Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary: Kayaking tours and picnic areas
The Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary in the north of Adelaide, South Australia, has a resident bottlenose dolphin population and a shipwreck trail. The best way of visiting is on a guided kayaking tour.
What is the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary?
The Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary is a marine park in Adelaide, South Australia. This marine park covers an ecosystem of tidal flats, seagrass, saltmarsh and mangroves. But, perhaps more importantly for visitors, it’s also where a 30-strong population of bottlenose dolphins call home. Around 400 more transient dolphins also pay visits at various times of year.
To book an Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary kayaking tour which also follows the Ships Graveyard Maritime Trail around Garden Island, head this way…
Where is the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary?
The Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary is in the north of Adelaide. It surrounds the northern part of the Lefevre Peninsula, which the Outer Harbor train runs up. It also covers several of the islands and waterways hemmed in by the peninsula. The Barker Inlet, the Port Adelaide River, Torrens Island and Garden Island are all part of this Adelaide marine park.
Pick your perfect Adelaide day trips
- Barossa Valley tours: 1. Wine-tasting with lunch 🍷. 2. Food and wine tour. 3. Small group wine tour with exclusive VIP tastings.
- Kangaroo Island in a day – including sea lions 🦭, koalas 🐨and national parks.
- Adelaide Hills tours: 1. Sights plus Murray River lunch cruise combo. 2. Small group cheese, chocolate & wine tour with Hahndorf German village.
- McLaren Vale tours: 1. Small group wine tour with lunch. 2. Hop-on hop-off wineries tour 🍷. 3. Food and wine indulgence tour, including the gloriously weird d’Arenberg Cube.
- Victor Harbor and southern highlights tour – including the Granite Island horse-drawn tram.
Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary kayaking tours
The best way to see the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary is on a kayaking tour. There are several options, but the most satisfying is the three hour adventure that also takes in the Ships Graveyard Maritime Heritage Trail.
This Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary kayaking tour takes in the mangrove system, and usually encounters the dolphins. But it also visits the series of shipwrecks sticking out of the water around Garden Island.
The tours cost $75 at time of writing, and can be booked online.
15 fabulous Adelaide experiences to supercharge your visit
- DOLPHINS 🐬: Swim with wild dolphins, kayak with the resident bottlenose pod or watch them on a dolphin cruise.
- FOOD AND WINE 🍷: Indulge on Adelaide food tour including Adelaide Central Market. Or try a wine discovery tour with tastings at the National Wine Centre. Or the ultimate Penfolds Magill Estate experience with full estate tour & Grange tasting.
- WILDLIFE 🐨: Spot koalas on a guided Morialta nature hike. Or walk from Waterfall Gully to Mount Lofty with entrance to Cleland Wildlife Park.
- CRUISES ⛵: Watch the sun set on a twilight coastal cruise, get to know the city on a Torrens River cruise or take a high tea cruise aboard the Popeye.
- SPORT 🏏: Dare to take on the Adelaide Oval Roofclimb or enter the fabled scoreboard on the behind-the-scenes stadium tour.
- ACTION 🚵♂️: Descend Mount Lofty on a downhill mountain bike tour or kayak along the Torrens River.
Land-based dolphin watching
If you don’t fancy getting in a kayak, you can try your luck seeing the dolphins from one of the parks and picnic areas within the Adelaide Dolphin Sanctuary. There are picnic areas at Garden Island, Snowdens Beach, St Kilda and the Largs Bay Foreshore.
For more information, visit the National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia website.
Top Adelaide hotel recommendations
For the beach: Oaks Glenelg Plaza Pier Suites. For families: Big4 West Beach. Most fun: Hotel Indigo Adelaide Markets. For setting: Oval Hotel. For heritage: Adina Apartment Hotel Adelaide Treasury.
More South Australia travel
Go for an open-air swim at the Unley swimming pool in Adelaide.
Find serenity in the Adelaide Himeji Garden.
How long does the Glenelg tram take?
Swim at Sheringa Beach on the west coast of the Eyre Peninsula.
Is there anything to see on the Marla to Coober Pedy drive?