Cowell

Franklin Harbour History Museum

Cowell Bakery

Cowell and Lucky Bay are neighbouring towns on the Eyre Peninsula.

Understand

Cowell is a small coastal town on Lake Franklin, which is a sea lake off the Spencer Gulf. The town is about 100km south by road from Whyalla.

Nearby Lucky Bay, which is the western terminus for the Sea SA ferry service across the Spencer Gulf. Apart from the ferry terminus, there are only beach houses and beach in Lucky Bay. The ferry service landing there operates the 60 km (32 nm) to Wallaroo on nearby Yorke Peninsula. The nearest facilities are in Cowell around 15 km away, there is not even so much as a general store in Lucky Bay.

Like many of the Spencer Gulf towns, the Cowell area was first sighted by Matthew Flinders, but Flinders didn't enter Lake Franklin, possibly believing it to be a lagoon cut off from the gulf.

Get in

By car

Cowell is on the Lincoln Highway, the main route to Port Lincoln. Lucky Bay is a 15 km diversion off the highway on a quality road totally disproportionate to the size of the town, constructed to be a main highway when the ferry is running.

By bus

The Premier Stateliner daily service between Port Lincoln and Adelaide via Port Augusta and Whyalla stops in the town.

By plane

• 1 Cowell Airport (CCW  ^IATA) (about 3 km south of Cowell on the Lincoln Highway (B100) 140 km (87 mi) from Port Lincoln). General aviation field, there are no scheduled commercial services. (updated Nov 2019)

Cowell has a taxi service that will operate to the airport.

By boat

SeaSA operate a 7 day per week service using a newly constructed vehicle and passenger carrying ferry. The Aurora runs between Wallaroo and Lucky Bay. It is an approximately 2 hr trip (depending on conditions) of 60 km (32 nm) one way.

The Aurora V is a 56 m newly constructed vessel. It carries a maximum of 80 cars (or equivalent in trucks, buses, trailers, caravans, motorbikes) and a maximum of 300 passengers.

Passengers may travel with their vehicles or as walk on passengers. The operators only allow one item of luggage per passenger unless contained in a vehicle. Published charges for carrying in excess of 1 baggage item (not contained within an accompanying vehicle) are $60 per item. Bookings are available online.

See

• 1 Cowell Silo Art, 31 North Terrace (cnr B100 and North Terrace). A set of three pillars of art next to each other. (updated Jan 2022)
• 2 Franklin Harbour Historical Museum (Franklin Harbor Historical Museum), 4 Main St. 11AM–3PM. A small local history museum that tells bits and pieces of the Cowell area. (updated Jan 2022)
• 3 Franklin Harbor Conservation Park. A small conservation area that preserves an area of mangroves and samphire flats, which attract a lot of sea birds. Getting here is 5 kilometres out-of-town, and you can only get here by car. (updated Jan 2022)

Do

• Swim

• Lucky Bay has a long beach with white sand and sea grass. There is no particular point any more suited to swimming than any other. The calm waters are suited to kayaking and boating also.

• Cowell has a tidal pool for swimming, just in from the harbor and pier, with a central swimming pontoon. You can also swim in the harbor, just over the sandbar. Perhaps not as nice a swimming location as some of its coastal neighbours, and like other tidal pools it is probably best at high tide (being a bit muddy at the low tide).

• Fishing
• Boating
• Museum. Cowell Museum is on the main street by the water. $2/.5. 
• Cowell Mangrove Boardwalk, Thompson Dr. A very short boardwalk that passes through some of the mangroves of the region. (updated Jan 2022)

Buy

• Jade - nearby Cowell has one of the world's largest jade deposits, and there are two shops in town that sell Jade, including the Cowell Jade Motel near the entrance to town.

Eat

Couple of coffee shop/take-away stores in the main street.

• 1 Cowell Bakery, 25 Main St, ☏ +61 8 8629 2034. M-F 8AM–4PM, Sa 9AM–3PM, Su 9AM–2PM. A small rather classical looking bakery. Although the bakery may appear small, it has much more to offer than what it would look like for its size. (updated Jan 2022)

Sleep

Franklin Harbour Hotel

In Cowell:

• 1 Cowell Jade Motel, 53 Oyster Dr, ☏ +61 8 8629 2002. Check-in: 2PM, check-out: 10AM. 
• Harbour View Caravan Park. 
• Franklin Harbour Cabin Park. 
• Cowell Foreshore Caravan Park. 

In Lucky Bay you will be looking for beach house rental. Check the usual rental house web sites, or check with local real estate agents.

Go next

• Arno Bay walk along the Arno Bay Boardwalk, through the mangroves and down to the beach.
• Cleve, nearby agricultural centre and administrative centre for this region. 18 hole all season golf course, skate park, bowling greens, netball/tennis/basketball courts with coin operated lights, town oval and playgrounds.
• Tumby Bay
• Port Lincoln
• Coffin Bay Fresh oysters and the Coffin Bay Conservation Park.
• Lock
• Elliston
• Iron Knob
• Whyalla
• Port Augusta
• Flinders Ranges
• Wallaroo on nearby Yorke Peninsula (ferry.
• Nullarbor Plain