Bruny Island

Bruny Island is an island of stunning natural beauty, close to Hobart in Tasmania. It's a possible day-trip from Hobart, but with boutique accommodation and plenty to offer for longer stays. The island is divided into North and South Bruny, joined by a narrow, picturesque isthmus called the Neck.

Understand

North Bruny is mainly farmland, and is relatively flat. South Bruny is more mountainous, and is more heavily forested.

The main towns for visitors are Adventure Bay on South Bruny. This is where the cruises depart from, and is adjacent to one of the three discrete sections of South Bruny National Park. There is accommodation here, and a bowling club for drinks and meals. If you are going to spot one of the White Wallabies, along the national park track here at dusk is your best chance, and the rainforest and walks are in the hills just about the town.

Not far from Adventure Bay is the town of Allonah. Here you'll find the post office, pharmacy, the pub, cricket club, school, medical centre, Police station and history room. The Bruny Island winery is five minutes south of Allonah.

There are smaller settlements, a few cafes and produce centres scattered around the Island with local produce.

South Bruny National Park

Parts of South Bruny, including Cape Bruny Lighthouse and a few bushwalking trails, are protected as South Bruny National Park and require a parks pass to visit. The park is an important wildlife reserve for sealife.

To enter any national park in Tasmania, you'll need to have a valid park pass to enter the park, which can be found on the Parks Tasmania website. There are numerous passes available, depending on your needs. The fees are up-to-date as of February 2024.

A Daily Pass is usually valid for 24 hours and is usable in all parks, although it does not include access to Cradle Mountain. This is particularly useful if you're going to numerous nearby parks. A pass for your vehicle covers up to 8 occupants; you only need the per-person pass if you arrive outside a vehicle.

  • Per vehicle: $44.75.
  • Per person (≥5 years): $22.35.

If you stay in Tasmania for a few weeks and want to visit several national parks, the Holiday Pass is valid for up to two months. This also includes Cradle Mountain.

  • Per vehicle: $89.50.
  • Per person (≥5 years): $44.75.

There is also the Annual Park Pass, which is valid in all parks, including Cradle Mountain.

  • $95.30 in general.
  • $76.25 for concession holders.
  • $38.10 for seniors.

If you only plan to frequently revisit one park for 12 months, it costs $48.70 for a regular adult and $38.95 for concession holders. This excludes Cradle Mountain.

Passes can either be purchased through passes.parks.tas.gov.au, in any national park visitor centre, some travel information centres, onboard Spirit of Tasmania vessels, and Service Tasmania centres.

Points of interests mentioned on this page that are within South Bruny National Park will be marked with (SBNP) next to the description.

Wildlife

The island's vegetation includes sparse eucalyptus forests and heathland. Only a small portion consists of true forest and temperate rainforest. Extensive stocks of kelp seaweed are found in the sheltered parts of the sea.

Wallabies, possums, short-beaked echidnas and Tasmanian pademelons live on the island. Unfortunately, there are no wombats and Tasmanian devils. Bruny Island is particularly well-known for its albino wallabies, which have proliferated on parts of the island due to the lack of predators. A colony of fairy penguins lives at the Neck and can be seen returning from the sea in the evening (see below).

Visitor information

Get in

Kettering, the gateway to Bruny Island, is around 30 minutes drive south from Hobart, through the sleepy townships of Margate, Snug and Oyster Cove. For a more interesting drive, you can divert through Kingston Beach and Blackmans Bay. From Kettering, you can catch the car ferry, The Mirambeena, across to Bruny Island. The ferry costs $46 return per car (slightly cheaper off-peak). You pay the full amount at Kettering, and the return trip is "free". Helpful maps of Bruny Island are available at the Kettering ferry terminal. The crossing takes around 15 minutes, and the ferry departs promptly. You're expected to be there around 15 minutes ahead of the ferry departure time. There's a passenger lounge on the ferry if you're interested, or you can stay in your car. If taking a rental car, make sure to check in advance that you're allowed to take it on the ferry.

At the Kettering and Roberts Bay termini you can buy snacks and coffee. There are also public toilets at the terminals, but none on the ferry.

There is no car hire on Bruny, so you'll have to hire a car from Hobart. Some hire car companies don't allow their cars to be driven on to the island, so check before you book. Even those that do, may not insure you for an accident on the ferry. This is difficult to avoid if you aren't bringing your own car.

Foot passengers are carried on the ferry free of charge, but it is difficult to take advantage of this bargain offer, with no public transport available at either ferry terminus.

If you are taking the tour of the island, the tour company offers a connecting bus.

Bruny Island has a small airport for general aviation and charters. The airport is not within walking distance of any accommodation or facilities, so you'll need to arrange for someone to pick you up.

