WA’s Rottnest Island accommodation sold out for January 2022

It’s the island escape everyone clearly wants to experience, with thousands of Aussies left unable to book a stay eight months in advance.

It’s the Aussie island that’s so hot right now, an overnight stay more than eight months away has booked out in a matter of minutes.

Aussies unsure whether they will be able to venture abroad for the popular Christmas school holidays have been left in the lurch, after vacancies to stay on Rottnest Island in January were exhausted by thousands of holiday hopefuls.

The sale for bookings on the Western Australian island, which kicked off at 8.30am local time on Monday, saw thousands jump on the website with many banked up in the queue and ultimately unable to book.

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Rottnest Island has quickly become a holiday hotspot, with some unable to book a holiday eight months in advance. Picture: Colin Murty

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Sydney mum Alison, who had plans to visit Rottnest Island with friends in January, had all 10 guests within her party login at the start of the sale to nab a few nights.

But within seconds, she knew her chances of booking a cabin were all but lost.

“We were hoping to secure a week-long booking in January, flying over from Sydney to stay on Rottnest Island with friends from Perth,” Alison told news.com.au.

“A group of us from Sydney, Melbourne and Perth had been waiting for bookings to open for months and had all blocked out time from work to make sure we were online.

“You could imagine how shocked I was when bookings finally opened and I was 8790 in the queue.

“A friend who was 512 in the queue (which seemed to almost be a miracle) still had to wait almost half an hour before finally getting through to the site. When she managed to secure a unit on three different occasions, every time she entered her credit card details and clicked ‘book now’ it said the unit was no longer available.”

The incredible Rottnest Island experiences.

Snorkelling off Rottnest Island . Picture: Tourism WA

Many took to social media to vent similar anger at long wait times and booking issues.

According to the Rottnest Island Authority, more than 9000 were stuck in online queues on Monday morning, while a further 3000 dialled into the call centre and another 300 lined up in person on Rottnest Island as well as in Fremantle.

A mere 7927 people ahead of me in the queue ⁦@RottnestIsland⁩ pic.twitter.com/HSphhRuB1I

— Jean Perkins (@jellybeanjeanp) May 3, 2021

@RottnestIsland once again your online booking system and phone lines are a complete disaster. Phone line keeps crashing and your website is not even loading. I'm sure you can do better.

— Stephen Liedig (@sliedigaws) May 3, 2021

The Rottnest Island NY booking crush makes the Boxing Day sales look like a meditation retreat.

— steve taylor (@thatstevetaylor) May 3, 2021

PerthNow reported it took just 46 minutes for all self-contained accommodation on the island to sell out.

In a statement, the Rottnest Island Authority said the online system went to plan and successfully processed about 90 per cent of bookings.

“For a period of time people trying to access the booking system via the RIA website may have experienced technical difficulties. To overcome these issues RIA quickly published a direct link to the booking system via its social media channels,” the RIA said in a statement to PerthNow.

It’s not the first time the booking platform has been inundated with requests ahead of a busy season.

While the island always experiences high demand during the peak season of Christmas, this coming festive period saw more bookings than normal.

Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and the week of December 27 to 31 were all booked and paid for by travellers within minutes of going live in early April.

The island is a popular spot for overnight stays and day-trippers.

The island, just 8km off the WA coast, is not only a popular place to stay overnight – but day-trippers love it as well.

Typically, a visit to the island takes just 25 minutes on a ferry from Fremantle, 45 minutes from Hillarys Boat Harbour in the northern suburbs of Perth, or 90 minutes via a ferry from Perth’s Barrack Street Jetty.

With over 63 beaches across the island (and a bunch of cute quokkas) the attraction of calm and clear waters is an easy sell.

Rottnest’s most popular activities include swimming, snorkelling, diving and fishing, as well as whale watching cruises and even skydiving sessions.

But for Alison, her most recent experience to book a holiday on the island could well be the last.

“After that experience, getting accommodation on Rottnest Island in January seems about as likely as winning the lotto,” she said.

“We were all exhausted by the process and are now considering going to Queensland instead.”