After about 1.5 hours and thorough commentary of Port Lincoln’s history, we arrived at Hopkin’s Island- home to around 50-60 Australian Sea Lions. It seemed as though our sudden appearance had injected life into the colony as they made their way off the beach and out into the water.

As we raced to don our wetsuits, dozens of sea lions swam around the back of the boat, waiting for us to join them! Swimming, splashing and somersaulting clumsily through the water, we were no competition. Their speed and agility in the water was amazing!

We were having so much fun, in the end our guides almost had to drag us out of the water- no one wanted to leave!

Our journey back towards Port Lincoln included a short stop in Memory Cove, the site where Matthew Flinders laid a plaque in memory of his crewmen lost exploring the cove. As we stood staring in awe at the stunning beach, a pair of dolphins cruised lazily by- posing an opportunity for the budding photographers aboard!

Further along our voyage we were lucky enough to see a White-bellied Sea Eagle perched up on a cliff in bordering the Port Lincoln National Park. These birds are the second largest bird of prey, only the Wedge tailed Eagle is larger.

Some of us were lucky enough to be participating in the ‘Swim with the Tuna’ tour in the arvo, so shortly after docking we raced off the pontoon for a quick bite to eat at the Marina Hotel- where we were treated with amazing food complemented by an amazing view!

At 1.30pm we jumped back on board the Adventure Lady and made the short trip out to the tuna farm. Our guide gave us a full run-down of the Tuna industry in Port Lincoln, while we got kitted up in our wetsuits.

You really won’t believe how big these fish are until you see them yourself. Throwing a handful of pilchards into the seemingly calm water created a frenzy of movement as the tuna raced each other to be the first to get to the easy feed.

The highlight was definitely once we hit the water and another handful of pilchards were thrown in- huge fish (some up to 70kg!!) were coming at us from every direction. The skill and precision these fish have was evident, as they diverted their path only centimetres from our faces!! Truly an exhilarating experience!

Hand feeding and swimming with these astonishing fish is a world first experience and I highly recommend it be added to everyone’s Bucket List!!

Now as if the day couldn’t get any better, on our journey back into Port Lincoln we were treated to a taste of some fresh sashimi! Generally, I’m not a fan of raw fish- but this was delicious. Dipped in soy sauce and lightly coated in wasabi, the flavours were amazing, and I couldn’t believe how the fish just melts in your mouth!

Such an amazing day, which you can experience for yourself here at Goin’ Off Safaris! Whether it’s a day trip or part of a package, we can tailor the adventure to suit you.

Check out the pics and for more info see our website!!

After starting here on Monday, I have already had a very busy week booking in new trips and playing with the new iMac and today was no exception! This morning I jumped aboard the Coffin Bay Explorer for their 3 hour round trip of Coffin Bay.

Departing the Coffin Bay boat ramp at 9.30am, our guide Darian took us past some of the most pristine parts of the Coffin Bay National Park- some beaches that are only accessible by boat! The running commentary about the earliest visitors to the bay made for easy listening, as we all soaked up a bit of sun.

Our adventure around the bay continued on past two tiny islands known as ‘The Brothers’. The story behind them is truly fascinating, but I won’t spoil the tale before you get a chance to see them yourself.

Living on the Brothers are a wide variety of birds- including Cormorants, Silver Gulls, Crested Terns and Antarctic Skua’s- large, brown birds that journey here to nest on the islands. Also residing on the island are a pair of male Australian Sea Lions, as well as a spattering of smaller New Zealand Fur Seals.

Darian also has an Oyster lease, so part of the tour included a stop at the racks for a brief history about the oyster industry in Coffin Bay- and for those so inclined- a taste test of the freshest oysters you will ever taste! Delicious!!

Now as if the tour couldn’t get any better- a pod of almost 20 Bottlenose Dolphins made an appearance. As we slowly cruised by, they swam all around and under the boat in the crystal clear water- almost as though they were inviting us to come and play with them. Unfortunately Darian is not running swims with the dolphins this year due to the late breeding season of these magnificent animals last year. So instead we admired them from the boat.

We left the dolphins (reluctantly) and began the journey back home. In 3 hours we learnt amazing things about the history of the bay, tasted some of the freshest seafood you can get and saw a huge variety of land based and marine animals! And that’s all in a day’s work for the Coffin Bay Explorer!

