Wineglass Bay: Cruise or Walk?

If what you want is the famous view of Wineglass Bay, walk: that view is only from the Wineglass Bay Lookout, a 2.6 km return walk of 1 to 1.5 hours from the Wineglass Bay Walking Tracks Car Park, and beyond a parks pass it costs nothing. The cruise from Coles Bay is a different thing, 4½ hours on the water that shows the bay from sea level, the coast south of The Hazards that no road or short walk reaches, and the wildlife on the way. Many people do both in one day.

The short answer

Walk to the lookout if you are fit enough for a steady climb on steps and gravel, the Parks and Wildlife Service grades it 3, and the curve of the bay seen from above is what you came for. Take the cruise if you cannot or would rather not climb, if you want to be on the water among the granite and the sea life, or if you want to see the beaches on the far side of the peninsula. If you have a day in Coles Bay, take the 9:45 am cruise and walk to the lookout in the afternoon: the boat is back at 2:30 pm.

What each one shows you

The lookout sits on a saddle in The Hazards, and from it you look down over the forest to the whole curve of the beach and the bay; it is the picture on the postcards. The cruise comes into the bay from the Tasman Sea, so you see the beach end-on at water level, with the granite of The Hazards behind it, but not the curve from above. On the way the boat passes Cooks Beach and Bryans Beach, which you can otherwise reach only by boat or a full day’s walk, sea caves and blowholes, and the inner passage by Schouten Island, and it looks for dolphins, fur seals, sea eagles and, in season, whales.

Walk figures from the Parks and Wildlife Service, park pass prices November 2026; the cruise price per person from the listing.

The walk, in detail

The track starts at the Wineglass Bay Walking Tracks Car Park, which has toilets and a drinking-water tap, and climbs to the lookout: 2.6 km there and back, 1 to 1.5 hours. Wear sturdy shoes; the surface is granite and loose gravel. From the saddle you can carry on down to the beach itself, about 1,000 stairs, which makes it 6 km return and 2.5 to 3.5 hours, and the walk down to the beach is not for everyone, since every one of those stairs has to be climbed again on the way back. There is a composting toilet at the bay and no bins, so carry your rubbish out. The longest day walk, the circuit over the isthmus to Hazards Beach and round the coast, is 11 km and 4 to 5 hours (Grade 4).

A parks pass is required to enter Freycinet National Park: a daily pass is A$49.15 for a vehicle with up to 8 people or A$24.55 a person on foot, by bicycle or bus, and a holiday pass for up to two months is A$98.35 for a vehicle (Parks and Wildlife Service, November 2026). Children under 5 are free. The Freycinet Visitor Centre, at the park entrance, is open from 9 am to 4 pm every day.

When the cruise is the right answer

Take the cruise when the climb is not for you or someone in your group, with small children, a bad knee or a wheelchair; when you want to see Freycinet from the water, which on the ocean side you cannot do any other way; or when you would rather spend the day on a boat with lunch than on a track. It is also the only way to see Cooks Beach and Bryans Beach without a full day’s walk.

The calendar above is for the cruise listed as From Coles Bay: Wineglass Bay Cruise with Lunch, from US$148 a person (checked November 2026), with 587 reviews.

The ways in between

Two other ways reach the beach itself without the stairs from the saddle in both directions. The Freycinet Aqua Express is a 30-minute boat ride from the Coles Bay boat ramp on Garnet Avenue across Great Oyster Bay to Hazards Beach, from where the Isthmus Track is a 2 km walk over to Wineglass Bay; a same-day return costs A$130 an adult and A$110 a child (Freycinet Aqua Express, November 2026), and you bring your own food. On Viator it is sold as the Wineglass Bay shared cruise and walking tour, from US$93 (checked November 2026). A guided option is Experiential Tasmania’s Freycinet Walking Tour, from US$189: about 5½ hours in a group of up to 8 from Freycinet Lodge, up to the lookout, down to the beach, across to Hazards Beach for a picnic lunch and back by boat; the parks pass is not included.

Without a car, the days from Hobart, such as Wineglass Bay Discovery Tours' day via Richmond, from US$111 in current promotion (usually US$123), walk to the lookout with a guide and include the parks pass, but none of them includes the cruise.