Seal Bay: In the Kangaroo Island region of South Australia

An hour's drive after disembarking from the Sealion 2000 at Penneshaw is one of Kangaroo Island's premier tourist destinations, Seal Bay. It’s visited by more than one hundred thousand people a year. They get there on sealed roads and amble down to the beach on a world class boardwalk to take part in organised tours.

But it wasn’t always that easy. A legend of Kangaroo Island tourism, Don Dixon remembers when just getting there was an experience in itself. Let's go back to the early fifties when Don Dixon loaded up the old Packard and set off on the track taken by the early Yakka Gum workers, who collected resin for shellac, varnish and explosives. They cut the old road through the bush and later an intrepid tour guide followed.

“The track that they made coming in here went from one Yakka to the next which meant it wound all over the place. It used to take over an hour to come in from the South Coast Road down to Seal Bay.”

The signs on the way said it all but the regular car load of tourists loved the bone jarring trip and the experiences that awaited them at Seal Bay all those years ago.

Today environmentalists would shudder at the close proximity tourists used to get to these marvelous creatures. But Don played a pivotal role in publicizing this now world renowned seal colony. And his underwater antics with these animals attracted national attention - when the first holiday and lifestyle shows like Sunday Magazine with Mike Shillberger went to air on Channel Nine.

“The local expert is the Island's Chief Tourist Guide, Don Dixon. Although most of the seals can be very vicious, Don does his best to make friends with them. By imitating cow seals Don is attempting to attract the attention of big bulls.”

These days this is a marine sanctuary in large part due to the efforts of Don who could see the urgent need to protect all this. His conversion to underwater cameraman came on the road to Aldinga Beach when he first started spear fishing. Back then he made his own snorkel and mask and underwater housing for his trusty Bell and Howell camera.

“Once I got down here and swam with the seals I was hooked. That was back in 1952 and, of course, when I came over here and swam with the seals it was only natural to take your underwater camera out and shoot some film underwater.”

In a new century, a new boardwalk named after the man who made this his second home. Now he and his grandson Beau join ranger Mel Berris in the controlled group settings designed to allow the mammals as much rest as possible.

“We've actually followed them with satellite trackers and time depth recorders to see how deep they dive. A male this size can actually dive to a depth of two hundred and seventy five metres per dive. So it's a lot of hard work when they're out at sea. What we're finding is that they're going up to thirty kilometres out to sea so they are actually making their way to the continental shelf.

“We’ve also found that they don't tend to sleep while they're out to sea. For that two to three days they're actually awake the whole time. That's why they sleep a lot here.”

To look at them you'd think a fillet of whiting wouldn't melt in their mouth. But Don knows differently and his story of the couple who were attacked explains why we're now kept at a distance especially from the new mums.

“They backed away and the woman fell over on the sand and the cow seal bit her on the calf and the husband went to assist and he fell over on the sand and the cow seal bit him on the hip. So it was a bit unfortunate.”

Today, it's the youngsters who give each other plenty of lip and the tiny pups just watch in awe.

“Some of the little pups look a bit wary of some of the activities going. They can easily get injured if a couple of bulls decide to have a fight. If there’s young pup there they can get rolled on.”

For a bloke who spent two days a week here for eighteen years the fascination with Seal Bay never wanes.

“It’s one of the few places in the world that you can actually walk amongst the seals or get quite close to them and watch them in their natural state. The best thing to do is to sit quietly somewhere and let the seals do their own thing.”

Seal Bay is about 90 kilometres from the Penneshaw Ferry terminal. A pass costs $10.50 per adult and will get you onto the beach via the Don Dixon Boardwalk.

Great accommodation is also available at Emu Bay