The Tasman Island Cruise and Port Arthur

You can do the Tasman Island cruise and the Port Arthur Historic Site on the same day: the cruise’s booking centre is on the Arthur Highway just before the Historic Site entrance, about 800 m on foot from its visitor centre. Without a car, the day that does both is Pennicott Wilderness Journeys’ Tasman Peninsula Tour, Cruise & Port Arthur Historic Site from Hobart, from US$243 a person (checked November 2026): the cruise in the morning, then about 3 hours at the Historic Site with lunch and the site entry. With a car, book the cruise and buy a site ticket, A$55 for an adult (Port Arthur Historic Site, November 2026).

The calendar above is Pennicott’s cruise and Port Arthur day from Hobart, with 384 reviews (checked November 2026).

The short answer

Cruise first, Historic Site second. The morning cruise is on the water from about 10 am to 1 pm, and the Historic Site is open from 9 am to 5 pm, which leaves the whole afternoon for the convict ruins. The Historic Site ticket runs for two consecutive days, so if you can stay a night on the peninsula, split the site over two afternoons, or do the site in the morning and the afternoon cruise, which runs from 1 December to 28 April.

Where the two are

The booking centre is on the Arthur Highway at 6961, and the Historic Site’s visitor centre is about 800 m further on foot, around 10 minutes. The site’s own jetty, inside the grounds, is where its harbour cruise and Pennicott’s Cape Raoul cruise leave; the Tasman Island cruise does not use it, because its bus collects passengers at the booking centre. Out in the bay lies the Isle of the Dead, the final resting place of more than 1,000 people who lived and laboured at Port Arthur, some under headstones and many in unmarked graves; on the far shore is Point Puer, which the Historic Site calls the first purpose-built juvenile prison in the British Empire. The site is one of the 11 places that make up the Australian Convict Sites World Heritage property.

What a Historic Site ticket includes

General admission is A$55 for an adult, A$27.50 for a child and A$44 concession. It covers the grounds and more than 30 historic buildings, ruins, restored houses and gardens, free guide talks of 10 to 15 minutes through the day, and a 20-minute harbour cruise. The ticket is valid for two consecutive days. The site is open daily from 9 am to 5 pm and closes only on Christmas Day (Port Arthur Historic Site, November 2026).

The harbour cruise in the ticket is a short loop on the bay around the Isle of the Dead. It is not the Tasman Island cruise and does not go out to the cliffs, which is worth knowing when a Port Arthur day tour from Hobart lists “harbour cruise” among its inclusions. Separately ticketed site tours include the Isle of the Dead tour, A$85 for an adult, and the 90-minute lantern-lit Ghost Tour, A$35 for an adult, Wednesday to Sunday evenings (from 7 pm October to March, from 6 pm April to September).

Check dates for the cruise and Port Arthur day

The combined ways to book

Prices, ratings and review counts from the listings (GetYourGuide checked November 2026; Viator checked November 2026). Operators price by date and season, so treat the figures as the shape of the market, not a quote. On their own sites Pennicott prices the Full Day Tour with the Historic Site at A$345 an adult and A$235 a child, and the Cape Raoul cruise with site entry at A$190 an adult (November 2026).

A day that works, if you drive

Leave Hobart by about 7:30 am for the 90-minute drive and check in at the booking centre by 9:15 am. The bus takes you to the boat, and you are back at the booking centre at about 1 pm. Walk the 800 m or so to the Historic Site’s visitor centre, eat there, and spend the afternoon on the grounds until the 5 pm close; the harbour cruise in your ticket is a calm 20 minutes after three hours on the open ocean. If you stay the night, the Ghost Tour runs in the evening from Wednesday to Sunday, and the second day of your ticket is free for the parts you missed.