City of Rockingham, Western Australia

Penguin Island Walk Trail

Distance1.4 km

Elevation gain10 m

DifficultyEasy

Estimated time18 min

Overview

A 1.44 km loop around a low island in Shoalwater Bay, off Rockingham. The walk crosses the dunes on boardwalk to the exposed western shore, where marked lookouts give onto open water and the rocks below. Little penguins breed on the island, though they spend the daylight hours at sea and are seldom seen from the path.

Points of interest

Jetty — Where the ferry puts walkers ashore, on the island's sheltered eastern side, at the very start of the loop. It is also where you wait to leave, so read the return times before setting off.
Lookout — A marked viewpoint at the island's northern end, at km 0.53 and standing directly on the trail. It faces open water over the rocks below; the lookouts on this walk are the points set aside for watching the island's seabirds and marine life.
Penguin Island Discovery Centre — The former visitor building and penguin enclosure, passed at km 1.23. Rescued little penguins were kept here for visitors to see; it closed in 2023, the birds were re-homed, plans for a replacement were abandoned, and the building is to be demolished and its site rehabilitated. Older descriptions still give it as the start of the trail — it is a landmark you pass, not somewhere to go in.

Trail alerts

The island is closed to the public from June to September, the little penguin breeding season, and on any day the temperature is forecast to exceed 35 °C. Between mid-September and early June visitors may be on it only during specified daylight hours. An extension of the closure period has been under discussion, so confirm the dates before travelling.
Both the way in and the way out are the ferry from Shoalwater. The loop closes on foot but the day does not: miss the last sailing and there is no other way off the island.
Do not cross the sandbar. The bar between the mainland and the island lies under water of varying depth, conditions turn quickly, and several people have drowned attempting it. The managing department tells visitors to stay off it and take the boat.
No closure dataset covers this area, so this route carries no live closure check. The seasonal dates above come from the island's published description, not from a feed, and a short-notice closure would not reach us.

Trail character

The loop stays close to sea level: 10 m of ascent and 10 m of descent in all, and the highest ground on the line is 11 m.
About 432 m of it is raised boardwalk and 250 m is loose sand; a further 471 m is ordinary path, and the remaining 288 m — a fifth of the line — carries no surface description at all, so the footing changes without warning.
There are flights of steps on the circuit. It is not step-free, and not a route for a pram or a wheelchair.
Published descriptions call this the Penguin Island Walk Trail, but nothing on the island is waymarked as a numbered or coloured route, and no marked hiking route is recorded here at all. There are no signs to follow: keep to the made path and the shore, or follow the recorded track.

Access & rules

The island has no roads and nowhere to leave a vehicle; you arrive by water, and the walk begins and ends at the jetty where the boat ties up. No car park, stop or trailhead lies within 250 m of the loop, because the loop is offshore — leave the car on the mainland.
A passenger ferry crosses from Mersey Point on the Rockingham foreshore and takes about five minutes. Private boat and kayak are the other ways over. Look up the sailing timetable and the island's open dates together: they answer the same question.
Nothing on the island sells food, and no toilets or kiosks are in service — the former Discovery Centre beside the path is shut. Carry what you need for the walk.
Dogs have been recorded as barred from the island since 1950. That comes from an encyclopaedia article rather than a current Western Australian government notice, so confirm the position before bringing one.

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