Four departures where the vehicle carries nobody but your own party. What that buys on this attraction is not comfort but the clock: every shared departure allows one to two hours among the pillars, and on one of these you decide. Pinnacles Desert tours from Perth list every guided departure, shared or private.
A vehicle, a guide and your own party, collected from your Perth accommodation and taken north on a route you have some say over. Three of the four are road departures of eight to twelve hours; the fourth flies you from Jandakot and pairs the desert with Rottnest Island.
The thing that separates them from a shared seat is not the vehicle. It is that nothing on the day has to happen at a particular minute because thirty other people are waiting.
One of these states in its own fare that you can stay as long as you like at the Pinnacles. On a coach that decision belongs to the driver.
Three are quoted per person and one for the whole vehicle, at $855 for up to nine travellers. That single difference is what makes a private day the cheaper option for a group of seven or more.
Lunch is excluded on the customisable day tour, and that is the point — you pick the stop rather than being taken to one. Cervantes has the rock-lobster restaurants the coaches use.
The Discovery Centre closes at 4:30 pm and the light does not arrive until much later. A departure with no fixed finishing time is the only one that can reach both.
Three state that infant seats are available and two that prams are carried. Nothing here has to keep up with a schedule.
The honest comparison, including the point where the arithmetic flips.
| Party size | Cheapest shared seats | Private vehicle, up to nine | Which is lower |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 travellers | $254 | $855 | Shared |
| 4 travellers | $508 | $855 | Shared |
| 6 travellers | $763 | $855 | Shared, just |
| 7 travellers | $890 | $855 | Private |
| 9 travellers | $1,145 | $855 | Private, comfortably |
Book the per-vehicle private day
Below about seven travellers you are paying for flexibility rather than saving money, which may still be the right call. The day departures page and the evening one set out the shared alternatives.
In the fare across these four: a vehicle and guide for your party alone, and park entry on all four. The premium day adds snacks, bottled water and alcoholic beverages; the scenic flight adds GST, the guide and bottled water.
Not in the fare: meals, on three of the four. The premium day states no meals at all, the customisable day leaves lunch to you, and the lobster-shack day charges meals separately. Sandboard hire and the Yanchep cave fee are extra on the customisable day.
Price band: $407 to $855, with one quoted per vehicle rather than per head. Read which before comparing.
Duration: eight to twelve hours on the road departures, nine on the flight.
Group cap: seven, nine and ten travellers on the road departures. The flight carries ten and needs a minimum of two.
Booking window: all four refund in full at twenty-four hours’ notice. The flight is subject to favourable weather.
If you are one or two travellers on a budget, the sums do not work. A shared evening seat is $127 and covers the same field with dinner and a telescope — the evening departures are the better value by a wide margin.
If you want dinner in the desert and a telescope, none of these carries either. That is an evening-departure product.
If you are two or more with a hire car, consider not booking at all. Park entry is A$17 a vehicle and you already have the flexibility; the drive-yourself comparison does the arithmetic.
If the flight is what appeals, be clear that it spends four of its nine hours on Rottnest Island. It is a Western Australia highlights day that includes the Pinnacles, not a Pinnacles tour with a flight attached.
All four, with what each fare covers and how long it keeps you out. Pinnacles Tours has the shared departures as well.
Your own vehicle from your Perth hotel, with the field for as long as you want it and lunch wherever suits. Yanchep, Two Rocks and the Lancelin dunes on the way.
From $407 per person
A Mercedes V-Class, West Australian guides, snacks and drinks, and two hours among the pillars. Eight to twelve hours, seven travellers, prams and infant seats.
From $475 per person
Priced for the vehicle rather than the head, up to nine travellers, collected from your hotel at seven. The pillars, the lobster shack and the Lancelin dunes.
From $855 per group
A light aircraft north from Jandakot instead of two hours of road, two hours on the ground with a guide, then four hours on Rottnest Island. Minimum two passengers.
From $803 per person