Garden Island is situated 13 kilometres or 20 minutes drive south of Fremantle. A causeway over four kilometers long links the island to the mainland.
Garden Island is the site of a maintenance facility of the Royal Australian Navy. Public access to the island is by private boat and only 80 percent of the island is open to the public. Access is not permitted after dark.
Captain James Stirling first landed on Garden Island in 1829, and founded the first European settlement in Western Australia. The Mangles Bay area was once considered as a site for the capital of Western Australia, but was rejected in favor of the present Perth site during World War II, it was the base for the allied submarines special reconnaissance group Z force.
Today Garden Island is the home to the Western Australian Navel Support Facility known as HMAS Stirling. Garden Island has beautiful beaches and bays, and is an ideal place for picnics, swimming, fishing, surfing and sailing. Also, look out for the native Tammar, a small species of wallaby that lives freely on the island.
