Hot summer nights on Rottnest Island with late-night ferries returning

Visitors to Rottnest can stay longer on warm summer nights, with return ferry services from the island extending to 9pm from next month.

As part of a bid to get visitors to “stay a little longer”, Tourism Minister Rita Saffioti said the late-night ferry services would give day-trippers the chance to see the sunset and have dinner at the pub.

Under the new timetable, the last ferry will depart the island at 9pm from Thursday to Sunday between November and January, and then operate Friday to Sunday between February and April 2025.

The new services start on Thursday, November 14.

It comes ahead of what is expected to be another busy summer on Rottnest, after visitor numbers soared by almost 100,000 last financial year to 823,000.

Eateries on the island will also offer deals for food and beverages to coincide with the services.

Extended hours were offered for limited periods in recent years, with Ms Saffioti saying the longer period would give visitors more bang for their buck.

“We want more people to be able to stay into the evening and not have to exit in the afternoon,” she said.

“From a visitation experience, being able to stay into the evening for those day trippers, and for those visitors that come from interstate and overseas visitors, being able to stay into the evening and catch the ferry home is going to get a lot more value out of your day ticket.”

Workers needed for dinner shifts, who don’t live on the island, will also be able to work until late, Ms Saffioti said.

“It helps with managing the workforce and I know the businesses on the island will find it much easier to get the workforce over, because they can all catch the late-night ferry home,” she said.

“A lot of the workers are needed a bit later in the evening, and currently they either have to have accommodation on the island or they leave before the dinner service.

“This facilitates people to be able to work on the island more, but also a better experience for families and everyone to be able to stay, have dinner at the pub, for example, and then catch the ferry home.”

It comes as the Rottnest Island Authority opened public consultation for the new staff accommodation project, which will free up rooms for visitors to the island.

The project will see almost 150 new units built over several years, as well as modern, functional housing for the island’s essential workforce.

For more information about the late-night ferries, click here.