East Coast

With long white beaches away from the crowds and seas of intense aqua, Tasmania’s east coast offers a completely different Australian beach experience. Our mild climate and pristine secluded beaches means our coastline is perfect for walking, kayaking, diving, sea cruises and relaxing. At the end of each day you can relax at an award-winning eco-lodge or tranquil beach house and indulge in the freshest seafood. Whether they are fishermen, wine makers or walking-guides, you will hear a different life story from friendly locals whose values are shaped by the rhythms of nature, and the stunning beauty of the east coast.

At its northern extremity is Flinders Island, where you can hunt for the Killiecrankie ‘diamond’, or dive into a world of giant crabs and crays. At Mount William National Park, in Tasmania’s north east, Forester kangaroos acknowledge visitors with casual indifference. Heading south, around the Bay of Fires, the sea is aqua and deserted shell-strewn beaches stretch for kilometres of silica sand. House-sized granite boulders reddened by lichens, are polished smooth by waves that thump and sigh as they crumple onto the shore. Just before the small fishing town of Bicheno, is the Douglas-Apsley National Park, a landscape of rugged river gorges, waterfalls, and gently flowing rivers. Nearby, occupying a whole peninsula, is spectacular Freycinet National Park, with Coles Bay at its entrance overlooking crystal-clear Oyster Bay, an ideal place for diving, snorkelling, kayaking, boating and fishing. The park is dominated by the pink granite of the Hazards Mountains and best known for the perfect curve of Wineglass Bay. Enjoy superb seafood of cray, scallops, oysters, salmon, and berries in Swansea, before the journey south and the first sight of Maria Island. The whole island is a national park, free of vehicles. It is a refuge for Forester kangaroos, wallabies and the round small pademelons. You can stay in the tiny settlement of Darlington, watch the Cape Barren Geese or any of the 130 resident bird species, and relax as you learn of the Aboriginal, convict and settler histories. Ferry services to Maria Island depart from Triabunna, the gateway to Maria and also Australia’s first rural municipality. Just south from Triabunna you will find the popular holiday destination of Orford, located on the mouth of the Prosser River with unsurpassed views across to Maria Island.