Guided Koala Walk and Bushfire ecology tour

Recommended by 98% of travelers

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Kangaroo Island, Australia

Great choice

10+ bookings last month.

1 hour 30 minutes (approx.)
Mobile ticket
Offered in: English

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Overview

The Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary is one of the best places on Kangaroo Island to spot native wildlife. On this small-group walking tour, follow the sanctuary’s famous Koala Walk, which is only accessible as part of a guided tour. Accompanied by a guide, gain insight into the many different animals and look out for koalas, kangaroos, tammar wallabies, and more.

Guided Koala Walk: access areas of the park off-limits to the public
Spot kangaroos and koalas in their natural environment
Gain insight into Australia’s native animals from your guide
Choice of multiple departure times available throughout the day

What's Included

Parking Fees

Meeting and Pickup

Meeting point

2RJ8+XV Karatta
2RJ8+XVH Karatta SA, Australia
In the carpark by the meeting point sign

End point

This activity ends back at the meeting point.

Itinerary

Hanson Bay Wildlife Sanctuary

1 hour 30 minutes • Admission Ticket Included

Additional Info

Confirmation will be received at time of booking
Wheelchair accessible
Stroller accessible
Service animals allowed

Travelers should have a moderate physical fitness level
If you arrive on KI by cruise ship have you booked a rental car?
This tour/activity will have a maximum of 11 travelers

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Cancellation Policy

You can cancel up to 24 hours in advance of the experience for a full refund.

Traveler Photos

Gallery picture 1 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 2 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 3 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 4 (from a traveler's review)

Gallery picture 5 (from a traveler's review)

Featured review

Richard_F

Brilliant tour. Fiona, our guide was fantastic. We learned so much and saw so much more! Cannot recommend highly enough...

Reviews

4.8

based on 56 reviews

Total reviews and rating from Viator & Tripadvisor

We perform checks on reviews

Learned a lot

Frederick_K, Apr 2026

Tom, the tour guide was prompt on time very friendly and did an amazing job of locating and pointing out koalas hidden in the trees as well as kangaroos and geese. Tom also gave us narrative of the forest fire that destroyed much of the island in 2019. Definitely would recommend.

Response from Host, Apr 2026

We are so glad you enjoyed your tour.

Let’s meet local koalas and kangaroos

Christiane_R, Apr 2026

Seth, our great KI born guide, was very friendly and knowledgeable passing a lot of interesting facts about the local koala and kangaroo population. We went by foot and by car through the NP and had a great time with about 8 other people. Great tour, highly recommended!!

Response from Host, Apr 2026

Thanks for visiting. We are glad you enjoyed your tour with Seth.

Informative and enjoyable...

Ruth_S, Mar 2026

Informative and enjoyable walk. Saw several koalas in their natural habitat. Our guide was Seth, a young born and bred Kangaroo Islander who obviously enjoyed his job. It's great seeing local youngsters employed on the Island.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Thankyou for visiting

Up close view of iconic Australian wildlife.

John_M, Mar 2026

It's a natural environment with very little development and a very small staff. It's a real wildlife sanctuary. Stay in the parking lot until a guide greets you. The pay off is fantastic. Easy walk. Koalas, kangaroos, wallabies, black swan, geese, etc in their natural habitat. Thw guide provides very interesting details about the animals, their history and changing habitats.

Response from Host, Mar 2026

We are glad you enjoyed your tour. Our mission is to provide meaningful experiences with nature and wildlife in the wild through observation not interaction and to increase awareness and understanding of ecosystems and biodiversity and enhance the perceived value of conservation and sustainability. Thankyou for your visit and for supporting our mission.

Brilliant tour. Fiona,...

Richard_F, Feb 2026

Brilliant tour. Fiona, our guide was fantastic. We learned so much and saw so much more! Cannot recommend highly enough...

Response from Host, Mar 2026

Fiona has spent much of her life in the Australian bush and loves to share her knowledge. We are glad you enjoyed it.

Very interesting and many Koalas

Louise_H, Dec 2025

The meeting pointing in the car park, no buildings around. Fiona, our guide was very knowledgeable and could us several Koalas to see. Also some Kangaroos. We learnt interesting facts about these animals and others, as well as birds and geese. We also learnt about the affects of the 2019/20 bushfire and the regrowth, which was fascinating. I would highly recommend this tour.

Response from Host, Jan 2026

Seeing and listening to wild koalas during the mating season is a very special experience. We are glad you enjoyed your tour with Fiona.

Koala & bushfire education

David_D, Aug 2025

Excellent, very informative. Park is well maintained. Great day. Guide was well educated in her field.

Response from Host, Sep 2025

Thankyou for taking the time to write a review. We are glad you enjoyed it!

Informative

Peter_A, Apr 2025

The tour provided quite a lot of environmental information both on the recovery from the recent fires and some of the work required to sustain the wildlife. We did see a number of Koalas although as I expected they were largely hard to see and high in the trees. There were a few Kangaroos although plenty of evidence of a larger number. It is a wildlife reserve not a zoo and my wife was a bit concerned that there were only a few photo opportunities and too much talking so didn't enjoy it as much as she had expected. It's probably not as tourist friendly as some of the other centres but it was badly affected by the fires and is still recovering.

Response from Host, Apr 2025

We are a wildlife in the wild conservancy. We are seeing the iconic but very rare glossy black cockatoos on most tours this month. It is unseasonably hot and dry this week due to the unprecedented drought. Like everyone else on KI we are impatiently waiting for rain. If you visit on a hot afternoon the wild life has retreated to the shade. It becomes much more active toward sunset so the best viewing is on the nocturnal tour. Thanks for taking the time to write a review. We are sorry that you did not find it to be a 5star experience.

A beautiful walk through nature

Tracey_F, Sep 2024

Tom was our guide. He took us for a lovely stroll through the sanctuary. He shed light on how KI is progressing following the devastating fires from a few years back. We saw so many animals including kangaroos, wallabies, koalas, geese and the rare glossy black Cockatoo. Amazing time. Thank you Tom

Response from Host, Sep 2024

Thank you for visiting. Tom grew up less than 10km from the sanctuary and has lived on KI his whole life. I will be sure to pass on your kind words.

Beautiful tour to see animals!

Francois_G, Feb 2026

Super Tour, we could see several Koala in the middle of nature, the guide, which we understood very well, gives excellent information about animals, the tour ends with a small bus tour to discover a plain with many kangaroos.

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