Kangaroo Island wildlife tours are short outings built around the animals: a boat for dolphins and seals, a swim with them, a walk to find koalas, or a drive after dark for wallabies and possums. Each takes two or three hours at most, so you can fit one around a day of your own.
Seventy-five minutes on the water from Christmas Cove in Penneshaw, looking for dolphins, seals and sea eagles, with spray jackets and life jackets supplied. Two people a booking at least. The fare cannot be refunded.
From $62 per person (minimum 2)
No refund if you cancel; a weather cancellation by the operator gets another date or a full refund.
Snorkel for two hours off Penneshaw in a wetsuit, getting in with seals or dolphins when the animals allow it. The water runs at 14 to 15 °C. Meet 30 minutes early at the information spot opposite the marina.
From $139 per person (minimum 1)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The cheapest guided outing on the island and one of the best rated: just under two hours on foot through old gum forest near Vivonne Bay, with a koala sighting promised. You drive there yourself; fifteen walkers at most.
From $55 per person (minimum 1)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Drive the Bay of Shoals by 4WD for two to three hours from Kingscote as the light goes, looking for wallabies, possums, kangaroos and owls. Eight guests at most. Meet at the Aurora Ozone Hotel's Executive building.
From $103 per person (minimum 2)
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
Only your group rides on this night drive of about two hours, from the operator's shop on Dauncey Street in Kingscote. Torches and bottled water are handed out, and the route runs to Emu Bay and the bush beyond.
From $121 per person
Free cancellation up to 24 hours ahead.
The koala walk starts at $55 and the night drives at $103. Most can be cancelled free up to 24 hours ahead; the 75-minute boat cannot.
Check availabilityA wildlife tour is one animal, or one kind of place, done properly. The boats leave Penneshaw to look for dolphins, seals and sea eagles along the coast. The koala walk goes on foot through old gum forest near Vivonne Bay. The night drives leave Kingscote at dusk, when the island’s mammals come out to feed.
None of them visits a national park, so there are no park fees and no lunch. You meet the guide at a fixed point, spend two or three hours with them, and go. That makes them the easy add-on to a day tour or a self-drive trip.
Most of the island’s mammals feed at dusk and after dark. Tammar wallabies, brush-tailed possums and kangaroos are all easier to find once the light goes, and a day tour is back at your hotel by then. The night drives are built for exactly that hour.
The koala walk promises you a koala, because the guides know the trees the animals use. The boat crews know where the dolphins feed and where the seals haul out. You spend your time watching rather than searching.
At $55 to $139, a wildlife tour costs a fraction of a full day, and it takes two or three hours. A boat trip fits a morning off the ferry, and a night drive fits the evening after a day in the parks.
Only one outing puts you in the sea with the animals. The snorkel trip hands you a wetsuit and a mask and gets you in with the seals or dolphins when they allow it.
| Wildlife tour | Full day tour | |
|---|---|---|
| Fare from | $55 to $139 | $154 to $884 |
| Length | 75 minutes to 3 hours | About 8 hours |
| Starts | Penneshaw, Kingscote or Vivonne Bay | Your island hotel |
| National parks | Not visited | Both, on most days |
| Lunch | Not included | Included |
| Time of day | Morning, midday or after dark | Daylight |
| What it is for | One kind of animal, up close | The island's headline sights |
The two are not rivals. The best plan for most visitors is a day tour for the parks and a wildlife tour for the dark or the water. The Kangaroo Island day tour page compares the full days, and the wildlife guide covers every animal and where it lives.
You get a guide and whatever the outing needs. The boats supply life jackets and spray jackets, and the snorkel trip adds a wetsuit and snorkel gear. On the private night drive, torches and water are handed out. The koala walk needs nothing but shoes.
You do not get food, a pickup or a promise, except the koala. The boats cannot guarantee which animals appear. The snorkel operator will not put you in the water near a pod with calves. Little penguins may turn up on a night drive, and they may not. The glossy black cockatoo feeds by day and returns to its nest at dusk, but it is never a certainty.
For the seasons, see the best time to visit. For how the boats and the night drives fit around a day tour, see Kangaroo Island in one day.
The shared night drive from Kingscote runs two to three hours by 4WD with eight guests at most, from $103.
Check availabilityNext: see what each fare carries in the tour price guide. Every fare sits side by side on Kangaroo Island Tours.