Whale Season Day Trip from Adelaide
Southern right whales in Encounter Bay
A day chasing whales
Between May and October, southern right whales return to Encounter Bay to calve. A well-planned day from Adelaide lets you put in enough looking time at the best vantage points to give yourself a real chance of a sighting.
When to go
Peak months are July and August. Weekends book out for accommodation; a day trip from Adelaide is much more forgiving.
Pack for it
Warm layers, a beanie, good shoes for short walks, binoculars if you have them. The Fleurieu wind is cold even when the sun is out.
Plan B
Whales are wild animals - they are around but they do not perform on cue. The SA Whale Centre in Victor Harbor is the rainy-day plan, with a great exhibition and a volunteer-run sightings board.
Day 1
5 stops-
1
The Bluff (Rosetta Head)
Victor HarborStart high. A short, steep walk up The Bluff gives you one of the best vantage points over Encounter Bay - and a sense of the historic whaling era.
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2
South Australian Whale Centre
Victor HarborCheck the sightings board for recent whale reports, and take a walk through the centre's exhibits. It is the best way to understand what you are looking at outside.
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3
Granite Island
Victor HarborWalk the Kaiki track on the ocean side of the island for a different angle, and check the seal colony on the way around.
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4
Waitpinga Cliffs Walk
Victor HarborAfternoon: drive south-west to Waitpinga for the best clifftop whale watching on the Fleurieu. Take the short Kings Beach track for a second vantage.
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5
Kings Beach
Victor HarborFinish the day at Kings Beach. The clifftop carpark is a superb whale-watching lookout - stay for sunset.
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On the map
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Image credits
- Victor Harbor and Encounter Bay from Rosetta Head by Leybj003 , CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons