A planned outage for the Raymond Island Ferry will occur on Thursday 27 April for maintenance work.
The ferry will be out of service from 9.00 am until approximately 12.00 pm.
The barge will be available for emergency services vehicles and the water taxi will transport pedestrians during normal ferry working hours.
An SMS has been sent to all members of the RICA ferry list.
0418 517 959
Fares are paid when boarding. Payment by eftpos only.
Prices are return fares. Effective from 1 August 2022
Annual passes can be purchased from our Bairnsdale or Paynesville service centres.
If you have any questions about annual ferry passes, please contact our Customer Service Centre on 5153 9500.
To set up a payment account contact our Finance Department on (03) 5153 9500.
Bylaws for ferry travel
We have some specific General Local Laws for passengers on the Raymond Island Ferry.
You must not travel on the ferry without paying the fee, unless you hold a current Raymond Island Ferry Pass (which must be attached to the driver’s side of your vehicle windscreen).
You must also must comply with any reasonable direction of the ferry operator. The maximum penalty for fare avoidance or failure to comply with operator directions is 5 penalty units (currently $924.60).
An authorised officer may serve this infringement notice (Schedule 7 to the Local Law) as an alternative to prosecution.
Penalty units
Penalty units are set by the Victorian Government and are adjusted for inflation each financial year.
For 2022-23, the value of penalty units are:
The Raymond Island Ferry leaves from:
The following service changes apply during the Christmas holiday period:
Christmas Eve
Last service departs 1.15 am Christmas Day
Christmas Day
Train service departs 5.20 am
Services then operate from 7.00 am to 11.40 am continuous
No ferry service between 12.00 pm and 2.00 pm
Services resume at 2.00 pm with the last service leaving at 11.15 pm
New Year's Eve
Last service departs 1.15 am 1 January
If you miss the last service or need the ferry out of hours it attracts a significant fee. You will need to contact the ferry on 0437 748 736 and pay the after hours service fee. Emergency services can access Raymond Island 24 hours a day.
This situation can occur for a variety of reasons including:
The crossing takes about four minutes.
Call the ferry on 0437 748 736 when leaving Bairnsdale. The ferry will meet you at the Paynesville terminal. This is a one-way service from Paynesville to Raymond Island. Normal fees apply.
No, pedestrians travel for free.
There has been no increase in price for standard vehicle return trips at the terminal, some larger vehicles
and commercial trips have increased by $1.00. The annual paid pass has increased from $270 to
$300. Fees have also increased for annual passes for trucks and buses and out of hours service. A new
fee of $30 has also been introduced to cover the cost of replacing lost or damaged passes.
The annual ferry pass system commences 1 September 2022. New passes will be required to be
presented from 1 September 2022.
Emergency Services travel free and take precedent when responding to an event.
Read the Raymond Island Service Charter
Scheduled outages - we have one scheduled outage where the ferry is taken out of the water for three weeks. This outage is every two to three years and is usually in October.
Unscheduled outages - we cannot give advance notice of unplanned outages.
Pedestrians
Pedestrians are able to use a free water taxi, which leaves from:
Vehicles
A vehicle barge is available during extended ferry outages.
Private vehicles are only allowed to use the barge in exceptional circumstances. Requests can be made directly to the ferry operator on mobile 0437 748 736.
The vehicle barge is used for:
The barge operates from:
If the ferry breaks down, residents will be allowed to take their vehicle off Raymond Island.
Drivers are not allowed to leave their vehicles unless told to by the ferry operator.
Under maritime law, master/s of the vessel operating are responsible for ensuring passenger and vessel safety and accordingly are empowered to exercise absolute discretion on vessel operations which, in some situations, may result in the following arrangements being varied or temporarily suspended.
Certain vehicles can have trouble accessing the ferry when water levels become too high or low.
Truck and long-vehicle drivers should check with the ferry operator on 0437 748 736 to ensure there are no restrictions in place. This should be done before collecting your load.
This approach is strongly recommended as the ferry driver will know you are coming.
A group of Raymond Island volunteers run an SMS service that you can subscribe to for an annual fee.
The service lets you know about unscheduled outages and service updates, it does not give reasons or offer advice.
To find out more, email or speak to the ferry driver.
Council is not involved in the information service. Although, on occasions, we may request a particular message. The timing and content of messages is controlled by the volunteers.
Yes, if they are on a lead and you keep them under control.
First speak to the ferry operator. If you have further concerns or the issue cannot be resolved by the ferry driver you can contact us.