Local Information | Kangaroo island | Underwater Australasia

Kangaroo island

Weirs Cove - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

Kangaroo Island is located 120 kilometres south west of Adelaide, just 16 kilometres off the tip of the Fleurieu Peninsula. With 480 kilometres of coastline, the Island is the third largest off the Australian mainland.

Officially discovered by English explorer Matthew Flinders in 1802, and visited shortly after by French explorer Nicolas Baudin, the Island was first settled by deserters from English and American whaling ships prior to its official European settlement in 1836.

The island's isolation and limited development has ensured an abundance of wildlife, seldom found elsewhere, and living in a protected natural environment. Pure air and clean water makes Kangaroo Island one of the last unspoiled wonders of the world - and a unique wilderness holiday destination.

Here you can:
- Take an expert guided nature tour.
- Meet some of the locals - dolphins, sea lions, penguins, wallabies, goannas, koalas, and of course kangaroos.
- Go scuba diving among walls of coral - you might even come face to face with the elusive leafy sea dragon.
- Dine on seafood, cheeses, rock lobsters, free range poultry, pure Ligurian bee honey, wine, olives and olive oil.
- Dangle a line from a jetty or charter a boat for some serious deep sea fishing.
- Stay overnight in a remote lighthouse keepers cottage.

In the Directory

Accommodation [1]

Photos

: Sea Lion - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

: Admirals Arch - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

: Goanna - Photo courtesy of Tourism SA

Underwater Recommendations

Kangaroo Island, just off shore from Adelaide, offers plenty of opportunity to find the Leafy Seadragon.

Getting There

Kangaroo island can be reached by a 30-minute flight from Adelaide or a 45-minute vehicle and passenger ferry Kangaroo Island Sealink that departs daily from Cape Jervis, a 90-minute drive south of Adelaide.