Kangaroo Island Without a Tour

You can see most of Kangaroo Island without a tour. The main roads suit an ordinary car, the parks sell their own entry, and the island’s tourism body suggests a hire car or a guided tour as the two ways to get around. This guide covers the car, the park pass, the two big parks on your own, and the few things that still need a guide.

A tour is still the better choice for some people. But if you like to set your own pace, the island rewards it. When you do want a guide for an hour or two, the Kangaroo Island guided tours for self-drivers start near where you will be anyway.

Can you do Kangaroo Island without a tour?

Yes. Many of the main roads are sealed and suit a two-wheel-drive car, and the unsealed roads can be driven with care. The two parks most people visit take walk-in visitors: you pay at the visitor centre and go. What you give up is the commentary, the eye for animals, and someone else doing a long day of driving.

There is no public transport, taxi or rideshare network on the island. A shuttle meets the morning and evening ferry and runs to Kingscote and back twice a day. Beyond that, you need a car or a tour. The table compares the two, item by item.

How do you get a car onto the island?

There are two ways. You can take your own car across on the ferry from Cape Jervis. Both ferries carry vehicles as well as foot passengers, and the crossing takes 45 minutes. Book early in the busy months, because car space fills before seats do.

Or you can cross on foot and hire a car on the island. Budget and Hertz/Thrifty both hire cars there, and all bookings go direct to the hire company. Vehicles are limited, so book before you travel. Getting there from Adelaide covers the drive to Cape Jervis and the flight.

Is the Tour Pass worth it, or single entries?

The Kangaroo Island Tour Pass is the parks service’s own pass for self-drivers. It gives twelve months of entry to the western national park, the sea lion colony’s guided tour and boardwalk, and the lightstation tours at Cape Borda and Cape Willoughby. It also covers the Kelly Hill Caves tour. It costs A$95.00 for an adult, A$76.50 concession, A$57.00 for a child and A$262.00 for a family.

You buy it in person only, at the parks’ own visitor centres or the office in Kingscote. The parks service itself says it may be cheaper to pay single fees if you visit only a couple of parks. The western park alone is A$22.40 a person. So add up the places you will visit before you buy. The visitor guide lists what each fee covers.

What is the sea lion colony like on your own?

Straightforward. Seal Bay Conservation Park is 45 minutes from Kingscote and opens 9am to 5pm daily except Christmas Day; last entry 4pm. Parking is free, and you buy your ticket at the visitor centre. No booking is needed at the moment.

The parks service has paused access to the beach to protect the colony. A roaming guide works the 900-metre boardwalk instead, so a self-driver gets the same commentary as a tour group. The boardwalk is wheelchair accessible, and the viewing platforms look straight down on the animals. The sea lion colony page has the full visit plan and the current notice.

How do you see the far west on your own?

Flinders Chase National Park is about 110 km west of Kingscote. Pay the site entry before you go in: online, or at the visitor centre 800 metres outside the park, which also has a cafe. Parks staff are there daily from 9am to 5pm. From the centre you drive on to the granite dome of Remarkable Rocks and the fur seals at Admirals Arch.

Allow at least three hours in the park, and more if you want to walk. In damaging winds the paths at both headline sights can close, so check the park alerts on the morning you go. The national park page lists the walks and their lengths.

Where do you find fuel, food and signal?

Fuel is open around the clock in Kingscote, Penneshaw, American River and at the Western KI Caravan Park. There is also fuel at Parndana and Vivonne Bay. The supermarkets are in Penneshaw, Kingscote and Parndana, so stock up before a day in the west.

Phone signal is patchy. Telstra covers the most ground, and other networks drop in and out. The western end has little or no signal, so download your maps before you leave town.

What can you not bring in the car?

The island keeps some pests and diseases out, and the rules apply to everything you load onto the ferry. You may not bring bees, beekeeping gear or honey products, rabbits or foxes, unwashed or dirty potatoes, or declared weeds. Buy your honey on the island instead: the farms sell it at the gate.

An electric car is fine. There are six public chargers on the island, in Penneshaw, Kingscote and at the airport, and more at the western park’s visitor centre. Plan your charge around the long run west, where there is nothing else.

Is it safe to drive at dusk?

It is the part of self-driving that goes wrong most often. Kangaroos, wallabies and possums come out to feed as the light goes, and many of them cross the roads. The parks service asks drivers to avoid the roads from sunset to sunrise, to slow down on gravel, and to pull fully off the road before stopping for a photo.

So plan each day to be back at your bed before dark. If you want to see the animals at night, and most visitors do, that is the moment to hand the wheel to a guide.

What still needs a guide?

Three things are hard to do alone. The first is the night: the guided drives from Kingscote know where the wallabies, possums and penguins feed, and the guide does the driving. The second is the water: the snorkel trip gives you a wetsuit, a boat and a skipper who finds the seals. The third is the koala. A koala in a tall gum is easy to walk past. A guide who knows the trees is not.

The Kangaroo Island wildlife tours page compares the night drives, the boats and the koala walk side by side.

Which short guided activities suit self-drivers?

The Vivonne Bay bases on the south coast are made for people with their own car. None of them runs a shuttle, and all of them sit on the way to the western park. You meet at the base, spend about two hours with a guide, and drive on.

• Quad bikes: two to three hours on your own quad, six riders at most. Drivers from 6, passengers from 4. Wear closed shoes and long trousers.
• Dune buggy: just under two hours through gum forest and over the dunes at Little Sahara, eight guests at most.
• Koala walk: just under two hours on foot through old gum forest, with a koala sighting promised. You need moderate fitness.
• E-fatbike rides: the same dunes by electric bike, by day or after hours.

The quad bikes have the most reviews of anything on the island, from $140 a person. See the quad bike tour for the two routes and the ages.

When is a tour the better choice?

If you have one or two days, a tour usually is. It removes the long drives, pays the park fees and gets you to the far west and back before dark. It is also the better pick if you do not want to drive on the left, or on gravel. Choosing a tour compares the full days by where they start and what they carry.

If you have four days or more, drive yourself and add one or two short guided outings. That mix gives you the freedom of a car and the parts only a guide can open up.

Questions about going it alone

Short guided outings for drivers

Kangaroo Island Quad Bike (ATV) Tours

Ride your own quad through bush and sand at Vivonne Bay with six riders at most; drivers from 6, passengers from 4.

From $140 per person (minimum 1)

Check Availability

Small-Group Buggy Tour at Little Sahara with Guide

A guided buggy ride of just under two hours through gum forest, dunes and a quiet beach; wheelchair accessible.

From $105 per person (minimum 1)

Check Availability

Koala Walking Tour in Kangaroo Island

A guided walk of just under two hours through old gum forest near the dunes, with a koala sighting promised.

From $55 per person (minimum 1)

Check Availability