Port Lincoln
The "Seafood Capital" of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, home to southern bluefin tuna and oysters, where you can swim with sea lions and cage-dive with sharks.
Port Lincoln lies at the southern tip of South Australia's Eyre Peninsula, facing Boston Bay off Spencer Gulf; its natural deep-water harbour is said to be more than three times the size of Sydney Harbour. This small city of around 16,000 people has Australia's largest fishing fleet and is the centre of southern bluefin tuna farming. It also produces oysters, abalone, prawns and yellowtail kingfish, earning it the title of "Australia's Seafood Capital". Activities here revolve around the ocean: take a boat to the Neptune Islands for great white shark cage diving (some underwater footage for the film Jaws was shot in nearby waters), swim with Australian sea lions at Hopkins Island, or swim with tuna in a tuna farm pen. On land, the focus is two coastal national parks — Lincoln National Park and Memory Cove south of town, and Coffin Bay National Park about 45 km west — where white-sand beaches, limestone sea cliffs, kangaroos and emus are everywhere. At the oyster farms in the town of Coffin Bay you can pull on waders, step into the water and eat oysters shucked on the spot — one of South Australia's most popular food experiences.
The climate is Mediterranean, and November to April is the best time to visit, with calm seas and the full range of boat trips. June–August brings strong winds and rough seas, and some boat trips are suspended, but you can watch southern right whales along the coast. Every January around Australia Day, the Tunarama festival features a tuna-tossing contest.
Getting there: regional flights from Adelaide take about 50 minutes; driving via the Eyre Highway is about 650 km and takes 7–8 hours; you can also head south from the Whyalla area north of Adelaide. In town, sights are concentrated along the waterfront Tasman Terrace and are walkable; everything else requires a car. Roads in the national parks are mostly gravel, and some sections (Memory Cove, Whalers Way) require a key or access permit bought in advance from the visitor centre. Plan on 3–4 days: 1 day at sea (shark cage diving or swimming with sea lions, usually a full day), 1 day at Coffin Bay and 1 day in Lincoln National Park. Book boat trips one or two weeks ahead in peak season, and bring seasickness tablets if you need them.
Top sights
- Neptune Islands – Uninhabited islands at the mouth of Spencer Gulf, and Australia's only waters approved for great white shark cage diving. Boats leave from…
- Lincoln National Park – A peninsula national park south of Port Lincoln, with white-sand bays, giant dunes, and sea cliffs. Hike up Stamford Hill for views over Bo…
- Coffin Bay – A bay town famous for Pacific oysters. Join an oyster farm experience to wade in, then shuck and eat the oysters on the spot, and watch for…
- Hopkins Island – A sea lion island offshore from Port Lincoln. Take a half-day boat trip to snorkel in shallow water with curious Australian sea lion pups…
- Coffin Bay National Park – A peninsula national park west of the town of Coffin Bay, with limestone sea cliffs, empty white beaches and calm lagoons, and a self-drive…
- Memory Cove – A secluded bay deep in Lincoln National Park, with white sand and clear water ringed by scrubby hills; daily vehicle numbers are limited, a…
- Port Lincoln Foreshore & Town Jetty – Lawns, a jetty and seafood restaurants along Tasman Terrace make up Port Lincoln's town living room, best enjoyed at sunrise and sunset wit…
- Whalers Way – A private coastal conservation area at the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula, where a self-drive route passes towering sea cliffs, sea caves a…
- Mikkira Station – One of South Australia's earliest pastoral stations, where wild koalas live among eucalyptus woodland; visitors can drive in to spot them…
- Tumby Bay – A quiet seaside town north of Port Lincoln with a long jetty, white sand beaches and giant silo murals, a popular stop on Eyre Peninsula ro…
- Greenly Beach – A wild beach on Eyre Peninsula's west coast, where red granite reefs and natural rock pools face the thundering Southern Ocean, a hot spot…
- Sleaford Bay – A surfing bay southwest of Port Lincoln, where enormous white dunes meet the sea cliffs, close to Fisherman Bay, the site of a 19th-century…
- Axel Stenross Maritime Museum – A maritime museum in a former shipyard of a Finnish shipbuilder, showing Port Lincoln's fishing, sailing and shipbuilding history, with a n…
Where to eat
- Del Giorno's Restaurant – Port Lincoln's most popular waterfront café-restaurant. It uses only local seafood, and its seafood platter and seafood…
- The Fresh Fish Place – A multi-award-winning seafood factory outlet, widely regarded locally as Port Lincoln's best fish and chips.
- Sarin's Restaurant – A waterfront restaurant inside a Port Lincoln hotel, known for its Eyre Peninsula seafood platter and mussel pot.
Itineraries
- Port Lincoln & Coffin Bay Seafood & Wildlife – Fly to Port Lincoln and rent a car to swim with sea lions, taste Coffin Bay oysters, and explore national park coasts.