Adelaide and South Australia Whale Watching

(Adelaide, South Australia - SA, Australia)

Viewing Season

Whale watching along the coastline of South Australia has become a popular attraction for visitors and locals in Adelaide. There are a number of whale watching tours and viewing spots available close to Adelaide, in and around Victor Harbour, which lies 83 km / 52 miles to the south.

Other areas of South Australia which are close to Adelaide and highly suitable for whale watching include the southern coastal beaches of Kings Head to Goolwa beach, Encounter Bay and also Port Lincoln.


The Adelaide and South Australia whale watching season generally runs from mid-June to early November, when the enormous southern right whales pass close to the South Australian coastline, during their annual migration south from the Indian Ocean.

Southern right whales are a particularly rare species of whale and often travel in huge groups of 100 whales or more. Regular boat trips from South Australia's Victor Harbour allow close-up views of the friendly whales. The South Australia whale-spotting success rate is extremely high during the whale watching season, with the different whale-watching boats actively sharing their information.

Southern Australia SA Whale Centre

Address: 2 Railway Terrace, Victor Harbor, SA, 5211, Australia
Tel: +61 (0)8 8552-5644
The Southern Australia Whale Centre is within reasonable driving distance from central Adelaide and operates an important whale-watching network and information centre, which covers three floors. Closely monitoring the movements of the southern right whales, the Southern Australia SA Whale Centre has large displays about the history of whaling and the population of the southern right whales, which once numbered more than 100,000. After excessive whaling in the 1930s, numbers dropped to just a few hundred and are now slowly climbing, with over 4,000 southern right whales worldwide.
Open hours: daily - 11:00 to 16:30

Whale Cruises and Boat Trips

The South Australia whale watching boat trips, close to Adelaide, are able to get near enough to the southern right whales to observe them in tremendous detail, with many photo opportunities available during the cruises. However, there are extremely strict whale watching rules in South Australia, such as no swimming near the whales and no feeding or touching of the whales. Also, marine vessels in South Australia should always maintain a reasonable distance from the whale and be careful not to disturb or separate the large whales groups.