the island
Cycling around the whole of Rottnest Island on the Island Ride, allowed us to discover the following:
- Endless views of sweeping white beaches, sand dunes and turquoise water – the colours were truly remarkable.
- Picture postcard views at Henrietta Rocks and Little Salmon Bay (amongst others)
- The wild West End with a lookout at Cape Vlamingh and seals at Cathedral Rocks. It was wonderful when we reached the furthest point west and were able to rest our legs whilst admiring the Indian Ocean from this headland.
- Blue trees so painted to raise awareness of mental health issues amongst the indigenous population.
I won’t lie, cycling to the West End on peddle bikes was a challenge for us, but we were motivated on the way back by even more incredible views on the northern coastline of azure blue bays and long white beaches, which were largely empty. When we made it to Geordie Bay and had done most of our cycling for the day, we chucked ourselves in the refreshing water and chilled out after our hot cycle ride.
That just left a short cycle ride back to The Settlement via the Salt Lakes of the interior. We could have stopped at The Basin near The Settlement for safe, protected swimming waters however by this point we were running down the clock until our ferry was due to leave for Fremantle.
Back in The Settlement – mission accomplished – exhausted, we enjoyed a quick beer and bowl of fries, before catching the ferry back to Fremantle as the sun was starting to set.
There is so much more to do…
There is so much more to do on Rottnest Island, such as, walking tours, Segway tours, photography tours, tours with Noongar guides, snorkelling, boat trips, the museum, Bickley Battery and Oliver Hill Gin and Tunnels tour.
Staying on the island would give you time to check out some of these options and also to try out more of the eateries, such as, Geordie’s Café, Frankies on Rotto, The Lane Café, Rottnest Bakery, Lexis on Rotto, Isola Rottnest and Lontara.
Where to stay on Rottnest Island
If you decide to spend than just the day on Rottnest Island, then there are several accommodation options on the island, including: the Stay Rottnest Campground, Stay Rottnest Hostel & Dorms, the Stay Rottnest Self-Contained units (beachfront bungalows, cabins, cottages) or boutique accommodation such as Samphire Rottnest or Discovery Resorts (eco-sustainable resort).
Visiting for a day was good enough for us on our road trip from Perth, and in the middle of the cold, grey British winter, I will be dreaming of the turquoise water and white sand on Rottnest Island, and sending my best wishes to the cute quokkas!
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