Eyre Peninsula Winter Whale Watching and Wildlife Encounter

Day 1: Ceduna

Your tour kicks off in Ceduna, where we visit Arts Ceduna, the premier Aboriginal Art Centre on the Eyre Peninsula. There are some incredible pieces of arts here from paintings, lino prints & artifacts to books, ceramics, bush medicine and the artists themselves to kick off the day. We visit the awesome pink Lake MacDonnell and maybe even spot Southern Hairy-nosed Wombats along the way. We head west across the Nullabor to Fowlers Bay, for a night of campfire and outback dinner.

Day 2: Southern Right Whale Discovery

Today, we will be travelling along to Fowlers Bay, where we be joining EP Cruises for a spectacular oceanic morning cruise taking in the beauty of Point Fowler and its rugged cliffs and an incredible array of marine life.

Southern Right and Humpback Whales frequent Fowlers Bay during their annual migration, remaining within the bay for several months to calve and nurse their young. With up to 80 whales and with this number growing each year to visit this small bay, this is surely one of Australia’s very best places to see these beautiful cetaceans. This tour includes close up viewing of Southern Right Whales, Common and Bottlenose Dolphins, Australian Sea Lions, Long-nosed Fur Seals and White Bellied Sea Eagles, Little Penguins and some rare species of Albatross.

The Humpback Whale is also often seen and more often heard, as we lower a hydrophone into the depths to listen to actual underwater sounds and acoustics from the Humpbacks through the boats speakers. The cliffs of Point Fowler, and the endless sand dune border create the perfect backdrop for the cruise.

After our visit to Fowlers Bay, we drive back to Ceduna via Penong.

Day 3: Exploring the Eyre Peninsula

This morning we depart Ceduna to make the 450km journey down to Port Lincoln. Having all day to complete this drive, we follow the path of Edward John Eyre and along the way visit many magnificent coastal towns and attractions to call into. These include Smoky Bay, Perlubie Beach, Streaky Bay, Murphy’s Haystacks, Talia Caves, the Great Ocean drive scenic route around Elliston and the Cummings Monument to name a few points of interest. 

A major highlight will be the scenic drive from Streaky Bay to Point Labatt, where we stop to view the Australian Sea-lion. Found in no other country in the world, the Australian sea-lion is one of Australia's most endangered marine mammals and rarest seals. Point Labatt is the only place on the mainland where Australian seal pups can be seen learning to swim, play and rest on the beach.

It is also one of the few places in and around Australia where they are protected from land predators and which provides a safe environment for the sea-lion pups to develop. At Point Labatt, pups are born every eighteen months; mid-winter one year, then mid-summer the next. Pups weigh around 7kg at birth. They depend entirely on their mother’s milk for the first year. After that they start chasing and occasionally catching fish. At about four weeks of age, baby sea-lions take to the sea for the first time, sometimes with help from their mothers.

Young Sea-lions play and frolic in this aquatic reserve protected by the offshore reefs. From here we are back on the road to Murphy’s Haystacks, an outcrop of unique pink granite boulders, Murphy’s Haystacks is a great photo opportunity. These ancient winds worn granite inselbergs, huge rocks purported to be over 1500 million years old. Their appearance may be due to a combination of erosion by underground rainwater and then by subsequent weathering after they were exposed.

Most of the pillars emerge without a break from the underlying granite. They obtained their name because a traveller in a coach saw the formation in the distance. He asked how a farmer could produce so much hay. As the farm was on a property owned by a man called Murphy, the rocks became known as Murphy's Haystacks. We will also stop on many occasions to get out of the vehicle and see some of our secrets places with amazing coastal views at the town ship of Elliston.

Next on the agenda is one of the very best vantage spots on the 2000km long stretch of the Great Australian Bight. The Cummings Monument provides this and more as the view gives you spectacular and uninterrupted views of the rugged cliff tops that make up the Bight. Adjacent to the Monument is a craggy pinnacle set amongst deep blue waters which makes a home to a family of sea eagles as they nest on top. From here we transfer you with the short drive into Port Lincoln showcasing the small cities highlights, en-route to your accommodation.

Day 4: Port Lincoln Wildlife

Start your day exploring and learning about Port Lincoln and our diverse seafood industry. We drive down to Flinders Ports Wharf, South Australia’s main grain exporting plant, the natural deep-water harbor enables Port Lincoln to fully load grain carriers. Often you will have the opportunity to view the unloading of a fishing boat, or fertilizer that has been imported to grain that is to be exported.

