One ferry company, two ports, and in October 2026 a new pair of ships. Spirit of Tasmania I and II sail their last bookable crossings between Geelong and Devonport on 22 October; after an eight-day pause, Spirit of Tasmania IV and V take over the overnight run on 31 October.
Taken on 7 October 2026 from the sailing schedule published by Spirit of Tasmania (loaded to 3 October 2027) and checked against Tourism Tasmania's 6:45pm and 6:00am times; the operator calls all times indicative Spirit of Tasmania – Sailing schedule · 2026-10-07
22 October, 23–30 October, 31 October 2026. Those are the three dates that matter on the Geelong to Devonport route this month. Spirit of Tasmania I and II, the two red-and-white ships that have crossed Bass Strait since September 2002, carry their last bookable passengers on 22 October. For the following eight days nothing can be booked in either direction while TT-Line, the company behind the service, completes the changeover to its new fleet. On 31 October Spirit of Tasmania IV and V make their first commercial sailings.
The new ships are bigger in every published measure: 212 metres long against 194.3, room for up to 1,800 passengers against about 1,400, and 4,098 lane metres for vehicles against 2,565. Cabins rise from 222 to 301. Both were built by Rauma Marine Constructions in Finland, which TT-Line engaged in 2021, and the operator plans to sell the old pair to run on routes elsewhere in the world.
The timetable barely moves. Before and after the switch the ship leaves Geelong and Devonport at 6:45pm each night and docks at about 6:00am, a crossing the operator puts at nine to eleven hours. What does change is the Tasmanian address: from 24 October the Devonport terminal moves to a new quay at 112 Wright Street, East Devonport.
Spirit of Tasmania sets each sailing's price from the demand it forecasts, so two sailings a week apart can be priced quite differently, and the day you book matters too. Its own explanation lists three levers: when you travel, how far ahead you book and how busy that sailing is. Vehicles are priced by length and height as well as date, direction and sailing time, and the bands split at 2.1 metres of height and 6 metres of length.
Published figures are limited to the operator's lowest advertised prices, each limited to selected sailings. The figures below are those lead-in fares, one way, not what a given night will cost. A fuel surcharge that applied to bookings made between April and August 2026 was removed on 1 September.
| Adult passenger, from | $ 49 |
| Child 3–15, from | $ 25 |
| Standard vehicle with a paying passenger, from | $ 49 |
| Business Recliner upgrade, from | $ 49 |
| Standard Recliner with a paid fare, night sailings | Free |
Lead-in prices from Spirit of Tasmania's current offers, read on 7 October 2026; every sailing is priced separately, and the operator's fare tables carry no fixed figures Spirit of Tasmania – Latest offers · 2026-10-07
The ship leaves Corio Bay, works out through Port Phillip and the Heads into Bass Strait, and ends the night in the mouth of the Mersey River at Devonport, on Tasmania's north coast. The Geelong terminal is not the one used by Port Phillip Ferries: their boats from Geelong to Docklands leave from the waterfront in the city centre. On the Tasmanian side, the island's other ferry pages here are much shorter hops, such as the crossing to Maria Island on the east coast or the Derwent ferries at Bellerive in Hobart.
The Victorian terminal sits on Corio Quay, about 70 kilometres south-west of Melbourne's CBD. Parking is free for cars, campervans and caravans waiting to board, and there is a drop-off bay at the front. On foot, the nearest stations are North Shore, 1.4 kilometres away, and North Geelong, 2 kilometres, both on the V/Line from Southern Cross; the operator suggests arranging a lift for the last stretch. Roadworks were affecting the entry from Corio Quay Road when we checked.
Until 23 October the Tasmanian terminal is on the Esplanade in East Devonport. From 24 October it moves to the new Spirit Quay at 112 Wright Street, a seven-hectare site on the same side of the Mersey, between SeaRoad Shipping's site and the Mersey Yacht Club. The operator warns that parking at the Devonport terminal is limited and reserved for passengers.
On Spirit of Tasmania IV and V every vehicle lane has the extra height that caravans and motorhomes need, and lane space grows by almost 60%. Book the right height band: the line is 2.1 metres.
Spirit of Tasmania I and II carry pets in kennels only. Pet-friendly cabins for cats and dogs exist only on IV and V, and their kennels come in several sizes.
The new ships have 301 cabins against 222 on the old pair. A standard recliner is included with a passenger fare on night sailings.
The operator suggests the Sorrento–Queenscliff car ferry across Port Phillip to avoid driving through Melbourne; Queenscliff is about 37 kilometres, roughly 40 minutes, from Spirit of Tasmania Quay.
Geelong has been the Victorian end of the route only since 23 October 2022, when the company opened Spirit of Tasmania Quay at Corio Quay and left Station Pier in Port Melbourne, which it said it had outgrown. The 12-hectare precinct has a 2,131-square-metre terminal, a marshalling area for 600 cars and more than 6,000 square metres of covered parking for passengers, and the operator says Geelong's port already had what the larger ships need. Devonport did not: its new Spirit Quay, seven hectares built by a partnership that includes BMD Constructions, the firm that delivered the Geelong terminal, is due to open with the first sailing of the new ships, four months ahead of the February 2027 date first announced.
TT-Line itself dates from 1 July 1985, when it began carrying passengers and cars across the strait on the German-built Abel Tasman. The first ship to be called Spirit of Tasmania replaced it in 1993, and from 1997 to 2002 a Tasmanian-built catamaran, the Devil Cat, ran six-hour peak-season crossings between George Town and Station Pier. Spirit of Tasmania I and II were built in Turku in 1998 for a Greek operator as Superfast III and IV, and made their first Bass Strait crossings on 1 September 2002. A third ship ran overnight between Sydney's Darling Harbour and Devonport from 2004 until the route was dropped in 2006.
Spirit of Tasmania I and II, until 22 October 2026. From 31 October the route passes to the new Spirit of Tasmania IV and V.
No. Spirit of Tasmania has set aside the last week of October as a transition period, and no travel can be booked from 23 to 30 October.
At 6:45pm on most nights, arriving in Devonport at about 6:00am; the ship from Devonport leaves at the same time. On Sundays 11 and 18 October the schedule shows a 5:00pm departure instead.
It depends on the sailing. The operator advertises adult fares from $49 one way, children aged 3 to 15 from $25 and a standard car from $49, all on selected sailings; busy dates cost more.
From 136 Corio Quay Road in North Geelong, the berth called Spirit of Tasmania Quay, about 70 kilometres south-west of Melbourne's CBD. It no longer sails from Station Pier in Port Melbourne.
Yes. From 24 October 2026 it moves from the Esplanade to the new Spirit Quay at 112 Wright Street, East Devonport.
Not at first. The operator says the new ships will start with night sailings only, and will consider day sailings if demand exceeds the larger ships' capacity.
Only on Spirit of Tasmania IV and V, which have pet-friendly cabins for cats and dogs. On I and II, until 22 October, pets travel in the kennels.