COLES BAY

Welcome to Coles Bay

One of Tasmania’s big-ticket travel destinations – Freycinet National Park – is home to picture-perfect Wineglass Bay. It’s also a short hop from Coles Bay, a relaxed east-coast holiday town. Most people are here for the national park, but Coles Bay itself is a real beauty, tucked into a sheltered reach of Great Oyster Bay beneath the lofty pink-granite peaks of the Hazards range.

Out on the water, sailing, eco-cruising and kayaking tours can take you to otherwise hard-to-access beaches and around the shores of the Hazards. Back on dry land, there are well-maintained walking trails for all levels, from 10-minute beach strolls to epic multi-day hikes around the Freycinet Peninsula.

The whole area is a haven for native wildlife: there’s a good chance you’ll encounter pademelons, echidnas, wombats, white-bellied sea eagles and wallabies, just beyond (and sometimes within) the town. Just offshore on the ocean side of the Freycinet Peninsula, humpback and southern right whales are regular visitors as they migrate north to warmer waters in the winter, then swim back south for an Antarctic feed in the spring. For the botanically inclined, native orchids shimmy up from the scrub here in October and November.

Coles Bay has long been a holiday hub. Many of the town’s old-school holiday shacks have more recently made way for luxury beachside lodges and gourmet dining options. Camping in nearby Freycinet National Park is super-popular during the summer holidays: if you’re planning on pitching a tent, you’ll have to enter a ballot for a site in early August.

And it wouldn’t be an exploration of Coles Bay without a bounty of world-class seafood and glassfuls of crisp east-coast wine.

Freycinet Marine Farm

Encircled by sea, Freycinet Peninsula plates up some of Tasmania’s best seafood. Follow the road from the Tasman Highway into Coles Bay, flanked by dry bushland and eucalyptus trees, until you reach Freycinet Marine Farm. Order some cooked mussels or freshly shucked oysters from the farm – along with scallops, abalone, urchin, crayfish and salmon, all from Tasmanian waters. Sit at one of the vivid-blue picnic tables under the cooling shade of an umbrella and tuck in, or grab a takeaway box and head for the sand. Take your pick of DIY dining spots at the nearby Friendly Beaches, which are technically part of Freycinet National Park, but attract far fewer visitors than Wineglass Bay.

The marine farm itself is made up of six different growing regions, both marine and estuarine, totalling around 185 acres. The estuarine zones are in the Great Swanport lagoon area adjacent to Coles Bay, offering perfect conditions for oysters, which grow and thrive on racks submerged in these warm shallows. The marine zones sit offshore from the arresting granite mountains of Freycinet National Park, opening out to the vast Southern Ocean. Whatever you choose, you’re guaranteed of a super-fresh and deliciously salty seafood encounter at the farm gate sales room.

To further enhance your indulgent east-coast seafood experience, plunder the sales-room fridge for Tasmanian wine and beer. The island’s sun-soaked East Coast Wine Region stretches all the way from St Helens in the north to Bream Creek in the south, passing Coles Bay along the way. Fill your glass with buttery chardonnays, crisp rieslings and feather-light sparking summer whites.

Freycinet Marine Farm is open 9am to 4pm between June and October, and 9am to 5pm between November and May. The restaurant here accepts walk-ins, so there’s no need to book.

Freycinet Lodge

This haven of fine food and stylish accommodation sits beneath the national park’s epic Hazards peaks, overlooking the turquoise expanse of Great Oyster Bay. Unless you’re camping, Freycinet Lodge is the only accommodation option within Freycinet National Park.

The Bay restaurant here focuses on local seafood, serving up succulent abalone, oysters, scallops, Bass Strait octopus and just-caught fish. There’s another more casual bistro here too, plus a bar stocked with Tasmanian beers, whiskies and cool-climate wines. Prop yourself on the broad balcony with a chilled glass at sunset and listen as waves soaked in rich red sunlight gently lap ashore.

Want to linger longer? The lodge’s 4.5-star accommodation is beautifully sited right on Great Oyster Bay, tucked discreetly into the whispering, casuarina-cloaked hillsides above the shore. Granite boulders arc down to the waterline, dappled in orange lichen, while cabins tread lightly on this precious landscape, linked by elevated walkways.

Freycinet Lodge is a great base from which to explore the area. You’re already within the national park here, so beach walks beckon. The well-made trail to Wineglass Bay rises through sweet-scented heathland, abuzz with birdlife, to a sweeping lookout above the bay. Continue down the other side to the sand: feel the coarse grains between your toes and the salt fizz on your skin as you splash in the gin-clear sea. Everyone clamours to do this walk, in any season, so start your trek early to beat the crowds.

Other walks take you along dreamy Richardson’s Beach; to hidden Sleepy Bay, a tiny beach pressed between pink granite outcrops; or to the accessible boardwalk around Cape Tourville, high above the churning Tasman Sea. Sublime Honeymoon Bay is another magical place to catch the sunset, with the Hazards glowing bright and brilliant in the day’s final light.

How to get there

If you’re travelling under your own steam, Coles Bay is a 2.5-hour drive (192km) north-east of Hobart, and a tick over two hours (173km) south-east of Launceston. The journey up the east coast from Hobart is breezy and sea-salty, with the scents of the ocean filling the air as you pass laidback fishing towns and broad sweeps of sand. From Launceston, the direct route travels through Tasmania’s agricultural northern midlands, then the leafy backroad through the Wye River State Reserve. Either way, you’ll end up on the Tasman Highway before taking the turn-off to Coles Bay, a 27km detour. The Coles Bay road is in much better shape than it was some decades ago, when bumper stickers saying, “I survived the Coles Bay road” were a badge of bone-rattled honour.

Bus tours from Hobart or Launceston are another option: multiple operators run day and multi-day tours to Coles Bay and Freycinet National Park, with some bus tours factoring in a stop at Freycinet Marine Farm. On the public transport front, Calow’s Coaches and Tassielink buses also connect Coles Bay with Hobart, and other towns along the east coast.

Accessibility

Coles Bay itself is a rambling hub of undulating streets, without many formal footpaths. There are two main shopping and eating zones: by the water along Garnet Avenue, and at the northern end of the Esplanade. Dog guides are welcome, including in nearby Freycinet National Park. The Cape Tourville Lighthouse circuit in the national park is wheelchair accessible.

A parks pass is required for entry to Tasmania’s national parks. Trained dog guides assisting people who are blind or have low vision are permitted in national parks. However, you will need to obtain a permit for them and carry identification with you. To obtain this permit or for enquiries relating to other assistance animals, please phone the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service or email parkfees@parks.tas.gov.au ahead of your visit.

There’s an array of accommodation in and around town, including the luxurious rooms at Freycinet Lodge and Airbnb options close to the action. The Lodge King room and the one-room cabins at Freycinet Lodge are wheelchair accessible. If you require additional assistance from staff, it’s recommended that you phone ahead. An online menu is available for both the Bay restaurant and Richardson’s Bistro at Freycinet Lodge.