Bruny Island Ferry: Fares, Timetable And Booking

Every vehicle that reaches Bruny Island arrives the same way: on the ferry from Kettering, across the D'Entrecasteaux Channel to Roberts Point. The service is run by Island Connections (formerly SeaLink), sails 365 days a year, departs every 20 minutes through the day, and takes 20 minutes door to door, or ramp to ramp. That frequency surprises first-time visitors, who often expect a distant, book-ahead service. In practice it works more like a toll crossing with a boat attached. This guide sets out the current fares, the timetable, how ticketing and the queueing system actually work, and the honest arithmetic of driving yourself versus taking a tour that includes the ferry fare in its price. Before you commit to the crossing, you may want to check whether the ferry has toilets you can use during the sailing, since the operator's own pages are surprisingly quiet on the subject.

How Much Does The Bruny Island Ferry Cost?

A return fare for a visitor vehicle under 6 metres costs A$50.90 Saver, or A$58.60 Regular from 28 September to 30 November and A$67.30 Regular from 1 December to April, when peak pricing applies to Regular tickets only. Every passenger, including the driver, travels free with a vehicle. Motorcycles and bicycles pay A$8.10 return.

The price structure is simpler than it first looks. There are two ticket options for vehicles, Regular and Saver, and the only difference between them is flexibility on when you sail. Peak pricing, which adds roughly A$8.70 to a Regular under-6 m vehicle, applies only from the start of December through April, the island's busiest stretch. Buy a Saver ticket outside that window and it is A$50.90 either way.

Two things about that table catch people out. First, the passenger line: everyone in the car crosses free, so a family of four in one vehicle pays one vehicle fare for the whole return trip, not four fares. Second, the 6 to 10 m row: if you are hiring a camper van, check its length before you assume the A$58.60 figure applies, because the longer-vehicle fare is nearly double.

The fares above took effect with the summer timetable 2026/27, which commenced 28 September 2026. The operator's fares page at Island Connections is where any mid-season change would appear.

A concession row exists as well: a visitor concession vehicle under 6 m pays A$43.20 outside the peak window and A$49.60 inside it, with a Saver concession rate of A$37.50. Eligibility follows the operator's own rules on its fares page, so check there rather than assuming a card type qualifies.

What Is The Bruny Island Ferry Timetable?

The ferry departs Kettering every 20 minutes between 6.10 am and 7.00 pm, and the crossing itself takes 20 minutes. The service runs 365 days a year, including Christmas Day and public holidays. The summer timetable 2026/27 is in force from 28 September 2026, and sailings run to the same pattern on both sides of the channel.

Frequency is the headline. A departure every 20 minutes means that in normal conditions you are never waiting long, even if you miss the boat you were aiming for. The first departure from Kettering is at 6.10 am and the last is at 7.00 pm, which matters at the end of a day trip: miss the final sailing and you are staying the night. Plan the return leg with an hour of buffer in summer, when the queue back can stretch late in the afternoon.

The timetable is not a reservation system. Boats load in queue order, and the schedule tells you how often a sailing happens, not which one you will be on. That distinction drives everything in the booking section below.

One practical note for the crossing itself: it is short, exposed to the wind, and mostly spent either in your car or on the passenger deck watching the channel. There is not much to it, which is exactly the point. Readers wondering about facilities on board can find the details in our piece on whether there are toilets on the ferry (see Ferry Toilets).

Do You Need To Book The Ferry In Advance?

No booking is required and none is really possible in the normal sense. The ferry operates on a queueing system: pre-purchased tickets are valid for the next available ferry, not for a specific departure time. You can buy online before you arrive or pay at the Kettering terminal booth, and every ticket is an open return valid for 365 days from purchase.

This is the single most misunderstood part of the crossing. People search for "book the 10 am ferry" and there is no such product. What pre-purchasing gets you is time saved at the booth, not a reserved slot on a particular sailing. When you reach the front of the vehicle queue, you board the next boat that has space. In peak periods, especially the December to January school holidays, that can mean waiting for a second or third departure, because the queue, not the timetable, allocates capacity.

