Kangaroo Island via SeaLink

There is no bridge to get to Kangaroo Island which is just off the mainland of South Australia, so you need to fly or go via ferry!

The easiest is of course the ferry ... so you need to book via SeaLink which departs from Cape Jervis for Penneshaw every day.  There are up to 12 ferry services each day, but do check the timetable especially during busy holiday periods.

SeaLink’s two modern, air-conditioned car and passenger ferries, Sealion 2000 and Spirit of Kangaroo Island take just 45 minutes to cross Backstairs Passage between Cape Jervis and Penneshaw on Kangaroo Island.

on board the Sealion 2000

Both ferries are twin-hulled catamaran ferries complete with air-conditioned lounges, comfortable lounge or café style seating, a licensed café serving great cappuccinos and fresh snacks, outdoor viewing decks, wheelchair access, disabled toilets and baby change facilities.

 

The ferry terminal at Cape Jervis is open from 8:00am thru till 7:00pm between September and April and from May to August it is open from 8.00am till 6.00pm

There is a cafe serving coffee and snacks, free WiFi, restrooms, tourist information and booking services.

Boarding the Ferry:

When you arrive at the Ferry Terminal with your vehicle you must wait in the designated area. Decide who is going to be the driver before obtaining the boarding pass.  If you are towing a caravan, trailer, camper etc you will need to reverse the vehicle onto the ferry so it can be driven straight off at the other end.

a car with a trailer & kayak is reversing onto the ferry

On arrival at the terminal, the passenger will need to go to the Check-in Counter in the terminal with the booking number to obtain the BOARDING PASS.  Do this as soon as you arrive as it will be busy if there are coachloads of passengers arriving in from Adelaide!

foot passengers boarding the ferry

The passenger will need to walk on to the ferry, the driver of the vehicle is the only one permitted to be in the vehicle when boarding.

getting ready to depart

SeaLink also advise you to take out insurance for the crossing. The Ferry can be cancelled at a moments notice due to bad weather etc and it would be an expensive journey if you did not have insurance to cover you for accommodation and or another Ferry Ticket!

Our ticket cost us $428.00 return. That included two adults, one small car and our insurance.
We found it to be a pleasant 45 min journey both ways.

arriving at Penneshaw

the vehicles, trailers etc start to disembark

Useful URL's...

SeaLink Website

SeaLink Timetable

Boarding the Ferry

What is available on board

Help for those that suffer from Motion Sickness



previous blog posts on this particular vacation are:

staying at Cape Jervis Station

crossing the Mighty Murray by Punt

Beachport Jetty

stopping over in Mt Gambier

planning the journey to Kangaroo Island

our thoughts on staying at Cape Borda!

stay tuned for the blog posts on staying at Cape Borda, visiting the many bays, the roads of Kangaroo Island and much more!

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the journey to Kangaroo Island

the journey to Kangaroo Island .... well the one that we have planned!

A month or so ago I started organising our next vacation. We are planning on Kangaroo Island seeing as it is about the only place in Australia we have not been to!

Our plan is to leave home on the Saturday and head down towards Mt Gambier staying there overnight to break the journey and allow us more time to see the South Australian Coastline from Mt Gambier, via Robe to Cape Jervis.

Cape Jervis is where we board the SeaLink Ferry to Kangaroo Island.

We are staying in Cape Jervis on the Sunday night as the ferry departs on Monday morning at 9:00am.The Saturday night happens to be the Easter Weekend and it was a total pain to locate any accommodation as I mentioned in a previous blog post titled: neither simple, easy or low cost! Most places I contacted either directly or thru Zuji, Trip Advisor etc all required a minimum of three nights booking due to it being a 'holiday weekend'. Some of them didn't even bother to return my messages! After much frustration I called The Tower Motor Inn at Mt Gambier direct, what a pleasant experience that turned out to be. I had been on booking.com and knew the lowest price that the Superior Room was selling for, so when I asked him how much would he sell the room to me for, he gave me a higher price!  Told him the lowest price I had seen and he offered me the room at the same price and then proceeded to 'sell' me the Superior Deluxe Suite at a greatly reduced price and for the one night! ..... this man knows how to sell a room and he certainly knows about 'customer service'!

Impressive.

Thank you Gary Walters!

The Tower Motor Inn also had good reports on TripAdvisor, so hopefully our stay will live up to our expectations!  Will certainly let you know either way.  I gave him the cc details and the confirmation by email arrived by the time I put the phone down.

Must admit this is the sort of 'customer service' we should all expect and receive, but sadly it rarely happens in Australia.

Superior Deluxe Room at The Tower Motor Inn at Mt Gambier

Our next place for accommodation was to be around the Cape Jervis area as we had booked the SeaLink Ferry for the 9:00am crossing.  Again, we kept hitting brick walls due to the two or three night minimum booking.

Eventually we came across the Cape Jervis Station and Cottages.  Lovely receptionist on the phone, very helpful, especially with me asking many questions and then after the booking realised I had booked the wrong date!  Had to call her back and request the change .... she was very pleasant about it and told me it was a good learning experience for her too as it was her first day on duty. I certainly hope she is still there as she is more than just a good asset to their business.

We found this to be a little expensive at $175.00 with breakfast, but again, we had no choice due to the dates traveling. Will keep you up to date on the value after we have stayed!

though most of the comments on TripAdvisor are good:

We had booked for one night prior to going over on the morning ferry but ended up staying for two nights as the ferry was cancelled due to terrible weather (next time I will get travel insurance!). Accommodation was great B & B style in the homestead. Electric blanket was a blessing as it was freezing. Had dinner both nights and was lovely home cooked style with a lovely bottle of Shiraz from Kangaroo Island. The hosts were very welcoming and nothing was too much trouble.

Stayed here overnight for an early ferry to Kangaroo Island. The owners were very welcoming and showed us to our room with en-suite. The room was in the older homestead. We were the only people in that part of the complex. There are a variety of ways to stay on the property. They have caravan and motor home sites, log cabins and stone cottages. It is a working farm and the breakfast eggs were from the farm. Delicious. Nice and quiet, I did not hear any traffic noise myself.
Good to note the extra travel Insurance needed, am glad we have purchased ours already!

The downside - for Cape Jervis Station - was when I tried to get on to their website for some images and extra information, it kept coming up with the following message:

Now that is a very bad move for their business, either they need a better service provider or they need to extend their coverage!

I still managed to get a few images of the property and surrounds thru google maps and off TripAdvisor as seen below:

The Monday morning will see us up bright and early heading down to the Ferry Terminal at Cape Jervis to get the 9:00am Ferry ....

from Google Maps, view from the highway after leaving Cape Jervis Station

from Google Maps, view from the highway just before entering Cape Jervis.

and hopefully an hour or so later we are on our way to Cape Borda Lightstation !

My next blog post will be on our return journey from Kangaroo Island, Cape Jervis to Middleton and on to Naracoorte before returning home.

Make sure you subscribe to this blog for follow up posts on our journey to and from Kangaroo Island.

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