Wildlife & Nature
Sinkholes, springs & wetland birdlife
The best wildlife & nature in Limestone Coast
Crystalline freshwater springs, mirror-still sinkholes, ancient cave systems and internationally significant wetlands make the Limestone Coast a natural wonderland — and a haven for birds, bats and rare aquatic life.
Browse wildlife & nature by area
14 places
Blue Lake
The cobalt crater lake
A volcanic crater lake that turns a vivid cobalt blue each summer, ringed by a 3.6km walking and cycling track.
Bool Lagoon Game Reserve
FreeA wetland of international importance
A vast Ramsar-listed wetland system south-west of Naracoorte, one of the most important waterbird breeding sites in southern Australia.
Cape Banks Lighthouse
FreeA lighthouse on a wild coast
A skeletal steel lighthouse on a remote, wreck-strewn stretch of coast near Carpenter Rocks, watching over reefs that claimed many ships.
Cave Garden (Thugi)
FreeA cave in the city centre
A dramatic limestone sinkhole and waterfall in the heart of Mount Gambier, of deep cultural significance to the Boandik people.
Engelbrecht Cave
$$A cave beneath the streets
A guided show cave winding beneath the streets of Mount Gambier, popular with cave divers exploring its flooded passages.
Ewens Ponds Conservation Park
Drift-snorkel three spring pools
Three interconnected freshwater spring ponds of extraordinary clarity, linked by channels you can drift-snorkel through.
Little Blue Lake
FreeA sinkhole swimming hole
A deep, intensely blue water-filled sinkhole south of Mount Gambier, a popular spot for a bracing freshwater swim.
Little Dip Conservation Park
FreeWild dunes and freshwater lakes
A coastal wilderness of shifting sand dunes, surf beaches and freshwater lakes just south of Robe, laced with 4WD tracks and walking trails.
Mount Schank
FreeA near-perfect volcanic cone
One of Australia's youngest volcanoes, a textbook scoria cone south of Mount Gambier with a steep walking trail to the crater rim.
Naracoorte Caves National Park
$$World Heritage fossil caves
South Australia's only World Heritage site, a network of fossil-rich limestone caves preserving 500,000 years of Australian megafauna.
Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park
Snorkel a crystal chasm
A Ramsar-listed coastal wetland whose crystal-clear freshwater springs and the deep "Chasm" draw snorkellers and divers from around the world.
Pool of Siloam
FreeFloat in salt-rich water
A landlocked salt lake near Beachport, up to seven times saltier than the sea, where you float effortlessly on the surface.
Tantanoola Caves Conservation Park
$$A sparkling dolomite cave
A single, richly decorated show cave set in an ancient sea cliff near Millicent — and one of the few wheelchair-accessible caves in Australia.
Umpherston Sinkhole
FreeThe Sunken Garden
A collapsed limestone cave transformed into a terraced sunken garden of hydrangeas, ivy and hanging vines, floodlit at night when possums emerge.