Any visit to Eyre Peninsula should include the stunning Streaky Bay, a relaxed and friendly town on the western side of the peninsula, just over 300 kilometres north west of Port Lincoln.

The area is known for its agriculture, growing wheat, barley and other cereals as well as sheep, and also for its aquaculture with oysters and abalone.

For many though, it’s also a popular destination for recreational fishing, surfing and diving.

There are a few options for caravanners in Streaky Bay with two caravan parks and an off grid RV park, but our pick is the Streaky Bay Foreshore Caravan Park, where you can back the caravan right up to the beach, and just settle in to enjoy the serenity.

The park is pet friendly, has all the facilities you need, and an in house seafood café/restaurant, and it’s an easy walk into town, only about 1 kilometre, on a path that hugs the coastline.

In town you’ll find a couple of supermarkets and specialty shops, cafes, fuel outlets, and loads of places to buy bait, tackle and all things fishing. There’s also a terrific surf shop that everyone pays a visit to, for their great clothing and friendly service.

For fisher folk, the park is terrific with excellent fish cleaning facilities spaced along the beachfront, and although you’ll have lots of pelican visitors, they are well mannered and wait patiently for any scraps that go their way.

As well as the long town jetty, there are places to go beach and rock fishing and of course, boaties have plenty of options too.

During our stay, the jetty wasn’t producing too much so we headed to another favourite spot of ours, which never seems to disappoint, and that is Haslam Jetty.  Haslam is 45 kilometres north west of Streaky and as well as having a newly refurbished jetty, there is a small off grid campground, public toilets, a dump point, playground and exercise equipment and a barbecue/picnic area overlooking the jetty.

The campground is changing from its current honesty box system and will soon be one that you have to book and pay for online, with sites also increasing to $20 per night.

This time again, the trip to Haslam was well worth it, and we walked away with a few squid which is what we were targetting.

Driving back to Streaky, make sure to drop in to have a look at Perlubie Beach. Another absolutely spectacular beach and one of the few in SA where you can actually park the caravan on the sand. Due to its over popularity though, this too is now more regulated with campsites having to be booked and paid for online. Caravans and campers must be fully self-contained, although there are public toilets at the entrance to the beach drive on.

There are around 20 bookable patches of sand, and to stay costs $30 per night, which is getting pretty steep for a beach view that you can get elsewhere for a cheaper rate.

There is another option available now too, and that is Perlubie Park, built and run by a local farming family and just a short stroll from the beach. It offers 38 unpowered caravan sites, a dump point, toilets and showers, a camp kitchen and more for a similar price.

Back at our caravan park there’s time to clean the days catch and then relax on the beach with a contained fire, while watching the sunset colour over the calm water of the bay and the never ending parade of pelicans.

From Streaky Bay there are a few scenic drives to take and one not to miss is the Westall Way Loop.  This 30 kilometre scenic loop drive takes you to a few spectacular beaches, cliff top views and surfing hot spots.

One of those surf breaks, The Granites, has had recent tragic history with two surfers fatally attacked by sharks in the past few years. There is now in place a community board where shark sightings can be recorded and a flag raised to alert anyone in the water or planning on entering, that a shark has been seen.

Further along the scenic drive you’ll come to another off grid council managed park at Tractor Beach, where you can stay in one of the 14 bookable sites for $20 per night. There is a long drop toilet and access to the beach at this campground, but I have to say for the money, we’re very happy with our choice of parks, its facilities and proximity to town.

Speaking of town, don’t miss Friday night at the Streaky Bay Hotel, an easy stroll from the caravan park, where you can be spoilt with free bar snacks before the Friday night ‘Chook’ raffles and stay for a good honest pub feed.

The hotel is situated across the road from the foreshore lawns where you will find a statue of locally born and raised jockey Kerrin McEvoy, celebrating his outstanding career, including three Melbourne Cup wins. This stunning view over the bay and jetty can be enjoyed from the spacious deck of the hotel.

Enjoy one of our favourite parts of South Australia.

Glenys