If you’ve spent any time on the internet in the past decade, you’ve almost certainly seen the quokka selfie. The small marsupial’s face, with its upturned mouth and bright eyes, photographs as though it’s perpetually delighted to see you — and the images of tourists grinning alongside them have become one of the most shared wildlife photos on the planet. What you might not know is that the vast majority of the world’s quokkas live on a single island 19 kilometres off the coast of Perth, accessible by a 30-minute ferry, and that meeting them is every bit as joyful as those photos suggest.
Rottnest Island — known locally as Rotto — is one of Perth’s great treasures. The island is car-free (private vehicles are banned), the beaches are some of the finest in Western Australia, and the quokkas roam so freely around the settlement and cycling tracks that encounters are essentially guaranteed. This guide covers everything you need for a perfect Rottnest Island day trip or overnight stay.
📋 TL;DR – Quokkas on Rottnest Island: The Complete Guide to Meeting the …
- ✅ Quokka encounters: Almost guaranteed — they congregate near the main settlement, bakery, and visitor centre.
- ⛴️ Getting there: 30-min ferry from Fremantle or 90-min from Perth Barrack Street Jetty — Rottnest Express and SeaLink both operate.
- 🚲 Transport on island: Hire a bike — it’s the best way to explore and costs around A$30–40/day.
- 📅 Best time: Year-round, but shoulder season (April–May, September–October) avoids summer crowds and heat.
- 🏖️ Best beaches: The Basin, Little Parakeet Bay, Parakeet Bay, and Little Salmon Bay for snorkelling.
- 📷 Quokka selfies: Legal and harmless — just don’t touch, feed, or chase them. Let them come to you.
- 🏨 Overnight: Worth it — island atmosphere at sunset and sunrise is special and quokkas are most active at dusk.
🐨 About quokkas: the basics
Quokkas (Setonix brachyurus) are small macropods — relatives of kangaroos and wallabies — about the size of a domestic cat, weighing 2.5 to 5 kilograms. They’re herbivores, eating grasses, leaves, and bark, and are primarily nocturnal, though on Rottnest they’ve adapted to be active throughout the day, particularly in the cooler morning and evening hours.
The quokka’s famous “smile” is actually just the shape of its face — the upturned lip is structural, not an expression of emotion. But it doesn’t matter: in person, they are genuinely endearing animals that show no fear of humans and will approach within centimetres if they think food is on offer (though feeding them is illegal and genuinely harmful to their health). The population on Rottnest is estimated at around 10,000 to 12,000 animals, living across the whole island.
Outside Rottnest, small quokka populations exist on Bald Island (near Albany) and in some isolated mainland bushland areas in the South West, but these are harder to access and far less accustomed to humans. For practical purposes, Rottnest is where you go to meet a quokka.
⛴️ Getting to Rottnest Island
Two operators run regular ferry services to Rottnest: Rottnest Express and SeaLink. Both are reliable and comfortable. The crossing takes about 30 minutes from Fremantle (the closest departure point) and around 90 minutes from Perth’s Barrack Street Jetty and Northport. There’s also a departure from Hillary’s Boat Harbour, north of the city.
Return ferry tickets cost A$65–85 per adult from Fremantle, and A$95–115 from Perth, depending on the operator and time of departure. Booking in advance is strongly recommended in summer and on weekends year-round — Rottnest is enormously popular with Perth locals and ferries sell out. Most packages include bike hire, which is worth bundling.
Pair this with Things to Do in Fremantle to round out your trip.
Ferries dock at Thomson Bay Settlement on the eastern end of the island, which is also where most of the accommodation, restaurants, and quokka hotspots are located.
👉 Book a Rottnest Island Day Trip with Ferry and Bike on GetYourGuide →
🚲 Getting around the island
Rottnest is 11 kilometres long and 4.5 kilometres wide, and the only motorised vehicles on the island belong to the authority and emergency services. Bicycles are the way to get around, and cycling Rotto is one of those pleasures that makes the whole trip. The island circuit is about 22 kilometres and takes most cyclists 2.5 to 3 hours, passing every major beach, lookout, and quokka habitat along the way.
