Rottnest Island is car free, which makes it one of the best places in Australia to ride a bike. It is also 22km around with more hills than the photographs suggest, and the Western Australian sun does not care how keen you were at the ferry terminal.
We have now done Rottnest both ways, on bikes as a family and on the bus with a camera bag, and the honest answer is that both work. This guide covers the cycling version: where to hire, what to book ahead, what the Island Ride is actually like, and how to decide whether it suits your group at all.
Most people hire a bike on Rottnest and for most people that is the right call. The Island Ride is 22km with real hills and takes three to five hours depending on fitness and stops. Book an electric bike in advance rather than turning up and hoping. If you would rather not cycle, the island bus works perfectly well.
This is the question worth answering before you book anything, and the answer is not automatically yes.
Rottnest is roughly 19 square kilometres of undulating limestone tracks. Fit cyclists loop it in a few hours. Midday sun and steep inclines turn the same loop into a proper workout, and there is nowhere to hide from either.
You are reasonably fit: Three to five hours of riding with hills, in heat, is more than a gentle potter.
You want the West End: The far western tip and the quieter northern bays are where cycling pays off. The bus reaches them, but on a bike you can stop where you like.
You like setting your own pace: A No timetable, no waiting at stops, no commentary.
You are travelling as a group who all ride: It is a lovely thing to do together.
You are reasonably fit: Three to five hours of riding with hills, in heat, is more than a gentle potter.
You are travelling solo with gear: Navigating, parking and managing everything alone on a bike is more hassle than it sounds.
You are carrying a camera: Balancing a heavy camera bag while cycling 22km in 30 degree heat is a recipe for exhaustion. This is the reason one half of this blog did the island by bus.
You are heat sensitive, or visiting in high summer: Those small hills feel like mountains at noon in January.
You want to slow down and look: Rottnest is a place of layers. On a bike you trade the chance to actually see things, from the movement of wild quokkas to the quiet history of Wadjemup, for the wind rush of the ride.
You are with small children, or anyone who would find 22km hard: There are shorter routes, but the full loop is not a family default.
If you are fit and it is not the middle of summer, cycle. If any of the second list applies, take the bus and do not feel you have missed out. Our full write-up of the bus and walking version is in the Rottnest Island day trip guide.
The main bike hire outlet on the island is Pedal and Flipper, in The Settlement at Thomson Bay, a short walk from where the ferry lands.
We did not reserve bikes beforehand, and by the time we arrived every electric bike had gone. We were left with old-fashioned pedal bikes. I like a pedal bike, but it became apparent very quickly on the Island Ride that the full route was going to test our fitness in ways we had not signed up for. Book an electric bike in advance.
The best way to book a bike for Rottnest, is to book it in advance. However, if you are wanting to do it on the day – you have two options, you can either do it on the ferry, or you can book on the island:
Reserve when you book the ferry: Bikes are waiting for you on arrival, and this is how you guarantee an electric one. It is the safer choice in peak season.
Hire from Pedal and Flipper on the day: You can test the size of the bikes before committing, which is why we did it this way. It works if you are travelling in the quiet season or you are relaxed about ending up on a pedal bike.
If you want the whole day bundled, there are ferry and bike packages that combine the crossing with your hire, which removes the decision entirely.
If you get to the island and think better of it, the Quokka Coaches Island Explorer is the island’s hop-on, hop-off public bus with 19 stops. You can buy tickets online before travelling or at the main bus stop in The Settlement between 8am and 3pm. Quokka Coaches also run guided tours with commentary, which need prebooking.
You are not allowed to have bikes on the Quokka Coaches Island Explorer buses. Luckily, if you hire from Pedal & Flipper, they offer a Bike & Bus package. Meaning you can ride as far as you like, leave your bike on the racks at the bus stop, and then get the coaches back to the main settlement.
The Island Ride is the 22km loop around the whole of Rottnest. It takes between three and five hours depending on your fitness and how many times you stop, and shorter routes are available if the full loop looks like too much.
I will not pretend it was easy. Cycling out to the West End on pedal bikes was a challenge for us, and there is a stretch where the hills come one after another with no shade.
What kept us going was that the views got better the further we went. On the way back along the northern coastline we had azure bays and long white beaches, largely empty, one after another.
Between the ride itself, the stops and lunch, the loop will use most of your day. We ran the clock down towards the end and had to skip The Basin, which is the best swimming spot on the island, because the ferry was leaving.
Doing the full Island Ride means you see parts of Rottnest that most day trippers do not:
Endless white beaches, dunes and turquoise water: The colours are the thing. Photographs do not do them justice.
The wild West End: A lookout at Cape Vlamingh and seals at Cathedral Rocks. Reaching the furthest point west, resting your legs and looking out at the Indian Ocean is the moment the ride earns itself.
Geordie Bay: Where we threw ourselves into the water after the hard part was done. If you time your ride so you arrive here hot, it is the best swim of the day.
The blue trees: Painted blue to raise awareness of mental health issues among the Aboriginal population.
Henrietta Rocks and Little Salmon Bay: Picture postcard, and good snorkelling if you have brought a mask.
The Salt Lakes: On the short ride back to The Settlement through the interior. They turn vivid pink in February because of the salinity.
They turn up all over the island, not just in The Settlement. We saw them at Parker Point, at the Wadjemup Lighthouse, at the side of the road, and later running between the tables of the bar back at Thomson Bay.
One thing worth knowing if you are stopping to photograph them – quokkas that live around the settlement often live only three to four years, because they have become dependent on scraps and human food, which causes real health problems. The ones further out live considerably longer on their natural diet. Feeding them is illegal. Riding out to the quieter stops is better for you and better for them, and we have written more about that in the day trip guide.
Things we either did or wished we had:
Start early: The ferry timings matter. From Fremantle the crossing is 25 to 35 minutes, from Perth CBD it is around 1.5 hours, so leaving from Fremantle buys you most of an extra hour on the island.
Stock up in The Settlement first: There is a General Store on Somerville Drive next to the Rottnest Bakery. Buy more water than you think you need and something with electrolytes in it. There are very few options once you are out on the loop.
Take a snorkelling mask: Little Salmon Bay and The Basin are both worth it. You may be able to buy some in the general store within the settlement, but back your own just to be safe.
Watch the clock: Plan backwards from the ferry rather than forwards from the settlement.
Sunscreen, a hat and something for your neck: There is very little shade on the western half.
Have a bailout plan: The Island Explorer bus passes 19 stops. Nobody has to finish the loop.
Back in The Settlement, mission accomplished and thoroughly exhausted, we had a quick beer and a bowl of chips before catching the ferry back to Fremantle as the sun was starting to go down. Whichever way you get around Rottnest, that is a good way to end the day.
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