Blowhole Beach at Deep Creek Conservation Park
After hearing my folks rave about a 4WD track in Deep Creek National Park, we knew we’d have to check it out. Blowhole Beach is a popular destination for those with a 4WD looking for an amazing beach, and we called in just after new years to see what it was like.
Where is Blowhole Beach?
You’ll find this place in Deep Creek Conservation Park, not too far from Cape Jervis (where the ferry leaves to Kangaroo Island) and Rapid Bay. It’s roughly 58 km from Victor Harbor, and 110km from Adelaide city centre.
What’s the track like?
The 4WD track down to Blowhole Beach is quite a bit of fun. After doing the Boat Harbor Beach 4WD track and feeling a little underwhelmed, I was pleased to find the Blowhole Beach 4WD track was a bit more fun. It starts off through a gate at the top, with a number of signs, and as soon as you enter you’ll drive over a small, rough rocky section before the track starts to go down fairly steeply.
You’ll want to be in low range from the moment you go through the gate, and keep it in 2nd gear just rolling down on its own steam, nice and gently. If it starts going too quickly, or its too rough, use the brakes and slow down but be sure not to use them too much, or they’ll get hot and not be working when you really do need them.
The track goes down, and back and forth a number of times before you arrive in the bottom carpark, and gives you spectacular views of the beach and coastline on the way down. There’s a few rough sections, and only a tiny handful of places where you could do vehicle damage if you had limited clearance and you picked a bad line.
Expect to meet other people heading down, or back up and to have to move right over to make way. In general the vehicle going uphill has right of way, but there’s plenty of time to make way for each other as you can see a long way down.
Watch our vlog
Want to see more? Here’s our vlog:
Do you need a 4WD?
According to the signs at the top, yes, you need a 4WD. Of course, that doesn’t stop people, and we did see a Subaru VX down the bottom which would be OK in terms of clearance (with a decent driver), and traction.
I’m not sure how they go for engine braking and transmission temperatures when going up, and if anything goes wrong and you are not in a 4WD you are going to look like a fool, and possibly have to face an insurance company that will question why you didn’t read and obey the signs.
Walking down
If you don’t have a 4WD (or don’t want to drive it down), you have the option of parking at the top car park and walking down a track. This looked like seriously hard work from our perspective, but there were quite a few people doing it, and I reckon its possibly still worth the effort!
The Heyson track follows this coastline and covers similar terrains, and if you’re keen for it, go for it!
What’s Blowhole Beach like?
This was our favourite place in Deep Creek by a country mile. The track is short enough that everyone enjoys its, has spectacular views on the way down and they don’t get any worse when you get to the bottom.
Its a short walk down from the carpark on a gravel track with some steps, and you’ll arrive on black sand, that turns to white sand.
This is a popular place for swimming (despite the warning signs), and is well known for its fishing. You can walk around the beach and over the top (climb carefully; its slippery), and look back with some pretty nice views.
When we visited (3rd of January) there were a heap of vehicles and people there, but my folks who went in October said they hardly saw anyone, so you get an idea of how popular it is in busy periods.
The water colour is stunning, and despite the fact that it was too cold for us to swim, it did look pretty inviting.
Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed Blowhole Beach, and would put it as our number one destination to visit in Deep Creek by far.
