Kangaroo Island National Park Tours

There are several Reserves on Kangaroo Island which are managed by the South Australian Department of Enviromnet and Heritage, depending on their conservation values, some are called National Parks, and some are called Conservation Parks and some are called Wilderness Protection areas The most popular reserves are Seal Bay Conservation Park and Flinders Chase National Park. We offer both 2 and 3 day tours which visit these parks.

In general the parks have been set aside to care for the natural environment and provide low impact recreation for visitors, the main focus of all the Kangaroo Island reserves however is one of conservation.

In total there are 23 reserves and they take up approximately 1/3 of the area of Kangaroo Island, to see a map of the island with the parks please go to Enviroment SA Kangaroo Island Map

Seal Bay Conservation Park

Seal Bay is am amazing place and is probably the most poplular destination on Kangaroo Island. Seal Bay is essentially a handfull of beaches and rocky coastal coves on the rugged Southern Coast of the island. It is the home to the third largest colony of Australian Sea Lions in the world.

Australian Sea Lions are one of the rarest seals in the World, they number perhaps 10,000 individuals in total, this is down from literally millions when Europeans first inhabited Australia in the late 1700's. Sealing was a poplular industry back in the day and the Austrlain Sea Lions were almost wipped out, there are historical recorlds (so I am told) of shipments of more than 10,000 Austrlain Sea Lion skins, (the total population today) and there where hundreds of shipments. The only thing which saved the Seal Bay Seal Colony was a dangerous reef which was not navigatable by boat, so the sealers were not able to reach the Seal Bay beaches.

What makes Seal Bay so special however is that it is possible to join a guided walk on the beach with the Seals and get within metres of them, all without up setting their natuaral behaviour. Guided walks are avialable with the local Park Rangers, or if you join one of our 2 or 3 day tours, with your guide.

Flinders Chase National Park

Flinders Chase occupies the entire western end of Kangaroo Island and is home to Remarkable Rocks and Admirals Arch, both located at Cape Du Couedic on the South Westerns corner.

There are many walks in Flinders Chase National Park, the most popular being the Platypus walk which departs from the visitirs centre. The Snake Lagoon walk, which travels from a normally dry lagoon to the mouth of the Rocky River is probably the pick of them all, it comes out at a lovely isolotaed beach and if you are there at the end of the day, can have the most amazing sunsets. Another great hike is located on the north western corner of Kangaroo Island at Ravine Des Casoars, starting inland, the walk follows a substantial creek and finishes at a amazing beach complete with cave systems to explore in the linestone cliffs.

Other reserves on Kangaroo Island are;

• Cape Borda Conservation Park.
• Cape Gantheaume Conservation Park.
• Cape Willoughby Conservation Park.
• Kelly Hill Conservation Park.
• Baudin Conservation Park.
• Ravine Des Casoars Wilderness Protection Area.
• Cape Torrens Wilderness Protection Area.
• Western River Wilderness Protection Area.
• Lathami Conservation Park.
• Parndana Conservation Park.
• Nepean Bay Conservation Park.
• Beyeria Conservation Park.
• Pelican Lagoon Conservation Park.
• Dudley Conservation Park.
• Lashmar Conservation Park.
• Lesueur Conservation Park.
• Simpson Conservation Park.
• Cape Gantheaume Wilderness Protection Area.
• Vivone Bay Conservation Park.
• Mount Taylor Conservation Park.
• Cape Bouguer Wilderness Protection Area.