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Port Lincoln
Seafood Capital of Australia

Port Lincoln

The largest city on the Eyre Peninsula, set on glittering Boston Bay - a working tuna and oyster port that doubles as the gateway to two national parks.

Australia's seafood capital

Port Lincoln sits on Boston Bay, one of Australia's largest natural harbours and more than three times the size of Sydney Harbour. The city built its fortune on the sea, and it remains the home port of Australia's southern bluefin tuna fleet and the home of the Tunarama Festival, held each January. Matthew Flinders sailed into the bay in 1802 and named it after Lincoln in his native England, and that maritime heritage runs deep, from the working marina at Lincoln Cove to the Axel Stenross Maritime Museum.

Wild coast and water

This is also one of the great wildlife corners of the country. Operators such as Calypso Star Charters and Australian Coastal Safaris head out to cage-dive with great white sharks and swim with playful sea lions. Just minutes from town, Lincoln National Park unfolds across mallee, dunes and beaches, with the Stamford Hill Lookout, Cape Donington Lighthouse and September Beach within reach. Further south, Whalers Way, Fishery Bay and its lookout deliver dramatic cliffs and blowholes, while Mikkira Station offers a chance to spot wild koalas among old manna gums.

Visiting Port Lincoln - frequently asked questions

What is Port Lincoln known for?

Port Lincoln is widely regarded as the seafood capital of Australia and is the home port of the country's southern bluefin tuna fleet. It is famous for its working harbour on Boston Bay, fresh local seafood, and wildlife adventures including cage diving with great white sharks and swimming with sea lions.

How far is Port Lincoln from Adelaide?

By road Port Lincoln is around a 7-hour drive from Adelaide, heading up and around the gulf via Port Augusta and Whyalla. If you would rather fly, regular flights connect the two cities and take roughly 45 minutes, making it an easy weekend or longer escape.

What is there to do in Port Lincoln?

Beyond the marina you can cage-dive with great white sharks or swim with sea lions on tours run by operators such as Calypso Star Charters and Australian Coastal Safaris. Lincoln National Park, Whalers Way and Mikkira Station offer beaches, coastal cliffs and koala spotting, while the Axel Stenross Maritime Museum tells the story of the town's seafaring past.

When is the best time to visit Port Lincoln?

Spring and autumn bring mild, comfortable weather that suits hiking and coastal touring, while summer is popular for beaches and the January Tunarama Festival. Great white shark cage-diving tours generally run year-round, with the cooler months often considered prime for sightings.

Can you see great white sharks and sea lions near Port Lincoln?

Yes. Port Lincoln is the main hub in Australia for great white shark cage diving, with day tours departing the harbour to reach the offshore Neptune Islands. Many operators also offer the chance to snorkel alongside wild Australian sea lions in the same waters.

What to Experience

Things to do in Port Lincoln

22 places in this category

Australian Coastal Safaris

Guided Adventures Across the Peninsula

A local tour operator running guided four-wheel-drive, wildlife, seafood and fishing experiences across the southern Eyre Peninsula.

Port Lincoln Wildlife & Nature Family Activities
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Axel Stenross Maritime Museum

A Finnish boatbuilder's working world, preserved

The slipway, workshops and living quarters of Finnish boatbuilder Axel Stenross, kept as a working maritime museum full of windjammer-era relics on the Port Lincoln foreshore.

Port Lincoln Heritage & History Family Activities
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Boston Bay

Australia's Biggest Natural Harbour

The vast, sheltered bay that Port Lincoln is built on - more than three times the size of Sydney Harbour and the home of the tuna fleet.

Port Lincoln Eat & Drink Wildlife & Nature Family Activities
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Cape Donington Lighthouse

A historic lighthouse at the tip of Lincoln National Park, looking out over Spilsby Island and the entrance to Boston Bay.

Port Lincoln Lincoln National Park Wildlife & Nature Walking & Hiking Heritage & History
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Cummins

Heart of the Wheat Belt

A classic agricultural town in the centre of the lower Eyre Peninsula, surrounded by grain country and dotted with heritage buildings.

