South Australia: Seafood Coast

Enjoy some of the best seafood in the country on the Eyre Peninsula

The Eyre Peninsula, the triangle of land jutting into the sea between Adelaide and the Great Australian Bight, is the outback gone coastal; where vast, undulating wheat fields tumble into the sea over towering, knife-edged limestone cliffs. 

The cold southern waters that wash this rugged coastline also produce some of the freshest and tastiest seafood in the country and the best way to taste it is to follow the seafood and aquaculture trail.

The self-drive trail hugs the Peninsula's coastline, from Ceduna in the west to Port Lincoln at the southern tip and along the eastern coast to Whyalla, and leads you to abalone and crayfish farms, oyster sheds, fish hatcheries and processors that open their doors for informative tours and even a seahorse farm. You could do the trip in two days, but if you want to really explore the area three or four days would be better.

Ceduna

There's a lot of competition on the Peninsula about which oysters are the best, plumpest and juiciest, and you can begin your own taste testing in Ceduna at the Ceduna Oyster Bar, where you can snack on freshly-shucked oysters, sitting in the sun on the roof of the oyster shed overlooking the bay. 

Smoky Bay

But according to Jeff Holmes, owner of the Smoky Bay Oyster Farm 38km down the road at Smoky Bay, the best way to eat them is cooked in the shell on the barbeque, with just a touch of freshly ground pepper. Jeff and his wife, Colleen, run tours of their oyster farm where you can learn all the hows and whys of oyster farming, see aquarium displays of local marine life, and of course, taste some of the fruits of their labour. Just like those at Ceduna, their oysters taste of the sea - just the way a good oyster should be. 

When asked why the oysters of the Eyre Peninsula are so good, Colleen replies that it's the quality of the local waters. "We have no effluents or run-off, nothing that fouls up our water," she says. "Because our water is so clear and clean, our oysters are saltier and plumper".

Streaky Bay

These pristine waters also produce premium abalone, and at Streaky Bay (69km south) you can join an Abalone Farm Tour. This unique land-based abalone farm produces green and black lip abalone, supplying the insatiable Asian seafood market.

Baird Bay

Although not officially part of the trail, it's worth stopping at Baird Bay, a tiny collection of houses clinging to the edge of Anxious Bay, home to a colony of rare Australian Sea Lions. There is a viewing platform at nearby Point Labbatt where you can watch mothers teaching their pups to swim, or you can get really up close and personal on a swimming with sea lions and dolphin tour run by Ocean Eco Tours out of Baird Bay. Accommodation here is not what you expect - a luxury lodge complete with private chef, absolute waterfront views and your own Miele cappuccino machine. Not bad for a town with a population of six (although it triples to 18 in summer).

Elliston

Back on the trail, the road hugs the coast line, past sleepy Elliston, where you can take a short detour to follow the 5km cliff drive for some stunning views of limestone cliffs before taking a tour of the local crayfish farm.  Here you'll learn how cray pots capture their pray, the life cycle of the crayfish, and hand pick your own crayfish to take home and cook.

Port Lincoln

It's 169 km to Port Lincoln, the tip of the Peninsula and home to the largest commercial fishing fleet in the Southern Hemisphere. Wander the Lincoln Cove Marina on a guided walking tour to hear the history of fishing in the town and how it grew to become a $300 million a year export industry, see live rock lobster (November to May), or if they are in port, tour a working prawn trawler. You can also take a tour of tuna and yellowfish farming pens in the bay and visit a mussel farm. However, the one don't-miss attraction in Port Lincoln is the Seahorse Farm, the only one of its type in South Australia.

Tracey Worland has been breeding and farming seahorses for the aquarium trade for the past three years and is passionate about what she does.

"Twenty million seahorses are taken from the wild each year," Tracey says as she walks between the rows of tanks holding countless varieties of colourful sea horses in varying stages of growth. "They are harvested for herbal medicine, to make curios and jewellery and to supply the aquarium trade. We wanted to offer an alternative to the market that was sustainable, selling captive-bred seahorses to replace those that are harvested in the wild."

Tracey goes on to explain some of the finer points of seahorse life and lore: that there are 16 species native to Australian waters; that it is the male who gets pregnant and gives birth to live babies; that they eat sea monkeys, just like those you ordered in comic books as a child; and that, according to Asian herbal apothecaries, dried and ground seahorse is a great aphrodisiac.

Something to think about as you sip some local Boston Bay wine and tuck into some more delicious seafood while trying to decide whether it's the Smoky Bay or the Streaky Bay oysters that you like best.

All information was correct at the time of writing but may change without notice.