Coffin Bay

Coffin Bay was named by Matthew Flinders in 1802 after a friend, not for anything grim, and the shallow sheltered bays here produce Pacific oysters that are graded and sold across Australia, with the largest grade named after the town. Several operators run tours that walk visitors out into the leases in waders to a table set in the water, where oysters are shucked and eaten where they grew, usually with a glass of wine. The village itself is small, with a general store, a boat ramp and holiday houses. Coffin Bay National Park to the west covers a peninsula of dunes, cliffs and beaches, much of it reached only by four-wheel drive.

History

The Nauo people have lived here for tens of thousands of years, and long before South Australia was colonised in 1836 their way of life was disrupted by raids of seal hunters. Matthew Flinders named the bay on 16 February 1802 after his friend Sir Isaac Coffin, naval commissioner at Sheerness, where the Investigator was fitted out, the same year that Nicolas Baudin called it Baie Delambre, and Captain Frederick Lees of the brig Nereus charted it in March 1839. The state surveyed a shack area in 1952 and 1955, Stanley Germain Morgan laid out the private town of Coffin Bay in 1957, and from 1966 to 1989 BHP's tramway carried lime sands from near the town to Port Lincoln (Wikipedia, Coffin Bay).

What you'll find

• The oyster leases - racks in the shallow bay, walked out to on tours.
• The in-water tastings - shucking and eating at a table set in the water.
• The village - a small settlement on the calm inlet.
• Coffin Bay National Park - dune and cliff country west of the village.

When to go

September to May for warm water and tours; oysters are available year-round, though quality varies with the season and spawning. Tours book out in holidays. Winter is cold for standing in the water.

What to expect

The oyster tours require standing in cold water in waders for an hour or more. Most of the national park needs four-wheel drive, and the sealed section is short. Village services are minimal, with no supermarket.

Nearby

Port Lincoln lies east; the national park begins at the village edge.

Key facts