Bike hire is available from the ferry terminal on arrival and costs A$30–40 per day for a basic single-speed. E-bikes are also available for those who want to tackle the hillier western end of the island without working up too much of a sweat. If cycling isn’t an option, the island’s Bayseeker bus does a circuit of the main beaches and attractions for a flat daily fare.
🦘 Where to find quokkas on Rottnest
The simple answer is: almost everywhere, but some spots are better than others. The highest concentration of quokkas is in and around Thomson Bay Settlement — the area around the bakery, the heritage buildings, and the visitor centre is particularly reliable. Quokkas have learned that humans congregate in these spots and have congregated accordingly, spending their days resting in shady spots and emerging regularly to investigate passers-by.
🐾 Best quokka spots on the island
- The bakery area, Thomson Bay. The combination of shade trees, tourists, and crumb-dropping humans makes this the island’s quokka central. You’ll see them resting under benches, investigating bags, and wandering through the outdoor seating areas at all hours of the day.
- Rottnest Island Visitor Centre. The gardens and lawns around the visitor centre attract quokkas throughout the day. Rangers here can answer questions about quokka behaviour and the island’s ecology.
- The camping ground. Campers regularly report quokkas investigating their tents and cooking equipment at dusk. Be careful not to leave food accessible — they’re persistent and creative.
- Along the cycling tracks at dusk. As the heat of the day fades, quokkas become much more active and venture out onto the open tracks. A slow evening cycle around the island almost guarantees multiple close encounters.
- The lakes in the island’s interior. The salt lakes attract quokkas in the cooler parts of the day. The track around Lake Baghdad is particularly good for wildlife spotting in the late afternoon.
📷 How to take a great quokka selfie (ethically)
The rules around quokka interaction are simple and exist for the animals’ protection. You must not touch a quokka, feed it, or attempt to handle it. You must not use flash photography. And if a quokka approaches you — which they frequently do — you must let it come of its own accord rather than moving towards it.
The best selfie technique is to crouch or sit down at quokka level and wait. They’re curious animals and will often approach within 30 to 50 centimetres on their own. A wide-angle lens or phone in selfie mode with the quokka in the background produces the classic shot. Morning and late afternoon light is much more flattering than harsh midday sun. Patience is the key ingredient — if you chase or crowd a quokka, it’ll move away; if you stay still and quiet, it’ll come to you.
Worth adding to your itinerary: Things to Do on Rottnest Island.
👉 Book a Rottnest Island Snorkelling and Quokka Tour on GetYourGuide →
🏖️ The beaches of Rottnest Island
Rottnest’s beaches are extraordinary — clear, turquoise water, white sand, and coral reefs in the shallows make it one of the finest snorkelling destinations in Western Australia. The Basin, a sheltered lagoon near Thomson Bay, is the most popular swimming spot and is excellent for families. Little Salmon Bay and Parakeet Bay are considered the best snorkelling sites, with coral gardens, colourful fish, and occasional sea turtles.
The western beaches — Stark Bay, Salmon Bay, and Pocillopora Bay — are wilder, harder to reach, and reward the extra cycling effort with far fewer people. On a weekday outside summer, you can find yourself alone on a perfect beach at the far end of the island with nothing but quokkas and seabirds for company. It’s one of those unexpectedly wonderful Australian experiences.
💡 Insider tips for Rottnest Island
- Take the early ferry. The first ferry from Fremantle arrives before the bulk of day-trippers and gives you the settlement and beaches largely to yourself for the first hour. Quokkas are also most active in the cool of the morning.
- Stay overnight at least once. Rottnest at sunset, when the day-trippers have gone and the island is quiet, is a completely different experience. The quokkas become noticeably bolder, the light over the bays turns golden, and the pace drops to something genuinely restorative.
- Bring snorkelling gear. While hire is available, your own mask and fins will be more comfortable. The snorkelling on Rotto is good enough to justify serious time in the water.
- Pack sunscreen and a hat. The island is exposed and the sun reflects off the water. UV levels in Perth are extreme — even in winter, sunscreen is advisable.
- Book accommodation well in advance. Island accommodation books out months ahead in summer and school holidays. If you want to stay on the island, plan at least 3 months ahead for peak season.
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