This is only one of the many options we offer as part of our amazing tour packages around the Eyre Peninsula. For more information see our website

Everyone has heard of Africa’s ” Big Five” attractions on wilderness safaris where you are superbly guided through villages and grasslands of game parks and private reserves to catch a glimpse of Africa’s greatest wild animals – lions, leopard, elephant, buffalo & rhino.
Here in South Australia and to be more precise Pt.Lincoln, on the southern tip of beautiful Eyre Peninsula, is another experience like no other where you have the chance to get up close, personal & interact with our famous five of the ocean – Southern Bluefin Tuna, Australian sea-lions, Great White Sharks, Dolphins, Humpback and Southern Right Whales ( in season).

We kicked this world class adventure off on the weekend & armed with underwater camera man Mark Thomas, photographer Kingsley Griffin, freelance journalist Raffael Veldhuyzen, operator Matt Waller of Adventure Bay Charters, our chef Cookie and some local talent, we boarded the superb 78ft Strictly Business for our 2 days of adrenaline pumping action! Oh and,we did have one of UK’s hottest celebrity couples, Charlie Brooker from the Guardian and his TV presenter wife, Konnie Huq jump on for the ride.

The first box ticked was out to Matt’s Tuna Farm, for some immediate action and this is the fastest growing adrenaline attraction on Eyre Peninsula as you have guaranteed interaction by feeding the fish & then donning a wetsuit on to swim with, under & around this amazing pelagic species. On the way to our next stop was in Seal Cove on Hopkins Island, Cookie gave us a small insight of his master chef talents whilst checking out some of the countries best coastal landscapes of the Pt.Lincoln National Park and the beautiful white sandy beach of Memory Cove.
The sea lions were in a very playful mood as these ” ocean puppies” right on cue, put on a show for all! This is incredible entertainment in a pristine environment with beautiful clear shallow water and this interaction from these wild mammals would be hard to beat anywhere in the world.

With 2 boxes all ready ticked, it was off for the short steam to the anchorage at Neptune Island, home of Australia’s largest Great White Shark population. Excitement was amongst all on onboard as again, we donned wetsuits as the cage was lowered into the deep blue,but crystal clear water. Being eco friendly, there is no blood or burley here but the sharks are very successfully attracted to the cage by using audio sound vibrations of loud music,underwater! Unfortunately, the sharks decided that they wernt going to play the game on this occasion and we were left to play some serious air guitar in the cage to the tunes of ACDC’s Back In Black album!
Not all was lost though as the sun was setting which meant beers and wine started flowing and Coffin Bay oysters were opened and attacked. This was a warm up for Cookie and as you could expect by being at the seafood capital of Australia, dinner consisted of the local product- prawns, tuna, kingfish, more oysters, more wine, more talk, more laughs and so it went on!

Day 2 saw a bit of chop around in the sea and still no sharks but a momentous moment occurred when our UK personalities Charlie and Konnie, both caught their first ever fish from the ocean! We island hopped after this magnificent fishing performance around the beautiful Sir Joseph Banks Group of islands watching the dozens of dolphins surfing on the bow before anchoring again at Blythe Island to again swim with more sea lions, have a walk on the island and snorkel around the rock pools as it does offer top shelf snorkeling.
With a very successful debut trip, disembarkment was made easy as we had a team brief back on land at the Marina Hotel with a couple of cold refreshments.

Bookings have now started for this amazing opportunity to interact with the “Big 5″ of our Southern Ocean and more information, departure dates and itinerary can be found on our website.

Hooroo!

The 16 ocean activities for the active & listed in order as they appear are;

1. Swimming with dolphins
2. Fishing ( we do in-shore, off-shore, beach/surf fishing and 2-5 day live a board charters)
3. Jetskiing
4. Kiteboarding
5. Parasailing
6. Sailing
7. Scuba Diving
8. Sea Kayaking and canoeing
9. Swimming with Sea Lions
10. Stand up paddle boarding
11. Surfing
12. Swimming with Tuna
13. Swimming with sharks ( these are the real deal Great Whites!)
14. Water skiing
15. Windsurfing
16. Cruises

How ’bout that for a list….? We may even see you down here!

Al & Trish have never fed the sealions, but just with consistent interaction with the colony that live on Jones Island have got to understand, know, trust & respect the sealions. Lots of them have names & like humans, they all have different personalities & traits & are lots of fun. I had the experience of actually cuddling up to one & putting her to sleep, others can let you stroke or pat them & others love tickling your feet as you watch their mates swimming or playing in front of you!

Its perfectly safe, swimming in shallow rock pools just off the island which is just a short boat ride from Bairds Bay itself. Further out in deeper water is the resident pod of bottlenose dolphins. These are beautiful creatures & we also have the oppotunity to slip in the water & have a swim with these rippers as well. It really is a great day & is one of the very few places in the world where you can experience this interaction.

To finish the day off, it doesnt get any better than sipping a few cold beers in the Streaky Pub looking over the water !