Rate of penetration (ROP) optimization is crucial for drilling processes due to its vital role in increasing efficiency. This article proposes a new hybrid bat algorithm (HBA) to achieve the maximum ROP accurately. A data-driven ROP model is established by combining the wavelet filtering and optimized support vector regression according to the drilling characteristics. After that, five modifications, namely, iterative local search, stochastic inertia weight, pulse rate and loudness improvement, directional echolocation, and modified local random walk are combined to further improve the global optimization performance of the bat algorithm. Extensive experiment results on the IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation 2005 standard benchmark problems show that the proposed algorithm has successful outcomes compared with ten conventional algorithms. Additionally, in the application of the HBA to a real-world drilling process in Shennongjia area, Central China, the ROP has been improved by 34.84%, which is the largest compared with the conventional popular ROP optimization methods.