Port Vincent Caravan Park & Seaside Cabins, Stansbury, Sultana Point, Troubridge Island & Edithburgh, South Australia

Sunrise. Port Vincent Caravan Park & Sea Side Cabins.

Port Vincent is a seaside town located on the East side of the Yorke Peninsula, South Australia. It's about a two hour drive from Adelaide, only because you have to drive around the Gulf of St. Vincent to get there. On a map it sits almost directly on the opposite side of the Gulf to Adelaide and is probably less than an hour by boat.

For my partner Enigma and I, this was actually the second time we've spent a short getaway holiday at the award winning Port Vincent Caravan Park and Seaside Cabins. I didn't write about our previous stay but I did mention a previous visit here that time we stayed at Butler's Beach.

Aside from being right next to the beach, we particularly like that the park is pet friendly with four of their cabins set aside for guests with pets (though bringing your pet is at the manager's discretion so do inquire at booking to make sure your pet is welcome). It's also worth noting that it is against park rules to leave pets alone in your cabin, and not all areas of the park permit pets within them.

Our small dog, Oscar, really enjoyed his stay, with walks along the beach every morning (he's not a swimmer but he loves rolling around in seaweed... a lot!).

Each of these buildings contains two Economy Cabins.

The park itself has accommodation to suit most budgets from deluxe cabins (including one with a spa) down to economy cabins (that we booked). There are also powered and unpowered sites if you have a caravan or RV.

The economy cabins are very spacious with enough room to sleep two adults and two children - or four adults if two of you want to share a double size bed and two sleep in bunk beds. You can either bring your own linen or pay extra for it to be provided. The room includes full kitchen/dining area, TV etc.

Unfortunately there's no ensuites in the cabins so you will be using the communal shower and toilet block facilities. Both are cleaned daily, well presented, and thankfully located very close to the cabins.

Also in the community area are both free and coin operated BBQs as well as a community kitchen, dining area, and guest laundry.

The beach next to the park is great for wading
when the tide is out.

Port Vincent's beaches must be good fishing beaches judging by the number of people who fish here, along with all the public fish cleaning stations (the park has one of these for guests). I'm not into fishing at all but I assume the high tide makes for good beach fishing.

The beach next to the park is a good wading beach, especially when the tide is out as you can walk out quite far.

While there are better cabins in the park (with ensuites) we definitely did not feel like we were in budget accommodation and enjoyed our stay. The economy cabins are actually the first ones built when the park was established in 1948 and won "Best Standard Accommodation" in 2010 and 2012. 

I will say the park could really benefit from a pet minding service (or partnering with one). While the park is pet friendly there are no extra facilities to accommodate them. Not being able to leave your pet anywhere for a few hours does kind of limit things like going out for a meal in the evening.

The start of the hiking trail along the cliff top.

If you're really into hiking there is a 17km walking trail that starts not far from the park and runs along the top of the cliffs along the coastline that I would recommend you at least try some of for the view.

If you time the walk for when the tide is out you can come back along the bottom of the cliff face and back onto the beach - though that walk looked quite rocky to me.

Stansbury

Stansbury Boat Ramps.

Fifteen minutes south of Port Vincent is another fishing town, Stansbury, which appears to have really great boat ramp facilities (they looked good to me) and a good fishing jetty.

We spent our afternoon just walking the path adjacent to the beach along the foreshore. Then we ate the lunch that we brought at one of the many public picnic tables.

Stansbury does  have quite a few murals to appreciate including a very eye catching local café, the Blue Lime Deli and Cafe - which we visited on our previous trip, and I remember it being very nice.

Sultana Point, Troubridge Island & Edithburgh

Standing on the point of Sultana Point.

Sultana Point is not quite the southern most point on the Yorke Peninsula elbow but it is close. It's a very 'white sand' swimming and fishing beach that looks across to Troubridge Island.

The island is a conservation park for migratory shore birds, penguins, and the occasional dolphin or few. Even more notable is that groups of up to ten people can rent the whole island to themselves, staying at the lighthouse keepers cottage, next to the retired, pre-fabricated, cast iron lighthouse. Built in 1856 and the only one of its kind in South Australia.

Enigma and I did not visit the island, we were there because Enigma had heard good things about Sultana Point. While it certainly is a very nice beach to walk along with your dog (which we did, and Oscar loved it), or sit on the beach, and enjoy the swimming, it doesn't offer a lot in the way of a nice foreshore area, if sitting on the beach itself for a picnic lunch is not quite your thing.

Edithburgh foreshore public gym with an amazing view.

So we headed back to Edithburgh, which we had passed through to get to Sultana Point, where there is an abundance of grassy foreshore and sheltered tables, along with a public park gym with quite possibly one of the best views you're ever likely to find.

Being late Saturday afternoon in Edithburgh by the time we got there, not too much was happening. I think I saw a history museum that would have been interesting to look around but because we had Oscar with us we couldn't really go in (though I did notice at least one café that was dog friendly if you are looking for somewhere nice to eat and have your pet with you).

--o ---o--- o--

Sailing boats Port Vincent.

Our last day of our four day holiday we spent in the town of Port Vincent itself. It's a relatively busy town (even on a Sunday) because the main beach is kind of center of activity, with plenty of room for safe swimming, fishing, and even a beach side café. I think you can even hire small sail boats from the boat club - though I may be wrong, that's just what I surmised seemed to be happening with the boats sailing around what seemed like a set course.

Once again we had our lunch at a table on the grassed foreshore, under a shelter (we really were on this trip to relax rather than rush around site seeing and being adventurous). We then walked around the town for a bit, where Enigma looked around a pop-up shop in the town hall before we retreated back to our cabin.

While our holiday was purely one for relaxation, Port Vincent is a great place to base yourself if you want to explore everything the Yorke Peninsula has to offer. It's quite central with most attractions being within a 90 minute to 2 hour drive at most. The area is a popular South Australian getaway and well worth exploring.