Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park Camping Shipwreck and Dolphins

Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park | Shipwreck & Dolphins

Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park is a top spot for camping, fishing, and surfing. It is located at the tip of the Yorke Peninsular, a beach-goer’s paradise a few hours’ drive from Adelaide. A vehicle entry fee applies to enter Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park.

Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park Map

There are a variety of attractions in Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park. One could go for various bushwalking trails, and camp at one of the seven campgrounds around the park, all accessible by a car (no 4WD required). If camping is not your cup of tea, there are also historic buildings turned into lodges in the Inneston historic township. Surfing at Pandalowie Bay and fishing are also popular here, just make sure you check the local regulations and not to fish at the protected sanctuary zone.

There are over 40 shipwrecks along the coast, and one could scuba dive to explore some of these underwater shipwrecks. However, if you are not scuba diving, you can visit the two onshore shipwrecks of Ethel and Ferret by foot at Ethel Beach.

Ethel Shipwreck & Ferret Shipwreck

Ethel Shipwreck Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

The onshore shipwreck of the Ethel sailing ship (barque) can be seen above from the car park of Ethel Beach.

Ethel Shipwreck

Stairs lead down to the beach for a closer look at the shipwreck.

Ethel Shipwreck

Ethel was driven onshore by strong winds and giant swells in 1904, when the sailing vessel passed too close and struck a reef due to a south-westerly gale and poor visibility.

Ethel Shipwreck

The wreck is not always visible, as shifting coastal sands slowly expose or rebury (especially in winter or after a storm) the wreck.

Ethel Beach Cave
Ethel Beach Cave

On the right side end of the beach, there is a little cave. I saw many footprints of birds in the cave.

Ferret Shipwreck Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

Over at the left side of Ethel Beach, you could find the remains, a partially buried boiler of the Ferret steamship. Coincidently, it was the Ferret that first saw the stranded Ethel back in 1904, raised the alarm and led to the rescue of the Ethel crews.

In 1920, as the Ferret passed through the area, sudden thick fog and rough sea battered and holed the ship. The crew had to abandon the ship, but first they needed to anchor a lifeline to the beach. Ironically, the anchor point was the wreck of Ethel, which the Ferret encountered 16 years ago. The cargo washed up on the beach was mostly alcohol, much to the locals’ delight. At one point, a local constable had to patrol the area and smash any bottle of alcohol found washed up on the beach.

Shell Beach Campground | Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

Shell Beach Campground

Shell Beach Campground (booking needed) is a nice spot to spend a night at Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park. It is a short walking distance away from two of the best beaches in the park: Shell Beach and Dolphin Bay.

Shell Beach

Access to Shell Beach not far away from the campsite.

Shell Beach Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park
Shell Beach

The sandy stretch of Shell Beach at a glance.

Shell Beach rock floor

While the beach is mostly sandy, a small part of it was hard solid rock floor. It’s nice to stand on it and feel the cold waves but it can be slippery.

Shell Beach
Shell Beach Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

The soft sand was very nice to walk on, but the sand was very hot under the sun and I had to walk into the water or wear my slippers at some point.

Shell Beach rock pool

As you walk to the right side of the beach you’ll reach the area with some rocky area out into the sea. Based on Google Maps there is a nice rock pool somewhere among the rocks.

Shell Beach rock pool Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park
Shell Beach rock pool

Probably due to the rough tides or unsuitable tide levels, these are the only potential rock pools I was able to find.

Shell Beach Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park
Shell Beach

True to its name, Shell Beach does have a lot of shells scattered around, especially at the rocky sections.

Shell Beach abalone shell Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

Abalone shell.

real life head crab half life

This one looks like the headcrabs from the video game: Half Life.

Shell Beach Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park
Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park Shell Beach crab
Shell Beach crab Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

An assortment of beautiful finds among the rocks.

Shell Beach picnic
Shell Beach sunset

Picnic and sunset at Shell Beach.

Dolphin Bay / Dolphin Beach

Dolphin Bay Beach Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

Dolphin Bay can be accessed by a short climb over the hill on the left side of Shell Beach (near the car park). However, the bushy path was kinda ambiguous and you risk running into snakes and spiders. Alternatively, you can walk or drive on the road to Dolphin Bay.

Dolphin Bay Beach Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

If you climb the hill from Shell Beach to Dolphin Bay, you’ll first arrive at the rock floor section of the beach.

Dolphin Beach Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

Dolphin Bay is another beautiful sandy beach, and it’s frequently visited by a pod of dolphins.

Dolphin Beach Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

On the left side of the beach is the main access staircase from Dolphin Bay car park.

Dolphin Bay Dhilba Guuranda Innes National Park

Further to the left are some big, elevated smooth rocks where you can sit and try to spot the dolphins.

Dolphin Bay Beach dolpins at Dhilba Guuranda-Innes National Park

In the morning as I strolled along Dolphin Beach, I spotted a pod of dolphins far away. swimming slowly along the coast.

HJ Cook Fauna Park emus

As I left the park and drove by Minlaton town, I stopped by HJ Cook Fauna Park, the town’s little enclosed wildlife reserve, to see some emus over the fence.

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