Get around

Bruny Island is approximately 100 km from one end to the other. The main road stretches the length of the island (Bruny Island Main Road (B66)), with branch roads to towns, beaches and attractions. Expect to take around 45 minutes to drive between the ferry and Adventure Bay or Allonah at the north of the South Island. Then another half an hour or so from there down to Cape Bruny.

The advisory speed limit drops to 45 km/h on many parts of the main road between dusk and dawn - due to the danger of hitting wildlife. Insurance on many rental cars does not cover damage done to their cars hitting wildlife between dusk and dawn.

The common ways to explore are by private car or by tour. There is no scheduled public transport on the island. There are no facilities provided on the narrow shoulders for cyclists.

Strictly observe speed limits to protect wildlife – unlike the rest of Tasmania, the maximum limit on Bruny Island is 90 km/h (56 mph) (including "changing road conditions" limits), not 100 km/h. Speed limits can drastically drop in wildlife-abundant areas, such as The Neck.

See

History
  • 🌍 Bligh Museum of Pacific Exploration, 876 Main Road, Adventure Bay Rd (C630), ☏ +61 3 6293 1117 (landline), +61 407 689 877 (mobile). Daily 10AM–4PM. A collection of artifacts relating to exploration of the South Pacific. The building was built from convict bricks from North Bruny Island, and the foundation stone laid on the 200th anniversary of Captain William Bligh's birth, in 1955. Adult $4, child $2. (updated Mar 2022)
  • 🌍 Bruny History Room, Main Rd, Alonnah - Early and recent history. Many artifacts, photos, documents and newspaper cuttings provided by Bruny residents. Sa 10AM - 2PM. A small museum on the island's history. 
  • 🌍 Cape Bruny Lighthouse. Daily 9:30AM-4:30PM. A historic lighthouse built in 1836, at the far end of Bruny Island. The 114-metre lighthouse is home to several lighthouse keepers, who also maintain the surrounding South Bruny National Park. The lighthouse is reachable on foot from a nearby car park, and has beautiful views of the ocean and nearby landscapes. Visitors can climb the steps to the lighthouse base and the overlook over Cape Bruny. Tours operate every half hour from November to April and allow visitors to climb to the top of the Lighthouse. A small museum exhibition is open to the public in the nearby cottage. A great place to see a echidna too. (updated Mar 2022)
  • Truganini. Often considered the last full-blood Aboriginal Tasmanian and last speaker of a Tasmanian language, was born on Bruny Island. A memorial to her, and a description of the hardships she endured at the hands of the colonists, is at The Neck lookout on North Bruny. (updated Nov 2017)

Wildlife
  • 🌍 Penguins. There is a Little Penguin colony at The Neck, and a hide there for viewing them coming ashore after dusk. Take care not to destroy any of their nests (stay on the path). Penguins will just stand still if they are afraid (they won't walk around you) and may decide not to come home for the night if they're spooked, so stay well out of their path. Don't shine any white light near them. Red light is okay; you can cover your flashlight with a piece of red cellophane. (updated Nov 2017)
  • Shearwaters. There are as many Shearwaters in Australia as there are people. Also known as Muttonbirds, these migratory birds spend the southern hemisphere winter in the Arctic Circle, migrating to Bruny (and elsewhere) for the summer. 
  • Wallabies. The first sign you will see of Wallabies will be the roadkill by the side of Bruny Island Main Road. Grasslands on the South Island at dusk are the best place to seek them out, but you'll also seem them on minor roads and farmland. 

Viewpoints
  • 🌍 The Hummock at The Neck. Beautiful views of the Neck from a hilltop platform. Can be crowded as this is a must-see for most visitors to Bruny Island. 

Do
  • Bruny Island Cruises, 915 Adventure Bay Road, ☏ +61 3 6293 1465, . Every day except for Christmas Day. Bruny Island Cruises operates a 3-hour wildlife eco-cruise daily exploring the coastline of the South Bruny National Park. - tall sea cliffs, amazing coastline, seals, albatross, often dolphins and sometimes even whale sightings!. Day tours from Hobart are available. 
  • Bushwalking. There are a variety of walks from just a few minutes to a few hours through the rainforests and national parks of the South Bruny Island. The walk to Grassy Point along the water at Adventure Bay leaves from the end of Adventure Bay Road. There is a small inlet (about 2-3m) to cross at the start of the walk, so if you can wear trousers that can be rolled up that is an advantage. This is the section of track where you have your best chance to see the White Wallaby at dusk. Just above Adventure Bay there is a short rainforest walk. After rain this walk can be overrun by leeches, so make sure you have your insect repellent applied liberally before you decide to undertake it. 
    • The Fluted Cape is a 2.5-hour 4-km walk going through the eastern parts of the island, popular for wildlife watching. (SBNP)
    • Grass Point trail is an easy trail, leading you to a former whaling station before whaling was officially banned. (SBNP)
    • Where's Tasmania's Cape Le Grand, you ask (no, that's not Freycinet)? The 12-kilometre (7.5 mi) (return) East Cloudy Head trail to, well, you guessed it, East Cloudy Head passes through some of Tasmania's whitest beaches. Out of the 6 km, 3 km of the trail is unmarked along Cloudy Bay Beach, while the other 3 km encompasses an old 4WD trail before you finally arrive at the peak of East Cloudy Head. (SBNP)
  • INALA Nature Tours, 320 Cloudy Bay Rd, ☏ +61 3 6293 1217, . INALA Tours operates wildlife tours into the South Bruny National Park. 

