Port Lincoln

Port Lincoln sits on Boston Bay, a natural harbour said to be several times the size of Sydney Harbour, at the foot of the Eyre Peninsula, and it built its wealth on fishing: southern bluefin tuna ranching in pens offshore, oysters, prawns and abalone, which has given the town a reputation for having more millionaires per head than anywhere else in Australia. Boat operators run swims with Australian sea lions and dolphins, and cage diving with great white sharks at the Neptune Islands, the only place in Australia licensed for it. Coffin Bay oysters come from a hundred kilometres west, and Lincoln National Park's cliffs and beaches lie just south of the town.

History

The Barngarla, the traditional owners, call the place Galinyala, place of sweet water, and Aboriginal people have lived on the Eyre Peninsula for more than 40,000 years. Matthew Flinders sailed the Investigator into the harbour on 25 February 1802 and named it after Lincoln in his home county, Nicolas Baudin called it Port Champagny on 19 April, and sealers and mostly French whaling ships worked the bays from the 1820s to the 1840s (Wikipedia, Port Lincoln).

What to look for

• The shark cage diving - great white cage trips to the Neptune Islands.
• The sea lion swims - snorkelling with Australian sea lions at Hopkins Island.
• The tuna pens - the offshore ranching operation that built the town.
• Lincoln National Park - cliffs, dunes and beaches south of the city.

When to go

September to May for the calmest seas and warmest water; shark cage trips run year-round but are weather-dependent and cancelled often. Winter is cold and rough. The Tunarama festival falls in January.

Practical notes

Cage diving is expensive, involves a long boat trip and rough water, and sightings are not guaranteed. Sea lion swims are also weather-dependent. Port Lincoln is a working port town, plain in appearance, and a long drive or a flight from Adelaide.

Nearby

Coffin Bay lies west; Lincoln National Park is immediately south.

Key facts