4-day Kangaroo Island Itinerary Perfect for International Students

Kangaroo Island is a gem of a place just off the coast of mainland South Australia, promising visitors remarkable natural wonders, gorgeous and unspoiled white beaches, outstanding national and conservation parks, and the best of native Australian animals. A trip to Kangaroo Island came to fruition last summer holidays in December 2020, despite the pandemic, when a friend of ours decided to hold her wedding on the island!

When is the best time to visit Kangaroo Island?

Kangaroo Island is a wonderful place to visit all year-round, with the four distinct seasons offering vastly different experiences. Summertime is perfect for beach indulgence, surfing, snorkeling, and camping. Autumn is when the finest of produce and products come to life for you to enjoy and purchase. Winter is when there are lush green pastures and bushland, waterfalls flowing, and wine by the fireplace is just perfect. Lastly, spring is when the native flora come to life and the island’s animals are out and about the most – perfect for you to also enjoy some outdoor activities such as hiking and kayaking!

How to get to Kangaroo Island?

By ferry

SeaLink is the only ferry service operating daily (except Christmas day) between Adelaide (Cape Jervis) and Kangaroo Island (Penneshaw). The ferry crossing takes 45 minutes. An adult passenger fare for a return trip will cost AUD 98. If you prefer the comfort of your car, then by all means take it over with you on the SeaLink ferry. However, you will need to book a vehicle space on the ferry in advance, and a return fare for a car will set you back AUD 196. It works out reasonably when you go as a group so the cost of the vehicle ticket can be split. To check out the ferry timetable and other fares, check out the SeaLink website.

By coach transfer

There are coach services from Adelaide/Goolwa/Victor Harbour to the ferry terminal at Cape Jervis, costing only AUD 29 one way.

By air

Daily flight services are available from Adelaide Airport to Kingscote Airport on Kangaroo Island. The 30-minute journey will cost anywhere between AUD 200-400 depending on the time of the year.

How to get around Kangaroo Island?

Since there are no public transport facilities or taxi services on the island, the best way to get around is by car. If you don’t have a car or choose not to take it over, you can hire a car on the island itself at Kangaroo Island Airport located in Kingscote, or in Penneshaw where the island’s ferry terminal is located. Just be sure to make a booking in advance as there are limited numbers of cars available for hire on the island. We highly recommend a 4WD vehicle for better driving on unsealed roads.
Just be careful while driving on the island especially when it’s dark, to avoid injuring or killing the wild animals that come out at dawn, dusk, and night.
There is also the SeaLink shuttle service that provides door-to-door transfers between towns and the airport.
Alternatively, you might want to pre-book island tours and have the agency take care of your transport around the island.
However, exploring the island at your own pace in your own vehicle is usually the best bang for your buck, especially when done as a group with good friends and company.

How much does it cost to travel to Kangaroo Island?

It can cost approximately AUD 750-800 for a 4-day trip to Kangaroo Island, when planned and executed with a group of friends. Below is the breakdown of the costs per person that was incurred on our trip:

• Car hire: AUD 150
• Ferry ride: AUD 98 return trip + AUD 50 for vehicle on board
• Airbnb: AUD 200
• On land food + activities + shopping: AUD 250-300

What to explore on Kangaroo Island?

Being approximately 4400 square kilometres in area, Kangaroo Island is Australia’s third-largest island after Tasmania and Melville Island. If you would like a simple taste of the island and see some of the main sights, a 4-day trip would suffice. However, given the expanse of the island, a 7-day trip will allow you to take in all the wonders of this paradisal place, given that the island is made up of seven regions.

Below is our 4-day Kangaroo Island itinerary where we managed to cover a few of the top highlights and natural wonders, encountered some of the resident animals, indulged in a bit of adventure and a whole lot of love and celebration!

Day 1

🚀 Ferry ride from Adelaide to Kangaroo Island

We drove 2 hours from Adelaide city to Cape Jervis which is located on the Fleurieu Peninsula, where the Sealink Terminal is located. We hopped on board while one of our friends parked our rental car in Tetris fashion!

🚀 Stop-over at Island Beach

As soon as we reached Kangaroo Island, we drove from the ferry terminal at Penneshaw to make our way to Kingscote where our accommodation was. However, we couldn’t help but check out the serene waters and soft white sands of the Island Beach. Simply gorgeous!

🚀 Check-in to accommodation

There are plenty of accommodation options on Kangaroo Island – from fancy hotels to Airbnbs. We decided to go for the latter, and were very happy with our choice of accommodation at Kingscote, as our Airbnb was completely furnished, close to where we had to be for the wedding at Kingscote, and also happened to overlook the gorgeous bay.