Buy

Supplies are available at the General Store in Allonah, the store in Adventure Bay, and at the shop at the ferry wharf at Roberts Bay.

Eat

There are a range of places to eat on Bruny, but the choice is much wider for lunch than for dinner. Throughout the day you can graze through the produce trail, trying cheeses, sausages, oysters, honey, fudge and wines. Most establishments work together to showcase what is produced on the island. If you travel down to Bruny Island Wines at Lunawannah, you'll get a choice of their wines, and can also purchase a tasting plate of local cheeses, or oysters, or honey, or other farm produce. Similarly you can stop at Bruny Island cheeses, and they'll be happy to give you a cheese plate and a glass of local wines.

  • Hotel Bruny, 3959 Main Road, Alonnah, ☏ +61 3 6293 1148. Bar, Restaurant, Bottleshop, TAB, Keno. Across the road from the beachfront, with windows and views across the bay. 
  • Penguin and Pardalote cafe, 710 Adventure Bay Road, Adventure Bay, ☏ +61 3 6293 1568. Good for crepes. 

There are a range of boutique offerings on Bruny Island as well, including:

  • 🌍 Get Shucked Oyster Farm. Delicious, fresh oysters available for dine-in or drive-through. 
  • 🌍 Bruny Island Cheese Company. Cheese tastings, but also serves home baked pizzas, toasties, coffee and the like. Half-a-dozen cheeses in their range, from vintage hard cheeses (including raw milk varieties) to French-style soft cheeses. They'll sell you a drop of the local Pinot to wash it down. For vegan visitors, they can put together a plant-based tasting too. 
  • 🌍 Bruny Island Honey. Local honey and a wide variety of honey-based products. (updated Sep 2022)

Given the size and nature of the island, most of the establishments are owner-run, and can close in periods of low demand.

Drink

Bruny Island is home to the southern-most licenced pub in Australia and the country's most-southern vineyard.

  • Bruny Island Premium Wines (brunywine@clearmail.com.au), 4391 Main Road, Lunawanna (Cellar Door Sales @ Australia's most Southern Vineyard), ☏ +61 3 6293 1088. Meet Bernice and Richard and sample their range recognised as premium Tasmanian wines. Serves lunch until late afternoon - the best burgers on the island, sausages from local farms, and daily specials. Open fire during the colder months. Combine with a glass of any of their Pinots, Chardonnay or Riesling. 

Sleep

Please also see accommodation on Huon Trail.

Connect

There is a payphone by the ferry wharf, and in Adventure Bay at Allonah. Optus and Telstra have towers on the island, but the terrain and distances mean that there is no reception even on parts of the main road. Broadly speaking, reception is better on North Bruny than South Bruny. Optus has better reception than Telstra.

There is a post-office at Allonah, and a post-box at the ferry wharf.

Cope

Media
  • Bruny News is a monthly community-run newsletter with charming local news stories and information about local events and businesses. Available for $3 at the Adventure Bay store.

Stay safe
  • Road conditions deteriorate in and after rain, particularly in the more rainforest and steep areas of the South Island may not be suitable for 2WD traffic in parts.
  • Observe speed limits. 50 km/h in built-up areas, otherwise 90 km/h on sealed roads (not 100 km/h as found on mainland Tasmania) and 80 km/h on gravel.
  • Watch out for wildlife on the roads - particularly at night.
  • Check ferry times. Last ferry leaves before 7PM most nights
  • Always notify somebody if you are going bushwalking and carry a (NextG) mobile phone if possible.
  • Carry an EPIRB if boating and wear life jackets

Stay healthy

There is a 24-hour accident and emergency service on Bruny Island, and an ambulance. Call 000.

There is a pharmacy in Allonah.

Go next

Your only options are back on the mainland – Huonville, Hartz Mountains National Park and Kingston are all nearby.

Routes via Bruny Island
Kettering ← SeaLink Bruny Island Ferry ← NW B66 S  → END



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