2026 Trade Update

Background

Australia recorded its first cases of H5 avian influenza in wild seabirds this winter, and Kangaroo Island has been part of that story. Greater crested terns tested positive here on 29 July, and on 13 September the South Australian Government confirmed the state’s first case in an Australian sea lion at Seal Bay. That animal had been recovering from a shark injury when it contracted the virus.

The latest surveillance update, circulated by the Kangaroo Island Tourism Alliance on 21 September, reports that aerial surveys found a mortality event on The Pages Islands, east of Kangaroo Island: four Australian sea lions and around 900 crested terns. This aerial surveillance found nothing further on Kangaroo Island itself. No detections were made in poultry or livestock, and the risk to human health remains low.

How we’re handling the situation

We issued a formal briefing to all our guides on 30 July and update it as advice from the Department for Environment and Water and PIRSA changes. In practice, it means:

• We keep our usual respectful distance for every wildlife encounter, including the long-nosed fur-seal colonies. This experience is unchanged – we still focus on finding animals in the wild.
• Nobody on our tours approaches or touches any bird or marine mammal, and our guides do not attempt rescues. Again, there is nothing new here – this aligns with our usual practice.
• Other than the regular roadkill, which reflects our high wildlife densities, we record and report any sick or dead wildlife encounters to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline (1800 675 888), and appropriate authorities manage them – we have yet to see any obvious sickness or mortalities on tour.

Other than direct access onto the beach, all bookings remain unchanged, and we will tell you as soon as we regain access to the beach.

What this means on tour

The sea lions have not gone anywhere. They haul out on the same beach, and from the boardwalk and lookouts, your clients can watch bulls, cows, and pups at a comfortable distance, with our guide interpreting alongside the Parks staff on the boardwalk. It is the walk down onto the sand that is currently unavailable as a precautionary pause to keep people, footwear, and equipment away from the colony while the situation is monitored.

Our recommendation on describing the temporary experience

We are choosing to retain the original experience description, with a note about the temporary suspension of beach access and an alternate description of the current experience, that you are welcome to use to update your documentation:

At Seal Bay Conservation Park take a private tour with your guide among Australian sea-lions on a beautiful sandy beach – an experience similar to that of the Galapagos. Watch pups nursing or playing in the surf, see old bulls bearing the scars of territorial disputes and learn about their unique breeding biology.*

*At the time of writing (2 October 2026), access to the beach at Seal Bay has been temporarily paused to help protect the sea-lion colony and other wildlife from the spread of H5 bird flu. All visits are currently from the boardwalk and viewing platforms. We will restore beach access to this itinerary as soon as the precaution is lifted.

Until this changes, the experience will be as follows:

At Seal Bay Conservation Park, follow the boardwalk through the dunes to viewing platforms overlooking one of Australia’s most important Australian sea-lion breeding colonies. From this elevated vantage point, watch the colony go about its day undisturbed – pups nursing or playing in the shallows, females returning from days at sea, and old bulls bearing the scars of territorial disputes – while your guide explains their unique breeding biology and the work underway to protect them.

No timeline on reopening

We won’t speculate on when the beach reopens; that is a National Parks decision. If a client asks, the situation in summary is that Australia, the last continent on the planet to see the arrival of H5N1, is managing its first cases of avian influenza impacting wildlife, the beach is closed as a precaution and viewing from the boardwalk carries no risk to people.

Official updates are at birdflu.sa.gov.au and the Parks SA closures page.

Sophie joined us in February and looks after the guest experience end to end: what our tours include, how they are guided, and how new products come together. If you have dealt with us on a bespoke itinerary this year, there is a fair chance her thinking is behind it.

She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Adventure Ecotourism. Her career has taken her across Australia and overseas into various guest experience focused positions including outdoor guiding, hospitality management and wilderness resort hosting.

Sophie also understands the ecotourism industry from the other side of the desk. Before joining us, she was awarded Visitor Services Consultant of the Year 2025 for her strengths in building and booking localised travel itineraries for the Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association.

Sophie began her journey on Kangaroo Island in 2018, guiding quad bike and kayak tours in Vivonne Bay before moving into management at Little Sahara Adventure Centre, where she built and led a team of guides, developed new tours and streamlined operations. She has now returned to make Kangaroo Island home, drawn back by its abundant wildlife, spectacular landscapes and the relaxed pace of island life.

Sophie is excited to create and deliver memorable experiences for our guests while fostering in them a deeper appreciation for the natural world. She’s your go-to contact for product questions, famils and all things guiding: sophie@exceptionalkangarooisland.com

Accommodation Update: The Ellson Hotel Opens this December

The property that generations of your clients knew as the Kangaroo Island Seaview Motel is reopening as The Ellson Hotel in December 2026, after an extensive multi-million dollar redevelopment. It takes its name from Florence “Flo” Ellson, who opened a guesthouse on the same site above Nepean Bay in 1924, which makes it the island’s oldest hospitality address.

