Mona's own catamarans run up the River Derwent from Hobart's waterfront to the museum jetty at Berriedale in about half an hour. They sail only on the five days the museum opens, Thursday to Monday, and the ferry ticket does not include entry to the galleries.
Mona ferry timetable as published on its ferry, visit and opening-hours pages, including the summer change from 3 December 2026 and the off-peak pattern from 30 March 2027; boats run Thursday to Monday. Read 15 October 2026 Mona – Ferry · 2026-10-15
Put the museum boat beside the other ferry that uses Brooke Street Pier and the two look like opposites. The Bellerive ferry is a commuter service: it runs for office hours on weekdays and on Saturdays, costs nothing until 30 June 2027 and stays tied up on Sundays. Mona's ferry is built for visitors: it costs from $30, works through the weekend, from Thursday to Monday, and sits idle on Tuesday and Wednesday, the two days the museum is closed.
Against the road, the boat is slower but easier. Mona is about eleven kilometres north of the city at Berriedale; the museum reckons twenty minutes by car and thirty by water, but it also warns that on-site parking is scarce and asks people not to bring boats or caravans. Metro buses 510, 520, 522 and X20 pass the museum and, like the Bellerive boat, are free to ride until 30 June 2027. Only the ferry delivers you to the bottom of the 99 steps, an arrival the founder designed into the building.
And against itself, the ferry changes shape on 3 December. Today's day of eight sailings each way gives way to a summer peak with up to 13, roughly every half hour in the morning and late afternoon. From 30 March 2027 an off-peak pattern of seven sailings each way takes over.
Mona prices the boat as a single ticket that covers the day: a return costs exactly what a one-way does, so there is no saving in driving one leg. There are no concession fares. Two classes are sold, Standard and the Posh Pit, a private lounge and deck with drinks and small plates included; Mona's pages give only the starting price, which is the Standard ticket, and no official page we read shows what the Posh Pit currently costs.
| Standard ferry, one way or same-day return, from | $ 30 |
| Child under 4 (still needs a ticket) | Free |
| Transaction fee on most advance bookings | $ 3.50 |
Ferry fare as shown by Mona on 15 October 2026 ("from $30"); no end date published Mona – Ferry (ticket pricing FAQ) · 2026-10-15
The route leaves the Hobart waterfront at Sullivans Cove and heads north up the River Derwent, under the Tasman Bridge and past the suburbs of both shores, to the Berriedale peninsula where the museum stands, about eleven kilometres from the city. Mona allows about thirty minutes each way, against roughly twenty by road.
The boats are fully roofed, so they run in the rain, and they carry bars on board. The lower deck takes wheelchairs, walking frames and prams and has an accessible toilet; Posh Pit passengers have their own lounge and deck.
The floating pier building on Sullivans Cove, the same one the Derwent commuter ferry uses. There is a drop-off bay right in front; for a car you will be leaving for three hours or more the museum suggests the multi-storey car parks at Argyle Street, Centrepoint or Market Place, or the Dunn Place car park, the closest being a 10 to 15-minute walk away. Accessible bays line Franklin Wharf, Salamanca Place and Castray Esplanade.
The boat lands below the museum, and the way in is up a flight of 99 steps, a climb the founder wants every able visitor to make. Anyone who cannot manage stairs can use a tunnel entrance instead: tell the crew on the way up the river. The map pin marks the museum site rather than the jetty itself, which sits on the riverbank just below it.
A ferry ticket gets you to the jetty, not through the door. Book a timed museum entry as well; entry slots are limited and Mona recommends booking both ahead rather than queueing at the pier.
The museum is shut on Tuesday and Wednesday until at least 30 June 2027, and the ferry follows it. Plan a Hobart stay so that a Thursday-to-Monday day is free.
Times can be changed in the O, Mona's visitor app, if the new boat has room and you are not too close to departure. Staff at Brooke Street Pier or the museum box office can also help.
The Posh Pit kitchen cannot cater for coeliac disease or severe allergies, and other special diets, gluten-free and vegetarian included, need 24 hours' notice.
Mona does not take cash anywhere on site, and that includes the bar on the boat.
For a visitor with a few days in Hobart, the choice is rarely boat or bus for the whole trip. The free buses suit a quick look or a return at an odd hour; the ferry suits a first visit, when the approach by water is half the point. Brooke Street Pier is a short walk from Salamanca Place, so a morning on the waterfront and an afternoon boat upriver fit into the same day.
Further afield, two other Tasmanian crossings work very differently. The Bruny Island ferry at Kettering, south of Hobart, is a car ferry with no bookings at all, and the Maria Island ferry on the east coast carries foot passengers, and no cars, out to a national park.
No. The ferry runs Thursday to Monday, the days the museum is open; on Tuesdays and Wednesdays there is no museum and no boat.
From $30, and a return costs the same as a one-way ticket. There are no concession fares; children under 4 travel free but need a ticket. Most advance bookings attract a $3.50 transaction fee.
17:00 from Mona until 2 December 2026, 17:30 from 3 December to 29 March 2027, and 17:00 again from 30 March 2027.
No. Standard and Posh Pit ferry tickets both need a separate museum entry ticket. Tasmanians enter free but still book an entry time.
Yes: wheelchairs, walkers and prams fit on the lower deck, which also has an accessible toilet. At Mona, ask the crew for the tunnel entrance instead of the 99 steps.
Mona suggests the multi-storey car parks at Argyle Street, Centrepoint or Market Place, or Dunn Place, which give three hours or more; Argyle Street and Market Place are about 10 to 15 minutes' walk from the pier.
Metro buses 510, 520, 522 and X20 pass the museum and are free until 30 June 2027. They take you to the gate rather than to the jetty and the 99 steps.