Port Lincoln Cummins Heritage & History Markets & Artisans
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Fishery Bay

A Southern Surf Stalwart

A long, exposed surf beach near Whalers Way, one of the most consistent and well-loved breaks in the Port Lincoln area.

Port Lincoln Sleaford Beaches Surfing & Watersports
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Fishery Bay Lookout

A clifftop vantage over the wild surf and pale sand of Fishery Bay, south of Port Lincoln.

Port Lincoln Beaches Wildlife & Nature
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Glen-Forest Tourist Park

Animals, Slides & Family Fun

A family-friendly wildlife and activity park near Port Lincoln, combining hand-feeding native animals with water slides, mini golf and more.

Port Lincoln Stay Wildlife & Nature Family Activities
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Greenly Beach

Granite, Swell & Empty Sand

A spectacular west-coast surf beach framed by granite boulders and looking out to Greenly Island, beloved by surfers and photographers.

Port Lincoln Coulta Beaches Surfing & Watersports
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Lincoln Cove Marina

The heart of Port Lincoln's billion-dollar tuna industry, a working marina lined with fishing vessels, cafes and the story of the town's seafood wealth.

Port Lincoln Eat & Drink Heritage & History
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Marina Hotel Port Lincoln

$$

A waterfront pub and accommodation overlooking the Port Lincoln marina, pouring local beers and plating up the day's seafood catch.

Port Lincoln Eat & Drink Stay
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Memory Cove

A Wilderness Named in Grief

A pristine white-sand cove in a strictly protected wilderness area, named by Matthew Flinders for the crew he lost here in 1802.

Port Lincoln Beaches Wildlife & Nature Heritage & History
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Mikkira Station

Wild Koalas Under the Manna Gums

A historic sheep station where wild koalas doze in the manna gums - one of the few places on the Eyre Peninsula to see them in the wild.

Port Lincoln Wanilla Wildlife & Nature Heritage & History Family Activities
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Parnkalla Trail

Boston Bay, one footstep at a time

A shoreline walking trail tracing the curve of Boston Bay through Port Lincoln - first landing site, beaches, marina and headlands, with the city never far away.

Port Lincoln Wildlife & Nature Walking & Hiking
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Port Lincoln Hotel

Boston Bay From Your Balcony

Port Lincoln's landmark waterfront hotel, with bay-view rooms, a restaurant and bar overlooking the marina and Boston Bay.

Port Lincoln Eat & Drink Stay
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September Beach

A popular family camping and swimming beach in Lincoln National Park, with sheltered water and a campground just behind the dunes.

Port Lincoln Lincoln National Park Beaches Family Activities
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Sleaford Bay

A long, powerful arc of surf beach south of Port Lincoln, exposed to Southern Ocean swell.

Port Lincoln Beaches Surfing & Watersports
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St Matthew's Anglican Church (Poonindie)

A stone colonial church north of Port Lincoln, the surviving heart of the 19th-century Poonindie Mission.

Port Lincoln Heritage & History
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Stamford Hill Lookout

A summit walk in Lincoln National Park to a Flinders monument, with 360-degree views over Boston Bay and the islands.

Port Lincoln Lincoln National Park Wildlife & Nature Walking & Hiking Heritage & History
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Wanna Dunes

A vast field of white dunes tumbling to a wild surf beach in the south of Lincoln National Park.

Port Lincoln Beaches Wildlife & Nature
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Whalers Way

Granite Cliffs at the End of the Earth

A privately owned stretch of spectacular, untamed coastline at the southern tip of the Eyre Peninsula, accessed by permit.

Port Lincoln Sleaford Wildlife & Nature Walking & Hiking Heritage & History
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Lincoln National Park

Headlands, Bays & Memory Cove

A rugged coastal park just south of Port Lincoln, with sheltered swimming bays, dramatic headlands and the protected Memory Cove Wilderness.

Port Lincoln Beaches Wildlife & Nature Walking & Hiking
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