Long wait for Tassie RV travellers

Planning a caravan trip to Tasmania?

While the cost to get across and back can put a lot of mainland-based RV travelers off, dragging a van around the Apple Isle remains one of life’s great pleasures.

But securing a booking for your tow rig on the Spirit of Tasmania crossing on the dates you desire is proving an increasingly frustrating exercise, with demand rising for limited spots on the ferries since the easing of COVID-19 border restrictions just over 12 months ago.

Anecdotally, there have been reports of the ferries being fully booked until 2024, but the official line is there are still some spots available, although they appear to be limited to periods outside school holidays and other peak times.

A Spirit of Tasmania spokesperson told caravancampingsales that there was still some availability for the remainder of 2023 but most of these spots are south-bound: for those travelling from the new mainland departure point in Geelong to the Devenport drop-off in Tasmania.

“While there is limited space available for northbound high vehicles between now and mid-September, after this time there are no constraints,” the spokesperson said.

“For southbound voyages, there is high availability on nearly all sailings until mid-September, and from mid-September there are limited opportunities for a high vehicle classification until November.

“For caravans and motorhomes, there are no spots available for northbound trips until mid-September, but after this there are no constraints." 

The bottom line is RV travellers need to be prepared to wait, or delay their road trip until 2024, and try and book as early as possible.

“Bookings for 2024 departures open 11 months ahead, so we are only accepting bookings for sailings up until February. There is space available for all sailings,” the spokesperson said.

“It is important to note that Spirit of Tasmania has said before that bookings need to be made well in advance to secure sailing dates wanted.”

Better news for caravanners is that the ageing Spirit of Tasmania fleet will be replaced soon by shiny new ships with more deck space to provide greater access and room for more caravans, camper trailers and motorhomes to make the trip across Bass Strait.

“The first of two new larger vessels are due to arrive on Bass Strait in 2024,” the spokesperson said.

Tourism numbers have risen significantly in Tasmania since COVID-19 border restrictions were largely lifted from late-2021, with a total of 966,500 interstate and international visitors to the Apple Isle for the year ending September 2022 (up 48 per cent year on year).