Eyre Peninsula

The Eyre Peninsula is a coastal region of South Australia offering some spectacular holiday experiences - particularly wildlife interactions.

Wheatfields in the Eyre Peninsula

Cities

• 1 Ceduna – the last major town before the Nullarbor
• 2 Cowell
• 3 Coffin Bay – tourist town next to Coffin Bay National Park, which is known for its beaches
• 4 Iron Knob
• 5 Kimba
• 6 Minnipa
• 7 Port Lincoln - Australia's seafood capital
• 8 Streaky Bay
• 9 Tumby Bay
• 10 Whyalla
• 11 Wudinna – the centrepoint of Granite Country

Other destinations

• 1 Coffin Bay National Park – home to some of the state's whitest beaches
• 2 Gawler Ranges National Park – home to the Organ Pipes rock formation, owing to the volcanic eruptions about 1500 million years ago
• 3 Lincoln National Park – home to one of the largest sea lion colonies

Understand

As you travel around the region, expect to see many mentions of pioneering explorer Matthew Flinders, who first visited the Spencer Gulf in 1802. Everyone who was even a vague acquaintance of Flinders has some geographical feature named after them in on the Eyre Peninsula. Most bestowed with these honours never ventured to Australia.

Get in

By plane

Commercial flights operate to Whyalla, Ceduna and Port Lincoln from Adelaide. Port Augusta also has scheduled flights.

In addition to the airports with scheduled commercial services, many towns have an airfield for charter flights and general aviation. Some charge low landing fees, or are entirely free. These airstrips have a few facilities, and car hire is not available.

• Cleve Airport is within walking distance of the town centre, and is 115 km (70 mi) from Port Lincoln.
• Lock Airport is on an unsealed road, several kilometres from the small town of Lock, and 115 km (70 mi) from Port Lincoln.
• Cowell Airport is about 3 km south of Cowell on the Lincoln Highway (B100) 140 km (85 mi) from Port Lincoln. Cowell has a taxi service that will operate to the airport.
• Wudinna Airport 180 km (110 mi) from Port Lincoln

Because of the geography of the area, charter flights across the gulf from the Yorke Peninsula and Adelaide are often short and quick, and may offer a practical alternative to access the area.

By ferry

Spencer Gulf Searoad runs a regular ferry service with two or three crossings on weekdays (dependent on time of year and weather) and single crossings on weekends. The ferry will make the 2-2.5hr run between Wallaroo on Yorke Peninsula and Lucky Bay 15 km from Cowell on the mid-east coast of Eyre Peninsula.

By car

Port Augusta is around 4 hours drive from Adelaide, which is at the start of the Lincoln Highway to Port Lincoln and the Eyre Highway towards Ceduna.

By coach

Premier Stateliner runs a daily services between Port Lincoln and Adelaide, with a second service terminating at Whyalla. This services Cowell, Arno Bay, Cleve, Port Neill, and Tumby Bay en route.

They also run several services a week to Ceduna, via Iron Knob, Kimba and Streaky Bay.

Get around

Driving the Lincoln Highway

The Lincoln Highway from Port Augusta to Port Lincoln is roughly a 4 hour drive down the east coast of the peninsula, and the main road route from Adelaide and the east. The road is a sealed (paved) good quality road, with a speed limit of 110 km/h. There are no overtaking lanes for its entire distance, but there are long straight sections will allow for safe overtaking in good visibility conditions. The road is used by two trailer road trains (trucks), which can take additional care and patience when overtaking.

From Port August to Whyalla the road travels away from the coast, and the terrain is arid. There are no real stopping off points on this section. From Whyalla south the road travels closer to the coast, and there are regular towns to stop and visit, each with piers, beaches, bushwalks, accommodation and food. South from Whyalla the main stopping off points with good facilities are Cowell, Arno Bay, Port Neill, and Tumby Bay - each less than an hour apart.

See

Big Galah Kimba

• Big Galah, Eyre Highway. A big pink galah stands next to the highway. Next to it is the "Halfway Across Australia" shop. (updated Apr 2015)
• Edward John Eyre sculptures, Whites Knob, 4km out of town (Follow the signs from the highway or town centre). Explorer statues on a scenic hill (updated Apr 2015)

Do

The Eyre Peninsula is home to national parks, ancient caves, and the Nullarbor Plain - the vast, treeless plain that will fascinate anyone with an explorer's spirit.

You can have unforgettable sea adventures, like swimming with sea lions at Baird Bay, cage diving with Great White Sharks at Port Lincoln, and even swimming with tuna.

At Head of Bight it's the perfect vantage point for spotting giant whales as they undertake their annual migration through the Southern Ocean. Each year from May to October, this stretch of the Nullarbor Plain coastline becomes a free range creche for Southern Right Whales. Up to 60 of them annually migrate out of the Southern Ocean to these traditional breeding grounds and nursery; by the time they depart in spring, around 20 new calves will be ready for summer in the Antarctica.

Drink

Root beer is a very common drink in this area.

Go next

• The South Australian Outback surrounds most of the region