🚀 Dinner at Bella Cafe Restaurant and Pizza Bar

We kid you not, this little spot at Kingscote has the most delicious food and is priced so well! Not everything good on Kangaroo Island is overpriced. Some of the dishes we ordered were priced on par, if not cheaper, with what it would cost in Adelaide city. Not to mention, one of my friends thought that the salmon soba noodles were cooked by an authentic Japanese chef, when in reality, the man behind it was a local! The food is fresh, delicious, and made from locally sourced produce.

Day 2

🚀 A visit to a honey farm

After breakfast, we made our way to the Island Beehive honey farm in Kingscote to check out their unfiltered and raw honey produced by the purest strain of Ligurian bees in the world. Besides that, their honey ice cream and Kangaroo Island Ligurian Honey Mead (produced in partnership with Maxwell Wines) are worth trying! Clifford’s Honey Farm is also worth visiting. I love spotting the Queen Bee and learning about the honey making process from the sweet and friendly locals 🍯🐝

🚀 Emu Bay

On the North Coast region is Emu Bay, the only beach on Kangaroo Island with vehicle access onto the sand. There is also a mighty impressive Lavender Farm at Emu Bay that is in full bloom during summer, and their lavender ice cream and scones are pretty special.

💑 Wedding Celebration

The rest of the second day was reserved for the wedding at Doyles on the Bay. It’s a gorgeous secluded property situated on 5 acres of land with direct access to the beach. The wedding ceremony took place outdoors by the bay, and the party carried on inside the massive ‘mansion’. Many thanks to Vanessa and Basam for so kindly making us a part of your life’s most special milestone! 💖

Day 3

🚀 Flinders Chase National Park

• Located in the West End region of Kangaroo Island, and famous for its rugged and scenic landscape, Flinders Chase National Park has recovered incredibly from the 2019-20 summer bushfires that burnt 96 percent of the park. Your trip to Kangaroo Island would be incomplete without a visit to this national park. It is home to one of the most insta-famous roads in South Australia and some of the best scenic highlights mentioned below:
• Remarkable Rocks: What’s remarkable is that these abstract granite boulders here have been in the making for 500 million years, and their orange lichen tinted colour is quite outstanding! Don’t miss the stunning coastline view from the rocks above.
• Cape du Couedic Lighthouse: The fifteenth lighthouse to be built on the South Australian coast in 1909 before the Commonwealth took over the lighthouses.
• Admiral’s Arch: This is my favourite spot on the island; an archway sculpted by the wind and sea, and looks absolutely incredible during sunset time.
• Seal spotting: Hundreds of resident long-nosed fur seals can be found playing on the shore near where Admiral’s Arch is. They are so cute, you must greet them and get their seal of approval 😉

🚀 Sand-surfing at Little Sahara

Within the South Coast region of the island, you will find heaps of adventurous activities which include quad biking, kayaking, paintballing, and sand dunes surfing. One unique place to visit on the island is where massive sand dunes await you to enjoy sandboarding and tobogganing. It sure is fun, but you need to have enough stamina to climb those steep dunes, before you surf down and let the adrenaline rush takeover! Sandboards and Toboggans are available for hire at Little Sahara.

🚀 Vivonne Bay Beach

A pristine beach on Kangaroo Island well-known for its clear waters, making it another perfect spot for a picnic or barbeque on the jetty, and perhaps even swimming or just sunbathing.

🚀 Bales Beach

We decided to have a dip at Bales Beach, and I can’t help but emphasize the sheer beauty of the trek filled with lush shrubland that led us down to the shoreline of this secluded white-sand beach. It was just the perfect spot to swim and enjoy the scenery.

🚀 Sunset experience

To end the day on a lovely note, we chose to return to Flinders Chase National Park and watch the sunset there. It was truly a memorable experience that I won’t be forgetting for a long time.

Pro-tip: Flinders Chase National Park is open to visitors 24/7 (except Christmas Day), and the customer service staff are only available in the park between 9am and 5pm. Be sure to buy tickets to access the national park, and plan your trip well in advance so you know how much time you have to cover your sights of interest. The park has limited toilets, and there is no food or drink available for purchase throughout the park. Vivonne Bay General Store is the closest supplier of food, drinks, and fuel. So plan your trip well and pack all your essentials with you.

Day 4

🚀 Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park

Just 3km past the Parndana & Districts Region of the island is the Kangaroo Island Wildlife Park, where you can get up close and personal with over 150 species of native Australian wildlife and over 600 animals.

🚀 Seal Bay

As if the wildlife park was not enough, before leaving the island, we made a stop at Seal Bay which is where most of the nation’s sea lions play. There are viewing platforms and wooden walkways that provide access to greet these cute mammals.

🚀 Return to Adelaide city

After a 4-day trip to this beautiful destination, we made our way back the same way we came, and returned home with a bucket load of good memories after what was a fantastic travel experience in South Australia’s most iconic holiday destination.

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Biggest thanks to Mica for her excellent video-making skills! 📽️🤩