Offshore to the north-west is Australia's largest naval fleet and submarine base, Garden Island, connected to the mainland by an all-weather causeway.

[6] Another factor that contributed, albeit gradually, to the decline of the port's importance for timber export was the opening in 1893 of the South Western Railway, the line of which intersected the Jarrahdale-Rockingham line and created the possibility of trucking timber north to Fremantle or south to Bunbury where the ports were capable of taking larger ships with deeper draughts.

[7] The ending of the port coincided with the arrival of the motor car, and this new mode of transport gave impetus to the rapid development of the little coastal settlement into a seaside resort town.

[9] From the earliest years of the 20th century, holiday shacks were developed in the town, and by the 1970s Rockingham had also become a desirable locale for retirement villas - mostly of a modest scale.

In recent decades Rockingham has become a satellite city in Perth's southwest, together with Mandurah, and is among Australia's fastest-growing residential districts.

The maritime tradition has been strengthened by steady growth of the Royal Australian Navy's main fleet base HMAS Stirling and by the development of major shipbuilding and marine support services at nearby Henderson.

Visitors can launch small boats or board ferries to view dolphins, seals, pelicans and penguins in the adjacent Marine Park.

Local heavy industry is serviced by branches of the Kwinana freight railway which has a number of level crossings within the City of Rockingham.

The former includes several fast-food outlets, a petrol station, the Rockingham Centre, medical practices, restaurants and two multi-screen cinema complexes.

Many of the older beachside shops have either switched to catering for tourism and recreational visitors, or have been redeveloped in a blend of high-rise residential units and associated services such as restaurants.

Mike Barnett Sports Complex is a seven-court multi-purpose community facility situated on Dixon Road.

[19] On 9 September 2005, a memorial was unveiled at Palm Beach, Rockingham, to commemorate the Catalpa rescue, the famous escape of six Irish Fenian convicts from Fremantle Prison on 17–18 April 1876.

At the outer circumference of the circle there are six bronze plaques bearing text inscriptions from the Wild Goose Journal which the Fenians had written on board the Hougoumont as prisoners on their voyage to Australia.