The 1970s wing has been demolished and replaced with new buildings housing 42 new rooms, for 49 in total across standard, deluxe, ocean view and Seaview categories, plus The Ellson Suite and a two-bedroom suite. Accessible rooms are available.

Flo, the signature restaurant and bar, returns to the original heritage house with seating for up to 100, running on island produce and South Australian wine. New reception areas, landscaping and gardens complete the rebuild.

Touring packages with The Ellson Hotel

We have partnered with The Ellson from opening. Guests staying at the hotel have a choice of our small group and private touring, and integrated packages combining dinner, bed and breakfast at The Ellson with EKI touring are available now for arrivals from December.

They give you one booking, one invoice and a seamless Kingscote-based itinerary for clients who want a walkable town base with our vehicles collecting them from the door.

Learn more.

Product Update: Wild Wellness – Three Day Package

We have added a new three day private tour for clients who want Kangaroo Island at a gentler pace. It combines our usual wildlife and landscape touring with dedicated wellness sessions at Island Alive, a nature-based retreat set in a quiet stand of native pine. It is available to book now.

On day one, after a morning of touring, guests move through Island Alive’s Forest Renewal contrast therapy, alternating between a wood-fired hot tub, steam sauna and ice bath. On day three they return for an hour of yoga shaped around the individual, followed by a one-hour relaxation massage, before the day’s touring continues.

The touring covers the island’s best-known ground. Day one includes a koala walk, Stokes Bay and a Bush BBQ featuring King George whiting. Day two follows the south coast into Flinders Chase National Park for Admirals Arch, Remarkable Rocks and a clifftop picnic. Day three finishes at Cygnet Valley, where a short guided walk passes through farmland now being restored as bushland under the Bio·R habitat reconstruction program, before a private tour among the sea-lions at Seal Bay. All three lunches are served outdoors and built around local produce.

This package suits guests staying near Pelican Lagoon, including One Kangaroo Island, The River Suites and Mercure Kangaroo Island Lodge, and can also be run from any other accommodation we collect from. As a private tour, activities can be substituted to suit your clients. We recommend confirming priority experiences early to secure availability, and passing on any dietary requirements at the time of booking.

Learn more.

Field Notes: Rare Twin Wallabies

Jamie Christophers, one of our longest-serving team members, was out exploring the island in the spring sunshine near Cape Borda, on the island’s north-west tip, when she found a tammar wallaby sitting under a sheoak with an unusually full pouch. This healthy young mum is carrying twins, both well furred and at the stage where they are spending time in and out of the pouch.

Macropods normally raise one joey at a time. A female tammar will usually have a single pouch young, a second embryo held in pause, and an older joey at foot, which is a neat production line but not twins. Two joeys sharing one pouch and one supply of milk is rare, and even rarer for both to reach this size. In 40 years of guiding here, we can count sightings like this on one hand.

Kangaroo Island is the stronghold for this tiny species of kangaroo. They were once widespread across southern Australia, and now the island’s population is the largest that remains. Official estimates put the Kangaroo Island subspecies at 315,000 plus or minus 10%.

It has been a strong start to spring. Black swans have hatched their cygnets along the Cygnet River and the wetlands of the Cygnet Valley, and this week a pair were grazing four grey fluffballs across a paddock a few minutes from our base, with the parents keeping a straight line and the youngsters mostly holding it.

Koalas have started calling. That low, guttural bellow carrying through the manna gums at dawn and dusk is the males re-establishing territories ahead of the breeding season, and it tends to surprise guests who expected a silent animal. It is also the easiest time of year to find them, because they announce themselves.

The wildflowers are out across the heaths and mallee. Along Margaries Road this week the roadside is carrying coastal white mallee in full blossom, blue native iris, orange-and-red bitter-pea and drifts of pink boronia, and the season has a way to run yet. Walk Kangaroo Island guests in particular are getting the best of it on the coastal tracks this month.

Late last year we shared an update that The Cliffs would be opening for preview play in March 2026. Some setbacks have meant that this did not happen, however we are pleased to advise that official opening is still on track for November 2026, just a couple of months away.

We are already fielding enquiries for travellers looking to visit Kangaroo Island to play at The Cliffs in 2027 and beyond, and will be partnering with a range of accommodation providers, such as One Kangaroo Island and Southern Ocean Lodge, to provide seamless packages combining golfing, touring, transfers and accommodation.