Melbourne to Adelaide coastal camping route

Melbourne to Port Fairy

Follow the Great Ocean Road through Torquay and Apollo Bay, then stay west of the busiest viewpoints for the night. Port Campbell, Warrnambool and Port Fairy all have caravan parks and groceries.

Do not underestimate fatigue on the winding section. Short distances take time and wildlife becomes harder to see near dusk.

The Limestone Coast

Cross into South Australia through Mount Gambier, where sinkholes, crater lakes and full-service caravan parks make an easy reset. Continue to Beachport or Robe for a coast night.

Check whether beach tracks suit your vehicle and rental agreement. Soft sand, tide and changing access make local advice more valuable than an old track report.

Coorong to Adelaide

The Coorong is long, windswept and sparse. Camp only in designated areas, carry water and protect food from wildlife. Fire rules can be strict even when evenings feel cool.

Approach Adelaide through Meningie and the lower Murray, or take more time around the Fleurieu Peninsula. Finish with a powered site if you need laundry and a full vehicle reset.

Two routes, two very different trips

The coastal route through the Great Ocean Road and Warrnambool to Mount Gambier is roughly 900 kilometres and takes at least four days done properly. The inland Western Highway is around 730 kilometres and can be driven in a long day.

The coastal option gives you the Twelve Apostles, the Bay of Islands, Cape Bridgewater and the Limestone Coast. The inland option gives you the Grampians, which is a serious destination in its own right.

If you have a week, do the coast one way and the Grampians on the return. That covers both and avoids driving the same road twice.

The Limestone Coast and the sinkholes

Mount Gambier sits on limestone country and the Blue Lake changes colour dramatically from grey to intense blue around November each year. Umpherston Sinkhole, a collapsed cave turned into a sunken garden, is free and genuinely unusual.

Cave diving in the region is world-renowned and strictly certification-controlled. The Kilsby Sinkhole and Piccaninnie Ponds have snorkelling options for people without cave qualifications, and the water clarity is extraordinary.

Robe and Beachport further north are quieter coastal towns with good camping and far fewer visitors than the Victorian side of the border. They make an easy final night before Adelaide.

Crossing the border

South Australia enforces fruit fly quarantine at the border, and fresh fruit and vegetables cannot be carried in. Disposal bins are provided at the checkpoint and fines apply for carrying prohibited produce, whether or not you knew.

Plan your shopping around this: buy fresh produce after the border rather than before it. This catches out a substantial number of travellers who stock up in Victoria the night before crossing.

There is also a time zone change of half an hour between Victoria and South Australia, which matters for ferry bookings, tour times and campground check-in.

Whales, seals and the southern coast

Southern right whales calve along this coast between roughly May and October, and Logans Beach at Warrnambool has a purpose-built viewing platform where they come close to shore. Nearby Portland and Cape Bridgewater add seal colonies.

Cape Bridgewater has one of the largest Australian fur seal colonies on the mainland, reachable by a clifftop walk. The blowholes and the petrified forest walk nearby make it a half day rather than a quick stop.

Tower Hill, an extinct volcano near Warrnambool, is a wildlife reserve with emus, koalas and kangaroos in an unusually accessible setting. It is free and quiet in the early morning.

The Coorong and the Murray mouth

East of Adelaide the Coorong stretches for over a hundred kilometres of lagoon behind a dune barrier, with camping, birdlife and almost nobody. It is a very different landscape from the limestone coast.

The Murray mouth at Goolwa marks the end of Australia's largest river system, and the barrages and ferry crossings around it are worth the detour before the run into Adelaide.

Allow time for the Fleurieu Peninsula on the approach to Adelaide, where McLaren Vale and the coast at Victor Harbor make an easy final day.

Grampians access roads and walking tracks have been affected by fire and flood in recent years, so confirm the specific track is open before building a day around it.

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