Imagine floating in crystal-clear waters, the sun warming your back, when suddenly, a curious sea lion glides past, locking eyes with you in playful intrigue.
This isn’t a dream – it’s the reality of swimming with sea lions at Baird Bay, South Australia. After years of anticipation, I finally undertook this unforgettable experience, and it exceeded every expectation.
This has been on my bucket list since I first wrote it in 2020, and finally, after a couple of attempts, in 2025 I could tick it off.
Read on to learn all about this incredible experience, swimming with sea lions at Baird Bay.
TL;DR? Here's the outline
Swimming with Sea Lions
Sea Lions are often referred to as the “puppies of the sea”. I have seen so many amazing photos and videos of them playing, I just had to check this out for myself.
It is possible to swim with sea lions in other places in South Australia, but I wanted to do it in the shallow, pristine waters of Baird Bay.
This area has a special place in my heart because it was where I was born and raised. That has also led to my healthy respect for the larger critters in the ocean here on Eyre Peninsula, so I feel much better at swimming in a more protected area.
But Baird Bay is not exactly an easy place to get to (more on that later), and I had to plan this swim before I came.
Last time I came over here I left booking until a few days beforehand, waiting until the perfect weather was forecast, and then I missed out. So I recommend booking at least a week or two out, especially during the busy summer holiday period.
The tour happens in the morning, with everyone meeting at the headquarters at 9am.
When you come into Baird Bay, you will see a sign pointing you to the beach. Yes, you will need to drive about 150m along the beach, parking right out the front.
You will be greeted by staff who will start getting into your wetsuit. First, there’s a long-sleeved top to help keep you warm, the wetsuit, boots and of course the goggles and snorkel, which they fit to each person.
Then it’s out onto the boat for the 20-minute ride out to Jones Island, which sits in the mouth of the bay. We had a dolphin escort, and the trip went by quickly.
There were two staff members with us. One would drive the boat and keep watch, the other was in the water with us during the tour. We had about 16 people with us on our tour, which is about as many as the boat allowed.
As the staff anchored the boat, we could see sea lions and plenty of birds in the distance, sitting on rocks, laying on the tiny beaches and playing in the water.
Even before we were all in the water, a few curious sea lions came over to investigate.
Once in the chest-deep water, we didn’t go too far, just into a slightly deeper channel, and that’s where the fun began.
For the next 45 minutes, we had several sea lions approach us and swim around us. One was a big male, who just sort of hung around. I think to think he was kind of standing guard.
One girl came right up to me to say hello.
We had been warned that if the sea lions got close to not reach out and touch them because they might mistake our fingers for food and bite. She got closer and closer, not rushing, just curiously looking at me.
This was the last photo I took as I then put my hands up out of her way as she came right up and nuzzled my chest.
I’m not sure if I met her standards or not, but after checking me out, she casually went on her way.
The sea lions here are wild, they live out in the ocean, and it’s such a buzz that one of them deemed me interesting enough to get close and take a look.
Then we had this young boy, who was all about showing off for the cameras! He was zipping through our group, leaping out of the water, doing loops, and getting right up close, looking up in the eye!
He even followed us to the boat as we climbed back on, waved to us, and porpoised into the distance – we couldn’t have had a better farewell.
It’s hard to describe how special this all was in words, so take a look at this little video I put together.
While I was more than content with our swim, we weren’t done yet.
We moved into some deeper water to swim with the local dolphins too.
We weren’t quite so lucky here. As we jumped into the water, the dolphins swam under us, but they moved a little away from us and didn’t come back closer.
Our guide explained it was probably because they had babies with them – the pod currently has five young ones – so they were being a little protective.
Honestly, I didn’t mind at all. These are wild animals so they do as they please, and I was still buzzing from the sea lions so did not feel at all disappointed.
We made our way back to the Baird Bay Ocean Experiences headquarters, stripped off our wetsuits and enjoyed a nice warm shower.
We had an overcast but reasonable day of around 25 degrees, so we weren’t all that cold, but I can imagine how good that shower would feel on a cold day.
Now we had time for a warm drink, before heading inside to the table for lunch with a view. We were served a delicious local lunch, alongside a beer, wine or soft drink of our choice.
