Tours of Australian sea lion colony at Seal Bay on South Australia's Kangaroo Island an exceptional experience

Expert guides who've made study­ing the Aus­tralian sea lion their life’s work lead tours into the heart of the colony on Seal Bay on the south coast of South Australia's Kangaroo Island.

Seal Bay, on the south coast South Australia’s Kangaroo Island, home to an Aus­tralian sea lion pop­u­la­tion for thou­sands of years, offers one of the world’s most excep­tion­al nature-based expe­ri­ences.

Options for taking a look at the endan­gered ani­mals and a guided tour with knowledgeable guides taking the group into the heart of the colony and individuals can set their own pace on the wheel­chair acces­si­ble 900 metre (return) board­walk that mean­der through the dunes view­ing platforms.

Tour guides who’ve made study­ing the Aus­tralian sea lion their life’s work don’t fol­low a stan­dard­ised script. Instead, they inter­pret­ sea lion behav­iour and what’s hap­pen­ing in the colony – at that moment. They’ll keep every­one safe and at an appro­pri­ate dis­tance (no clos­er than 10 metres) so the sea lions don’t feel threat­ened. The expert guides give insights into the animals  hunt, surf, rest, inter­act with their pups and defend their territory.

The 900-metres return board­walk mean­ders through lime­stone cliffs and dunes, and show­cas­es the stun­ning coastal scenery of Seal Bay. View­ing plat­forms allow walkers to watch Aus­tralian sea lions surf­ing the waves or sun­ning them­selves on the beach. The boardwalk lookout offers view of Cape Gantheume and the wilderness area. Some­times, in the cold­er months when the sea lions move fur­ther up the beach for warmth, they lie right next to the boardwalk.

Another dimension added to the Seal Bay seal lion experience are the research tours. These give exclu­sive access to the research being done to help mon­i­tor the Aus­tralian sea lion. This tour, con­duct­ed by expe­ri­enced senior guides, can be cus­tomised to be at sun­rise or sunset. Guests will learn about the lat­est research being con­duct­ed, dis­cov­er how the research equip­ment is used, learn meth­ods of scan­ning sea lions and col­lect valu­able data to enter into a sci­en­tif­ic app that sends vital infor­ma­tion straight to the South Aus­tralian Research & Devel­op­ment Insti­tute (SAR­DI).