The vehicle ferry over the D'Entrecasteaux Channel has worked under a Tasmanian Government contract since 2018, and this year it picked up a new brand and a simpler visitor fare. People on foot cross free. Drivers buy a return at Kettering, priced by vehicle, season and the moment they reach the booth.
Summer timetable valid from 28 September 2026 (operator PDF for 2026/27), checked against the operator's live booking timetable for 16–22 October and 7–13 December 2026. Read 15 October 2026 Island Connections – Bruny Island summer ferry timetable 2026/27 · 2026-10-15
September 2018 is the date that explains most of what you see at Kettering today. That month SeaLink Travel Group began running the Bruny Island crossing under a contract with Tasmania's Transport Commission, and the state still holds the reins: the Commission must approve any timetable amendment, any change of fare and any move to a booking system. Two purpose-built ferries followed from Richardson Devine Marine Construction, a Tasmanian yard: MV Nairana, in service from February 2020, and MV Parrabah, from April 2021, with MV Bowen kept as the reserve boat.
Those single-deck boats load and unload fast enough for each side to send a ferry every 20 minutes at busy times, and the timetable is built on that rhythm. By October 2026 the operator's website and tickets had moved to the Island Connections name, part of the Journey Beyond group. The paperwork has not all caught up: the summer timetable issued in September still carries the SeaLink logo, and the state's transport page still names SeaLink as the contractor.
The latest chapter is about money. On 28 September 2026 the three-step visitor fare became two, with Super Saver dropped and only Regular and Saver left, and the operator announced a peak price for the Regular rate from 1 December to April. Fares for registered residents and landowners, last set on 1 July 2024, were not touched.
You pay per vehicle, once, on the Kettering side. Every ticket is an open return, so nothing is due at Roberts Point, and the driver and everyone else in the car ride free, as do people who walk aboard. Two things move the price: whether the Saver rate is on when you reach the booth (the operator charges the rate in force at the booth, not the one in force when you joined the line), and, for the Regular rate only, whether it is summer peak.
| Car or van under 6 m, Regular | $ 58.60 |
| Car or van under 6 m, Saver times | $ 50.90 |
| Under 6 m with pensioner or Seniors Health Card, Regular | $ 43.20 |
| Under 6 m with pensioner or Seniors Health Card, Saver | $ 37.50 |
| Vehicle 6–10 m, Regular | $ 100.10 |
| Car under 6 m towing a caravan or boat, Regular | $ 130.90 |
| Motorcycle or bicycle | $ 8.10 |
| Foot passenger, or anyone travelling in a vehicle | Free |
| Car or van under 6 m | $ 67.30 |
| Under 6 m with pensioner or Seniors Health Card | $ 49.60 |
| Vehicle 6–10 m | $ 115.10 |
| Car under 6 m towing a caravan or boat | $ 150.50 |
| Resident vehicle under 6 m | $ 20 |
| Resident concession or student | $ 11.20 |
| Resident concession with trailer | $ 22.50 |
| Resident with trailer | $ 40 |
Visitor fares from 28 September 2026, with Regular rising from 1 December 2026 to April 2027; resident fares effective since 1 July 2024. Read 15 October 2026 Island Connections – Bruny Island ferry fares · 2026-10-15
The ferry runs from Kettering, a marina village on the Channel Highway, over the channel's northern reaches to Roberts Point on North Bruny, a crossing of roughly three kilometres. Tasmania's transport department looks after the roads at both ends, Ferry Road on the mainland and Lennon Road on the island, though the stretch of water itself is not counted as a state road.
How long it takes depends on who you ask. The operator's booking system allows 15 minutes berth to berth, its own pages advertise 20, and the state settles on 15 to 20; the difference is the time spent loading and unloading cars. Once across, everything is a drive away: the operator's visitor notes point to general stores at Adventure Bay and Alonnah, and to the island health centre in Alonnah, which handles accidents and emergencies around the clock.
Every fare on this crossing is collected here, at the ticket booth on the approach to the ramp, and it covers the trip back too. The operator's customer service centre shares the address. State advice is to be checked in at least 20 minutes before you want to sail; in practice the queue decides which boat you get, so on a summer Saturday allow more. Kettering is a little over half an hour's drive south of Hobart.
The island landing at the northern tip of North Bruny has no ticket to buy: you show the return you bought at Kettering, or simply join the line if you came over on foot. On weekdays the last boat leaves at 19:15, at weekends at 19:00, and the queue for those final sailings is where an unhurried day on the island can come unstuck.
Buying online saves time at the booth but reserves nothing: the barcode is valid for 365 days on any sailing, and you still wait your turn. Online tickets are scanned at check-in.
In the operator's live timetable for 16–22 October, weekday boats from Kettering before 08:30 and from 14:10 onwards were marked Saver, as were weekend boats from 14:50. For a December week the same system marked only the 06:10 and the sailings from 16:00 on weekdays. Check the week you travel on the timetable page; the Saver label is what the booth charges by.
The local school bus, doctors travelling to run the island GP service and emergency services (police, fire, ambulance, SES) get priority boarding, so a car at the front of the line can be held back for one.
Walking on costs nothing in either direction. A bicycle or motorcycle pays $8.10 for the return trip, the same in peak and off-peak.
The $20 resident car fare is only for people registered with the operator, using a Kingborough Council rates notice, licence and vehicle papers (renters show a certified lease and electoral roll details instead). A 10-trip return pack is also sold to registered residents.
Because nothing can be booked, the variable that matters is the line. A Kettering queue on a fine Saturday in January behaves very differently from one on a Tuesday in October, and the operator's answer to peaks is to add sailings rather than sell places on them. That is also why the fare is set at the booth: the price is a function of when you arrive, not of when you planned to go.
Tasmania's other island boats work on different terms. The Maria Island ferry carries no cars at all and lands its passengers in a national park, while Hobart's commuter boat, the Bellerive ferry, is free to ride until mid-2027. Closer to Hobart again, the museum catamaran on the MONA ferry shares Brooke Street Pier with the Bellerive boat and needs a ticket bought ahead.
No. Walking on is free in both directions, and so is everyone travelling inside a vehicle, driver included. Bicycles and motorcycles pay $8.10 return.
From 1 December the Regular return for a visitor car under 6 m goes up to $67.30. The Saver return stays at $50.90, but only at Saver times. Until 30 November the Regular fare is $58.60.
07:10. On Saturdays an extra 06:30 runs first, and on weekdays the first departure is 06:10.
19:15 from Roberts Point on weekdays and 19:00 on Saturday and Sunday under the 2026/27 summer timetable.
No. Tickets bought online are valid for any departure within 365 days, and boats fill in the order cars arrive. The only way to improve your odds is to turn up early or avoid peak hours.
Registered residents and landowners pay $20.00 return for a vehicle under 6 m and $11.20 on a concession or student fare, rates in force since 1 July 2024 and unchanged by the September 2026 fare reset.
The service now trades as Island Connections Bruny Island, part of Journey Beyond. SeaLink took over the contract in 2018, and some documents, including the summer timetable PDF, still show the SeaLink name.