So the honest answer to "should I pre-book" is: pre-purchase online if you like, it costs nothing extra and skips the booth, but do not expect it to guarantee a sailing. Arriving early in the morning is a far better peak-season strategy than any ticket type. Our longer treatment of the question sits in the guide to whether you need to pre-book the ferry to Bruny Island.

Driving Yourself Versus A Tour That Includes The Ferry

Driving yourself costs A$50.90 to A$67.30 return for a vehicle under 6 m, plus fuel, plus a parks pass of A$49.15 per vehicle for a day if you enter South Bruny National Park. A guided day tour from Hobart prices the crossing, the driver and the commentary into one ticket, from A$180 per person on the roster, with no queueing and no navigation for you to manage.

The arithmetic depends on party size. Four adults in one car pay roughly A$13 to A$17 each for the ferry, which no tour can beat on transport alone. But the tour ticket is not just transport: the Pennicott Gourmet Tasting Day includes the crossing, a coach, tastings of fudge, honey, mead, cheese and ale, and a beachside lunch, from A$290 per person with a 4.8 rating from 581 reviews. A couple comparing that against self-drive needs to price the same lunch, the same tastings and the same fuel to see where the numbers land.

Solo travellers and cautious drivers usually find the tour wins outright. The island's roads are narrow, fuel is available only at Adventure Bay General Store, and there is no ATM anywhere on the island, facts that the Parks and Wildlife Service South Bruny National Park page states plainly. Handing the wheel to a professional removes all three problems at once.

The two cheaper tour tiers deserve a closer look, because they close the gap with self-drive fastest. The Tassie Tours Budget Day, from A$180 per person with a 4.7 rating from 938 reviews, includes hotel pickup in the Hobart CBD, the round-trip ferry, live commentary and the National Parks Pass, with only food and drinks left to buy. A guest named jodie reviewing it wrote: "The tour guide,Skye was amazing.She was polite,clear instructions, informative and accommodating. The tour went very smoothly from picked up to delivery back." The Safaris Lighthouse And Lunch Day, from A$280 per person with a 4.8 rating from 1003 reviews, adds oysters at Get Shucked, a one-course lunch at Hotel Bruny and a guided tour inside Cape Bruny Lighthouse, for up to 20 guests. Against a self-drive day that pays the ferry, the parks pass, lunch and the A$25 lighthouse climb separately, the bundled numbers are closer than the sticker prices suggest. To see how those bundled prices stack up against a full self-drive budget, the complete Bruny Island cost breakdown runs through every line item.

One more line worth reading before you decide. A guest named Melissa, reviewing the gourmet day tour, wrote: "What an amazing day from pick up and drop off to our motel. All experiences were fantastic. Zoe was extremely knowledgeable and made the day fun! Highly recommended!" That is the thing a ferry ticket cannot buy: a day where the logistics belong to someone else.

Getting To Kettering From Hobart

Kettering sits 35 to 40 minutes south of Hobart by road, via Kingston on the A6 and then the B68. The operator describes it as a 35-minute drive and the parks service says about 40 minutes, so plan for the longer figure when a ferry queue is behind it. Allow a full hour from the Hobart CBD in peak summer conditions.

The drive itself is straightforward and signposted, threading down the Channel Highway through Kingston before the turn to the terminal. What adds time is everything around it: parking the car, joining the correct vehicle lane, and the queue itself in holiday weeks. A morning departure from Hobart around 7 am puts you at Kettering in time for a mid-morning sailing with slack in the schedule.

The terminal has been upgraded in recent years, with dual ramps and improved queueing areas, which has smoothed the worst of the summer crush. Still, the pattern holds everywhere: the earlier you arrive, the shorter your wait, and the 6.10 am to 9 am window is the calmest part of the day.

For readers planning the wider day, our Bruny Island day trip from Hobart guide works through the full itinerary arithmetic once you are off the boat.