This was not just some quick, slapped-up meal, they have a gourmet chef here, and the meal reflected that. It was interesting an d delicious, featuring local ingredients.
The main course was a light fish dish with some local cockles. The fish used shocked me though, it was Leatherjacket. Only the day before I was catching these and throwing them back, no-one here eats them.
It must be because they are fiddly to clean and fillet, because prepared as these were, it was delicious.
Dessert was a chocolate tart with ice cream, made right here by the chef. There were sides of leafy greens and some delicious chunky chips.
We sat chatting to our fellow tour participants for a good hour or so without feeling like we were being “kicked out”.
Booking Your Own Experience
Here are some important things to know if you are considering booking your own sea lion swim at Baird Bay.
- Best time to go – the tour runs from September until May. While warmer weather is probably preferable, the wetsuits are thick and do keep you warm in the water.
- How long is the tour – we were there for around 5 hours. You could probably leave after about 4.5 hours but still enjoy everything if you are in a rush.
- Do I need to be an experienced swimmer – not as much as you might think. Where the sea lions are is shallow, and you can choose not to swim in the deeper water with the dolphins. While life jackets weren’t offered, some people did choose to use a floatation device, just in case. If you don’t want to go in the water at all, you can book an observer ticket.
- Are kids welcome on the tour – yes, but kids under 2 are not allowed to swim. It’s best if they have some sort of swimming ability and can use a mask. Check the website for other restrictions.
- Are the tours accessible – yes, the boat is wheelchair accessible, but there may be other needs that require extra help. Call them to discuss your own needs.
- Will I definitely see sea lions and dolphins – these are wild animals, so there is no guarantee, but you will almost certainly see them if my visit is anything to go by.
- What should I bring – you will need a towel, a jacket to wear if it’s cold on the boat on the way in, sunscreen (but only put it on after your swim to keep our oceans safe) and water. Of course, bring a camera too if you have one, or you can rent a Go Pro.
About Baird Bay
An important part of this experience is getting to Baird Bay, and let’s just say, it’s not exactly an easy place to access. But it’s pristine, relaxed and home to a shallow bay, just perfect for sea lions.
Baird Bay is on the western coast of Eyre Peninsula, about 50km from Streaky Bay, mostly dirt roads. It’s over 700km from Adelaide, so a little too far for a quick weekend visit.
There really is nothing here in town except a few shacks and the headquarters of Baird Bay Ocean Experience. There are no shops or services – although we did have phone coverage with both Optus and Telstra networks while we were there.
There aren’t too many options to stay in Baird Bay. There is a cheap basic campground with only 8 spaces and a toilet block, but not much more. It’s also first-come, so no bookings, which means taking a risk that you may not get a spot. You can find the details on the Streaky Bay website.
The other option in Baird Bay is to stay in one of the all-inclusive luxury (and I mean luxury!) villas offered by Baird Bay Ocean Experiences. While they look amazing, they are completely out of my price range.
So like me, you will probably want to stay in Streaky Bay.
Don’t do what I did though – leave booking until the last minute, then realise you will be there right when the Streaky Bay races are on, and there’s not a bed anywhere!
Thankfully I have a cousin who lives in Streaky Bay, so I had to call in a favour and sleep on her floor the night before our experience.
You probably don’t have that option though, so here are a some suggestions:
Caravan Parks – there are two here in town, Discovery Parks Streaky Bay Foreshore, which is right in town and has been around forever. The new kid on the block is Little Islands Caravan Park which is about a 5-minute drive out of town and always gets good reviews from people I know. There is a third option I’ve not heard much about – a cheap RV campground run by the council.
Hotel Accommodation – I would recommend Streaky Bay Hotel-Motel or Streaky Bay Motel & Villas.
Holiday homes – there are plenty of these available in town depending on your budget and requirements. You can book through the usual sites like AirBnB or Stayz, and you can find many of them on the Streaky Bay website where you can book direct.
Another Option
While I think this is the best option for swimming with sea lions in South Australia, I do recognise it’s a little harder to get to.
There is another option to do another tour at Port Lincoln. it’s a bit different, but ultimately you do get the opportunity to swim with sea lions, and Port Lincoln is much easier to get to – you can even fly there from Adelaide just for a couple of days.
