Australia
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
18.5km²
Area
37km
Coastline
19m
Highest point
Tree Hill
334
People
22°C
Warmest sea
March
17km
To the mainland
When to go to Rottnest Island
Best for the beach from December to April.
The sea is warmest in March (22 °C) and coolest in September (19 °C). Comfortable swimming (21 °C or more): from January to June.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island near Perth, Western Australia
Rottnest Island is an island in Australia. It covers 18.5 km², with 37 km of coastline. Its highest point, Tree Hill, rises to 19 m. About 334 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 17 km away.
Getting there
- Perth International Airport (PER)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 43 km in a straight lineCar hire at PER airport (Perth)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- Ferries1 ferry terminals on the island
- 17 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From December to Aprilbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Rottnest Island.
- 53beachesPinky Beach, The Basin, Rocky Bay and 50 more
- 24viewpointsVlamingh Lookout, Jeannies Lookout, 360 view and 21 more
- 3lighthousesWadjemup Lighthouse, Bathurst Lighthouse
- 1ferry terminalsThomson Bay Ferry Landing
- 16named peaksWadjemup Hill, Bare Hill, White Hill and 13 more
- 2castles and fortsEngine Room and Regimental Aid Post, 6 Inch Breach Loading Gun
- 99ruins and archaeological sitesPlotting Room, Old Wind Turbine, Bunker (Ru) and 96 more
- 15waymarked walking routesWardan Nara Bidi (Salmon Bay), Gabbi Karniny Bidi (The Lakes), Ngank Yira Bidi (Bickley Bay) and 12 more
- 1campsites
- 194hotels, guesthouses and apartments
- 14restaurants, cafés and bars
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Rottnest Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Rottnest Island, each with its own numbers.
7beaches and covesCoastya
15mountainsPeakyas
3lakesLakeyas
Highest point
19m
Tree Hill
according to Peakyas
Largest lake
0.91km²
Government House Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
26.2°C
Serpentine Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
22.5°C
Ricey Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
7 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Paterson Beach22.3°C
- Catherine Beach22.3°C
- Ricey Beach22.5°C
- Lady Edeline Beach22.4°C
- Nancy Covecove22.3°C
- Mary Covecove22.4°C
- Mable Covecove22.4°C
15 mountains
on Peakyas, the mountain atlas
- Tree Hill19m
- Fairbridge Bluff
- Duck Rock
- Mount Herschel
- Lookout Hill
- Oliver Hill
- Forbes Hill
- Conical Hill
7 more on PeakyasOpen Peakyas ↗
3 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Government House Lake0.91km²
- Lake Baghdad0.44km²
- Serpentine Lake0.20km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 10 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 100 %0–50 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
5 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | 26 | 27 | 26 | 23 | 21 | 19 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 20 | 22 | 25 |
| Night low (°C) | 19 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 18 |
| Sea (°C) | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 20 | 21 |
| Rain (mm) | 18 | 17 | 20 | 34 | 84 | 113 | 128 | 106 | 70 | 32 | 25 | 12 |
| Wet days | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 10 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 2 |
| Sun h/day | 12.1 | 11.2 | 10.0 | 8.1 | 7.0 | 6.1 | 6.1 | 7.0 | 8.4 | 10.1 | 11.5 | 12.4 |
| Wind (km/h) | 25 | 24 | 23 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 22 | 24 | 25 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | +0.4 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.4 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | +1.1 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | +0.6 | −0.1 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.8 | +0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.3 | −0.3 | +0.5 |
| 2022 | +1.1 | +1.3 | +0.9 | +0.5 | −0.1 | −0.1 | +0.4 | +0.5 | +0.2 | +0.1 | −0.6 | +0.3 |
| 2023 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.6 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | −0.4 | −0.8 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | +0.5 | +0.7 | +0.9 |
| 2024 | +0.9 | ±0.0 | −0.5 | −0.1 | +0.8 | +0.8 | +0.1 | +0.3 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.3 | +0.9 |
| 2025 | +1.6 | +1.7 | +1.2 | +1.5 | +1.2 | +0.9 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | +0.3 | +0.6 | +0.7 | +0.8 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q585317) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
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