What About The Ferry If You Take A Cruise Or Flight Instead?

Most cruise and flight products meet you on the island or leave the crossing to you, so check each listing before assuming the fare is included. The three-hour wilderness cruise from Adventure Bay is priced from A$190 for the cruise alone, with the Hobart bus and ferry option priced separately on the listing. The 20-minute scenic flight departs Great Bay, which is already on Bruny Island.

The standalone cruise is the clearest example. Its A$190 price covers three hours on an open boat along the dolerite coast looking for seals, dolphins and sea birds, nothing more. Board at Adventure Bay and you must have got yourself, and your vehicle, across the channel first, ferry fare and all. The full-day Wilderness Cruise Plus Island Day from the same operator, from A$290 per person with a 4.8 rating from 562 reviews, instead starts at Hobart's Franklin Wharf and folds the ferry and a guided bus day into one ticket.

Neither option collects you from a Hobart hotel, a detail both cruise listings state plainly, so your morning starts with a walk or a ride to the wharf. That is a different kind of independence from self-drive, and it suits travellers who would rather not take a car at all.

The 20-minute scenic flight runs the other way entirely: it departs from Great Bay on the island itself, so the ferry is your problem before the flight, not part of it. It is a new listing with no reviews yet, priced from A$200 per person, and it shows the same lesson from the opposite direction: always read where a product starts before you assume the crossing is bundled.

Overnight And Multi-Day Options: Does The Ferry Change The Math?

Yes, and in your favour. Because every ferry ticket is an open return valid 365 days, there is no pressure to catch a specific sailing home, and no penalty for staying longer. A two- or three-day guided tour simply includes the crossing in its package price, from A$305 per person for the two-day Hobart and Bruny combination, and lets the itinerary absorb the queueing.

The two-day Hobart highlights and Bruny Island tour from Tassie Tours, rated 5 from 14 reviews, runs a maximum of 20 guests in an air-conditioned minibus with hotel pickup, Bonorong entry and the National Parks Pass, from A$305 per person. Three-day versions add Port Arthur. The ferry logic inside these packages is invisible to you: someone else watches the clock at Kettering.

Independent travellers staying overnight should still pre-purchase online, purely for the booth-free exit. And note the camping detail from the parks service: sites at Jetty Beach, The Neck and Cloudy Corner cost A$18 per night per site under the fee structure in force from 3 November 2026, with The Pines campground free of charge. A cheap island night plus an open ferry return is one of the better-value loops in Tasmania.

Practical Facts To Know Before You Queue

Fuel on the island exists only at Adventure Bay General Store, there is no ATM anywhere on Bruny Island, and the ferry has no food service worth planning around. Pay for your ticket online before you leave Hobart, fill the tank in Kingston, and treat the crossing as a 20-minute commute rather than a cruise.

The queueing system rewards preparation. Have your booking confirmation visible, stay in the marked vehicle lanes, and let marshals direct you onto the ramp. Walk-on passengers board separately and travel free, which makes the ferry a genuine option for cyclists doing a car-free loop, at A$8.10 return per bicycle.

A few island-side realities complete the picture. The parks pass is separate from the ferry fare and required for South Bruny National Park and Cape Bruny Lighthouse, at A$49.15 per vehicle for a 24-hour Daily Pass or A$24.55 per person arriving by bus, cycle or on foot, per the parks pass and entry fees page. Several tours on the roster include that pass in the ticket, the Tassie Tours and Safaris days among them, which quietly closes much of the price gap with self-drive.

Weather rarely stops the boat but does shape the queue: on wet, windy summer days, self-drive visitors often linger over lunch and hit the return crossing together in the late afternoon. If your day is flexible, sail back before 4 pm or after 6 pm and you will usually skip the crunch. For everything about planning the island end of the trip, start with our how to get to Bruny Island from Hobart guide, or see the full range on Bruny Island Tasmania Tours.

Common Questions About The Bruny Island Ferry