The best wildlife encounters on Australia's Nature Coast Drive
List
By Danielle Reckless
Seeking adventure and discovery where nature is the biggest show off? Pack your bags and hit the road on Australia’s Nature Coast Drive.
Stretching along the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast, the views alone make this one road-trip you need to set your sights on. But if you want those views to include some pretty spectacular Aussie wildlife and authentic animal encounters, check out these wildlife experiences to have along the way.
Get a front row seat to humpback whale migration
Kick off this road trip between June and October and you’re pretty much guaranteed to spot migrating humpback whales spout and breach along the coastline, as they come to rest and play with their young calves in tow. Often you can watch this right from a lookout or the beach.
Want to get a little closer? Take your pick of tours along the Sunshine Coast and Fraser Coast. Hervey Bay is one of the best spots in the world to go whale-watching, so there are plenty of tour operators offering daily cruises to meet them. Over on K'gari (Fraser Island), Kingfisher Bay Resort offers daily whale watching cruises between August and October. Or make your way from Hervey Bay to the remote western side of K'gari with Tasman Venture.
Want to dive in and be truly dwarfed by these gentle giants? A few operators on the Sunshine Coast and Hervey Bay offer swim with whale experiences.
However you witness whales at their most playful, this is something everyone needs to experience.
Spot a dingo on K’gari (Fraser Island)
Dingo on the beach K’gari (formerly Fraser Island) | wildlife Australia’s Nature Coast Drive
Wild K'gari has one particularly wild inhabitant: the dingo. And while they’re best appreciated from a distance, you’ll see them along the beaches at dawn and dusk when they’re most active. Fraser Island dingoes are protected – here’s what you should know before you get here.
Swim with turtles and mantas on Lady Elliot Island
There’s no better place to meet what’s under the sea than Queensland’s eco-paradise in the Southern Great Barrier Reef. Lady Elliot Island and its eco-resort are leading the charge in sustainable tourism, and if what’s above the surface (like guided nature walks, watching baby turtles hatch by moonlight and coral beaches) impresses you, just wait until you see what lies below.
Nestled within a highly protected Green Zone, Lady Elliot Island is a sanctuary for thousands of marine life species, from manta rays and turtles to reef sharks, coral and tropical fish. This is some of the best snorkelling you can do on the Great Barrier Reef – and there’s also 20 incredible dive sites around the island, easily accessible by boat, with a PADI Dive Shop right here to get you there.
For more underwater adventures along Australia’s Nature Coast Drive, snorkel Mudjimba Island on the Sunshine Coast, while advanced divers will find their thrills wreck diving HMAS Tobruk.
Meet rescued and rehabilitated native wildlife
Australia Zoo on the Sunshine Coast is a must-stop for any wildlife lover on Australia’s Nature Coast Drive. It’s the most interactive conservation destination on the planet, and there’s so much opportunity to meet wildlife in a safe and ethical way. Feed kangaroos and wallabies, cuddle up to a koala, meet a wombat or echidna. You can also book close encounters with elephants, komodo dragons or the zoo’s two-tonne white rhino.
Don’t miss the opportunity to tour the wildlife hospital while you’re here. It’s the busiest of its kind in the world, and you can watch as vets save and rehabilitate precious wildlife right before your eyes.
Count the kangaroos
You might have just fed a kangaroo at Australia Zoo, but it’s likely you’ll stop as often to snap a photo of a kangaroo as you will for road trip snacks on this drive.
Kangaroos can be found in Aussie bushland along the east coast, and they’re most active at dawn and dusk. One of our favourite places to see kangaroos and wallabies along the Nature Coast Drive is on the shores of Lake Cootharaba at glamping destination Habitat Noosa Everglades. They roam freely around the camp each sunset, making sundowners at the micro-brewery that much more entertaining.
Birdwatching at its best
Road-tripping along the coast doesn’t just mean you’ll meet a few hungry seagulls when you sit down in the sand with your fish and chips. Birdwatchers will be treated to some of Queensland’s best here.
Noosa Everglades is one of our most remarkable and under-the-radar wonders, also Queensland’s first UNESCO Biosphere. The diversity of birdlife here is astonishing, home to over 40% of Australia’s bird species which you can view as you explore its network of twisting and turning waterways by boat or canoe.
Lady Elliot Island has the second highest diversity of bird species on the Great Barrier Reef. In fact, there are 105 different species of seabirds, land birds and shorebirds who come here to nest.
Ready to hit the road? Use this itinerary to get started on Australia’s Nature Coast Drive.