We then take you to the Marina Wharf to visit the home of the largest fishing fleet in the Southern Hemisphere, to see the diversity of Port Lincoln’s fishing industries and vessels. The local fishing industries include Bluefin Tuna, Hiramasa Kingfish, Spencer Gulf King Prawns, Blue Mussel, Southern Rock Lobster, and Sardines as well as smaller trailer boats used for Abalone, Southern Calamari, Snapper, Crabs and King George Whiting. 

Following this, you are taken on a hands-on, 'behind the scenes' factory tour, where you will see the full process a fish goes through, from ocean to plate. Meet local fisherman as they drop off the catch of the day from all over the Eyre Peninsula, to the factory that includes our famous King George Whiting, Flathead, Garfish, Leather Jacket, Boarfish, Snapper, Nannagai, Shark, Mussels, Coffin Bay Oysters, Prawns, Squid, Crabs and lots more.

Seafood Lunch, where you can select your own fresh fish or shellfish from the pre-arranged menu and have this cooked to your taste. Enjoy seafood in the Capital Seafood Destination in Australia.

After lunch, we take you to the diversity of the Port Lincoln National Park. From the naturally rugged and wild Sleaford Bay and the Southern Ocean to the tranquility of the Spalding Cove area and other beautiful beaches. Of the 29,000ha National Park, you can walk or beachcomb along Surfleet Cove, take a 45-minute hike to see spectacular views of Boston Bay, Port Lincoln and the Port Lincoln National Park at the Stamford Hill Lookout.

Rugged cliffs provide an opportunity to view Osprey and White Bellied Sea-Eagles and to keep a look out for Kites and Harriers. View spectacular massive sand dunes overlooking the beautiful Southern Ocean and clifftops.

From here, we get up close and personal at arguably one of Australia’s very best habitats where wild Koalas can be found in a wonderful private nature reserve. We stroll under the beautiful old Eucalypt trees and come face to face with the cuddly icon of Australia as they laze in the Manna gums.

Due to the gums being stunted in growth, your view of the koalas is at eye level and you will definitely need more than 2 hands to keep count! Wild but placid kangaroos casually hop & graze around in this beautiful historical setting, where in 1842 Scotsman Adam Borthwick and his family made their home as one of the very first European settlers of the region.

Wander through the restored original homestead as emus roam around and look for some of the 160 native bird species that reside here, such as the Port Lincoln Parrot, Blue Breasted Wrens and an occasional Scarlet Robin. As the sun settles for the evening, sit back around a fire (only out of fire season), relax with a platter and drop of local wine surrounded by wildlife and the sounds of nature. It’s stunningly beautiful all year round! 

Tour details:

Group Size: Minimum of 4 guests, maximum of 10 guests
Pick-up and Drop Off Point: Pick-up at Ceduna Airport, Drop off at Port Lincoln Airport
Inclusions: touring includes professional, local and experienced guides, transport in luxury 4WD Land-Cruiser, airport transfers, all daily activities, permit and entry fees based on itinerary, all National Park & other entry fees, daily Continental breakfast, daily lunches, one dinner, beverages, local produce, local wines & beer, Birds of Southern Eyre Peninsula Pocket Guide book.
Private Touring: Available at additional cost - please contact us directly with your group size & interests.

How you'll be making a positive impact

Citizen Science with Australian Coastal Safaris

Australian Coastal Safaris contributes observations of flora & fauna via iNaturalist, the world’s leading global social biodiversity network. This platform allows our team to create research-quality citizen science data that enables a more detailed picture of our national biodiversity, and assists bodies such as the CSIRO, ecologists and other decision makers to deliver better outcomes for the environment and our species.

Our guides record observations with iNaturalist Australia by using the iNaturalist app on mobile phones or desktop computers. An observation records an encounter with an individual organism at a particular time and location on the Eyre Peninsula. We require photos to be attached to observations for them to become research grade and added to the Atlas of Living Australia.

This is where you can greatly assist us in capturing images out in the field! Although we make broader observations that we think are valuable to the local scientific community, we have identified the following species to track when we are exploring the Eyre Peninsula by vehicle, e-bike or on foot.

Key species we're looking out for include:

• Koala (outside of Mikkira Station)
• Short-beaked Echidna
• Rosenberg’s Goanna
• Malleefowl
• Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo
• White-bellied Sea-Eagle
• Osprey
• Bush Stone-curlew
• Hooded Plover