Which Is Better to Visit, Bruny Island or Maria Island?

Choose Maria Island for a walking day on an island with no cars, no shops and a convict settlement at the landing; choose Bruny Island for a looser day of beaches, lookouts and local food, which you can also drive yourself. Maria Island is reached only by ferry from Triabunna, 85 km by road from Hobart; Bruny’s car ferry leaves from Kettering, 33 km away. If Maria Island is your pick, Tours Tasmania’s day from Hobart covers the coach, the ferry and the park fees: from US$164 a person, checked November 2026.

The calendar above is the Maria Island day, with 243 reviews (checked November 2026). The Bruny Island days are in the cards further down.

Two islands, two ferries

Figures from the Parks and Wildlife Service, Encounter Maria Island (the Maria Island ferry), Island Connections and Tourism Australia, checked November 2026; road distances routed from the Hobart CBD.

Maria Island: the walking day

Maria Island is a national park with no cars, and the Parks and Wildlife Service says bookings on the ferry are essential. Encounter Maria Island’s summer timetable, September to April, has four sailings a day from Triabunna; in winter, May to August, there are three, none on Tuesdays or Thursdays, and every departure is subject to demand and safe sailing. Passengers check in at the Maria Island Gateway beside the Triabunna wharf.

Once ashore you are on foot. Darlington, by the landing, is a convict settlement on the World Heritage list. The Painted Cliffs are sandstone streaked orange, red and yellow, and the Parks and Wildlife Service says their rock platform is safest within two hours of low tide, with no access from the clifftop. The same service asks visitors to keep 2 metres from all wildlife. There are no shops or cafes and the water supply is limited, so bring food and a full bottle.

The day tour makes the logistics one booking. Tours Tasmania’s Maria Island day leaves 20 Davey Street at 6:45 AM from October to April, includes the return ferry tickets and the national park fees, and walks about 10 km on unpaved tracks with a guide, back in Hobart around 5:00 PM. Meals are not included. The minimum age is 8, and it is not suitable for people with mobility impairments or wheelchair users.

Bruny Island: the eating and looking day

Bruny is two islands joined by a narrow neck, and its day is made of short stops: lookouts, beaches, the lighthouse at Cape Bruny and the food producers in between. There is no public transport on the island, by Tourism Australia’s guide, so the choice is a car or a tour. South Bruny National Park needs a parks pass, and at the Cape Bruny lighthouse vehicles can enter the grounds from 9.30am to 4.30pm, with walkers allowed at any time.

If you drive, the car ferry from Kettering needs no booking: tickets are sold at the terminal, and foot passengers travel free. Without a car, a tour is the way, and the three below are different days. bruny-island-tour.com covers the island and its day trips in depth.

Pick your island

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide, checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote.

So which one?

• You want to walk all day: Maria Island. About 10 km on the tour, on an island with no cars.
• You want to eat and look: Bruny. The cruise day and the food day put lunch in the price; on the Tassie Tours Tasmania day you buy your own.
• You have a car: Bruny is the easier island to do yourself, with the car on the ferry and no booking needed. On Maria Island there are no cars, so yours stays at Triabunna.
• You want sea cliffs and seals from a boat: the Bruny cruise day spends 3 hours on the water.
• You have children under 8: the Maria Island day is out (minimum age 8). The Bruny Island Safaris day takes children, though under-5s cannot climb the lighthouse stairs.

Both islands want warm layers and a waterproof jacket, whatever Hobart looks like in the morning. Day trips from Hobart by distance puts both beside the other trips.