Cruise over the Swan River to Rottnest Island—affectionately dubbed Rotto by locals—to tour this idyllic paradise by bus and on foot. Gaze out at dolphins from the West End lookout, learn about the island's stint as a penal colony, and get up close to its tiny, native kangaroo—the quokka.

Head to the pier in Perth and step aboard a ferry for a quick and picturesque ride to Rottnest Island. This low, sandy isle is just 7 miles (11 km) long and 3 miles (5 km) wide. Take a seat on a comfortable coach and circumnavigate the island, gazing out at stretches of sandy beach and pockets of rugged shoreline.

Watch for fur seals basking on the rocks as your guide shares insight into the island's maritime history and more troubled past. Before it became a tourist destination, Rottnest Island spent a century as a penal colony for Aboriginal prisoners from around the country.

Today, the island still holds great significance for Aboriginal communities—not because of its 19th-century prison, but due to the presence of artifacts and spiritual sites dating back 6,500 years. Hop off the bus at West End to stroll the boardwalk to the Wadjemup Lighthouse. Look out over the aquamarine waters of the Indian Ocean, and see if you can spot pods of humpback whales and dolphins.

Geckos, rock parrots, and turquoise sacred kingfishers all thrive here, in addition to the island's most iconic critter—the Rottnest quokka. The Dutch explorer Willem de Vlamingh mistook these miniature kangaroos for rats in 1696, devising the moniker Rotte Nest (meaning rats' nest) as a result. Today, 12,000 of these diminutive marsupials hop around the island, and a visit to Rotto wouldn't be complete without a photo alongside this adorable Aussie animal.