Penneshaw - Is the Gateway to Kangaroo Island

Penneshaw is a small pretty country town on Kangaroo Island with a population of about 1500 people, and is on the north-east coast of the Dudley Peninsula, and overlooks Backstairs Passage, with the mainland of South Australia a mere sixteen kilometres away. The Kangaroo Island Sealink vehicle ferries from Cape Jervis dock here several times each day.

The beach at Penneshaw is known as Hog Bay, and is an excellent sandy swimming beach, and its picnic spots make it a destination popular with families, and above the beach, there is a grassy picnic reserve complete with bar-b-cues.

Most people arrive on Kangaroo Island via the Kangaroo Island Sealink ferry from Cape Jervis which arrives at Penneshaw, which is complete with a colony of fairy penguins.

The fairy penguins reliably waddle up the beach to their burrows every evening with guided tours run by the National Parks & Wildlife Service (NPWS) departing just after sunset from the Penguin Interpretative Centre, situated right beside the main ferry terminal.

The colony thrives here because of the scores of fish in the unpolluted waters, with a specially lit boardwalk providing a rookery viewing area raised above the penguins’ route from the rocks to their cliffside burrows.

The penguin interpretation centre is open nightly complete with a national park guide (Oct–March 8.30pm & 9.30pm; rest of the year 7pm & 8pm; $5) who will provided an informative commentary on their antics of the fairy penguins before you go for a look yourself.

Penneshaw can also a good place to base yourself on Kangaroo Island, with comfortable accommodation and a variety of places to eat.

Antechamber Bay, the next body of water, 10km by road south east of Penneshaw, this is also a great, safe swimming beach. If you drive or cycle a further 10km you’ll come to Cape Willoughby Lighthouse, at the eastern end of the island. Guided tours are offered by the NPWS (daily every 30min 10am–4pm; $5), and you can even stay in the sandstone homes of the original light keepers. You’ll find more safe swimming at American Beach, southwest from Penneshaw along the scenic road that hugs Eastern Cove.