Ten dollars fifty, twenty-five minutes, six wharves. Central Coast Ferries' Brisbane Water run leaves Woy Woy Wharf, a two-minute walk from the station, and works its way east through Saratoga and Davistown to Empire Bay. It is one route with one timetable, so this page covers the whole corridor rather than each stop.
Only times that match in both Central Coast Ferries' timetable and Transport for NSW's EMPB timetable (valid from 1 January 2025), compared on 24 September 2026. The operator says its timetable can change without notice Central Coast Ferries – Woy Woy Empire Bay timetable · 2026-09-24
$10.50 buys an adult a single trip anywhere on this line, and it is the price IPART, the NSW pricing tribunal, set as the route's maximum for 2026. For that you get up to half an hour on Brisbane Water: Woy Woy to Davistown Central takes about 25 minutes and the full run to Empire Bay about 30, with stops at Saratoga's Veterans Hall, Lintern Street and Pine Avenue on the way.
Central Coast Ferries is a family business based at the Empire Bay end, and Transport for NSW lists the route as a private ferry service rather than as part of its own network. That status is about to change. The operator says a new contract with Transport for NSW will bring Opal to its wharves; for now, passengers pay cash or EFTPOS on board.
The shape of the day is set by the trains at Woy Woy. The boats leave from a wharf two minutes from the station, the evening runs are marked as train connections, and on weekdays there is a three-hour gap out of Woy Woy between the 13:50 and the 16:50, broken only by a school-day boat.
The adult single is the one number two official bodies agree on: Central Coast Ferries charges $10.50, and IPART, the NSW pricing regulator, lifted this route's maximum adult single-trip fare from $10.20 to exactly that for 2026. The child, concession and return prices below come from the operator's own list only.
Opal does not work on this boat yet. Central Coast Ferries says it is moving to a new contract with Transport for NSW that will bring card readers to the wharves; until they are installed it takes cash and EFTPOS, and says it prefers cash. The old ten-trip tickets have already been withdrawn.
| Adult, one way | $ 10.50 |
| Adult, return | $ 20.50 |
| Child 4–15 or concession, one way | $ 5.30 |
| Child 4–15 or concession, return | $ 10.50 |
| Child aged 3 and under | Free |
Fares from 1 April 2026 as published by Central Coast Ferries, read 24 September 2026; the adult single matches the maximum IPART set for this route for 2026 Central Coast Ferries – Timetables and fares · 2026-09-24
The line runs east from Woy Woy across Brisbane Water, calling along the Saratoga and Davistown waterfront before tucking into Empire Bay. Everything on it is sheltered water, well inside Broken Bay — which is what makes it a different proposition from the harbour-mouth crossings further south, and the reason it keeps a timetable built around the railway rather than around tourists.
The western end of the line, and the reason it exists: the wharf is a two-minute walk from Woy Woy station on the Central Coast rail line. On the peak-hour runs the ferry master may hold the boat five to ten minutes for a late train; if yours is running behind, ring 0418 631 313. Like every stop on this route, you are expected to be on the wharf five minutes early and to flag the ferry down.
The third stop out of Woy Woy and the one most visitors use, because Davistown RSL — the Davo — is next to it. Tell the skipper you are going to the club and he will ring ahead for the courtesy bus. Beyond it the boat calls at Pine Avenue and finishes five minutes later at Empire Bay Wharf, the end of the line. On the last two weekday evening runs those final two stops are request-only.
This is a flag-down service. Be on the wharf five minutes before the listed time and signal the ferry as it approaches, especially at the smaller intermediate wharves.
Saratoga and Sorrento, the two catamarans, are accessible, but tides and some wharves limit that. The third boat, Codock II, has stairs and cannot take wheelchairs. Call 0418 631 313 on the day to find out which boat is running.
On services marked for train connections, the ferry master can hold the boat five to ten minutes for a late train. It is discretion, not a guarantee, so phone if you are running well behind.
The 10:45 and 12:30 from Woy Woy are the operator's suggested lunch boats. The club's courtesy bus meets you at Davistown Central and runs back for the ferry at 1:15 pm or 2:15 pm.
The first stop out of Woy Woy is the start of the Illoura walk: east along Henderson Road for the Veteran Hall Pioneer Cemetery, then about fifteen minutes via Malinya Road and Pyang Avenue to Illoura Reserve.
The three boats on the roster each have a past elsewhere. Saratoga, a 78-passenger aluminium catamaran built in Queensland in 2003, is the regular. Her near-twin Sorrento, launched the same year by the same builder, ran to Stradbroke Island and then did a school run on Lake Macquarie before Central Coast Ferries bought her in 2015. Her name is a small piece of local history: Sorrento was a guest house on the bay, and the suburb was meant to take the name until postal authorities objected that Melbourne already had one — so it became Empire Bay instead.
The third boat is older than all of it. Codock II's hull was built as a 40-foot workboat during or just after the Second World War; Cockatoo Dockyard acquired her in 1947 and fitted her out to carry its workers across Sydney Harbour, with offcut teak from refitted wartime ships in her cabin. She reached Brisbane Water in 2006. It is a very different pedigree from the nearest other private service on our map, the Palm Beach to The Basin ferry on Pittwater, but both routes answer to IPART on fares.
Not yet. Transport for NSW's own timetable says Opal cannot be used on this service. Central Coast Ferries says Opal readers will come with its new Transport for NSW contract; until then it accepts cash and EFTPOS, and prefers cash.
About 25 minutes to Davistown Central (RSL) Wharf, the third stop. The whole run to Empire Bay takes about 30 minutes, calling at Saratoga Veterans Hall, Lintern Street and Pine Avenue.
The 17:15 from Davistown Central, reaching Woy Woy at 17:40, is the last return both official timetables agree on. The boats after that, the 16:50 and 17:50 from Woy Woy, are outbound commuter runs.
Because the two official timetables do not agree. The operator and Transport for NSW list Empire Bay departures between one and five minutes apart, so we publish only the Davistown Central times, where they match, and advise being at Empire Bay a few minutes early.
Six sailings each way on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays, from 09:30 out of Woy Woy. It does not run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day.
Yes: $20.50 for an adult and $10.50 for a child or concession holder, against $10.50 and $5.30 one way. Children aged three and under travel free. The ten-trip tickets the operator used to sell have been withdrawn.
Central Coast Ferries charges separately for bikes, canoes, camping equipment and freight, and does not publish those prices, so ask the skipper or ring 0418 631 313.