3 More Top Scenic Ferry Trips in Sydney

The Basin, Ku-Ring-Gai National Park

11) Palm Beach to Basin

The starting point for this coastal journey in Sydney’s north with cruise company Fantasea is the wharf at Palm Beach, the real-life location of Summer Bay, the fictional beach town of the famous Australian TV drama Home and Away. If you’ve never seen it, expect postcard beach scenery and a slow-paced village feel. Then, after a 20-minute trip, you’ll be met with dreamy picnic scenes at The Basin, a beachside campground only accessible by the ferry you just took, private boat or foot.

TIP: The Basin has picturesque beaches on one side and the Ku-ring Gai Chase National Park on the other. Explore the parklands via The Basin track and Mackerel track, a two-to-three-hour walk that takes you to an ancient Aboriginal rock art site and lookouts with expansive ocean views.

Ferries run at 9am, 10am, 11am, 12pm, 2pm and 3pm every day from Palm Beach to The Basin. Note: Opal cards are not accepted.

12) Palm Beach to Patonga

Patonga Wharf, Patonga

The attraction for this trip isn’t just the epic Pittwater and Broken Bay scenery but the ferry itself – ‘Merinda II’ a 40-year-old timber ferry built by custom boat designers Norman R. Wright & Sons. Operated by Boathouse Ferry Co, the private ferry takes just under an hour and passes the Barrenjoey Headland, Lion Island and West Head.

TIP: On the other end drop into The Boathouse Hotel Patonga after your swim for a plate of fish and chips, or a platter of oysters and a margarita.

Palm Beach Ferries depart Mondays 10.30am, 12.30pm and 2.30pm and Fri-Sun 10.30am, 12.30pm, 2.30pm and 4.30pm. Note, times can change in periods of bad weather, and Opal cards are not accepted.

13) Brooklyn to Dangar Island and various Hawkesbury River stops

The Riverboat Postman, Brooklyn

The Riverboat Postman has been delivering mail to Hawkesbury River residents with no road access since 1910. Now the ferry works as a private cruise, regaling you with stories of the local area; serving up a ploughman's lunch, tea and coffee; and pouring beers from the ferry’s bar, all while the ferry stops to drop off mail to locals. The cruise picks you up and drops you off at the same area, Hawkesbury River Station, but locals use the trip as a ferry to get to various public jetties on the river, and you can too but know there won’t be a ferry to pick you up until the next day.

TIP: If you get off at Dangar Island to see Aboriginal rock art and swim at Bradleys Beach, you won’t be stranded, Brooklyn Ferry Service can take you back to the mainland and accepts Opal Cards with the final service leaving at 6.30pm on weekends and public holidays or 7.30pm on weekdays.

The Riverboat Postman departs from Hawkesbury River Train Station at 10am every weekday, returning at 1pm. Cruise tickets include lunch. Ferry services are offered at a discounted rate and do not include meals. Note: Opal Cards are not accepted.