Around Marion Bay

Marion Bay History

Tiny holiday town at the tip of the Yorke Peninsula Located 320 km west of Adelaide, Marion Bay is a tiny township (only 70 people live in the town full-time) on the southern tip of Yorke Peninsula which offers access to the beautiful and spectacular Innes National Park.

The Warri clan of the Narranga Aborigines were the original inhabitants of this region. They lived off the riches of the sea (fish and crustaceans), left their artistic markings on the rocks and left shell middens where they camped.
The first Europeans into the area would have been the sealers who moved along the coasts of South Australia looking for seal colonies. They were followed in the late 1840s by settlers who had been attracted to the area by the discovery of copper further north in the Copper Triangle.

The town takes its name from the sailing ship Marion which was wrecked on Troubridge Shoal in 1851. There was a time when Marion Bay was an important port being used as a major transportation point for the local gypsum industry. Today it is a sleepy and attractive port which is popular with holiday makers who drive the length of Yorke Peninsula so they can experience and explore the beauties of Innes National Park. There is a safe swimming beach and the port and jetty area are used by a number of fishing craft. There are also dive and fishing charter vessels operating from the port which specialise in whiting and snapper fishing.

Things to see

Innes National Park

One of the hidden wonders of South Australia, indeed of Australia. The Innes National Park, an area of nearly 9000 hectares, protects the southerly tip of the Yorke Peninsula and is home to a rich and diverse range of landscapes from peaceful bays to spectacular cliffs

Stenhouse Bay

Located about 8 km south of Marion Bay in the Innes National Park, Stenhouse Bay is now a ghost port. There was a time when the old jetty and the hoppers and storage bins along the shoreline were bustling with activity. Windjammers used to arrive to load limestone which was mined inland and brought to the port.

Ethel Wreck

Whether it is still there is really up to the sea but for many years the Ethel, an old barque who never made it beyond Reef Head, could be seen from the road between Inneston and Pondalowie Bay. The vessel was wrecked in 1904. If it has disappeared at least there is a memorial to the event on the cliffs. The views along Ethel Beach are particularly beautiful.

Cape Spencer

Innes National Park is full of joys and surprises. One of the major attractions is the views. At Cape Spencer the view across to the two tiny islands is particularly attractive.

Surfing and Fishing

The park is famed for its excellent fishing and surfing. Pondalowie Bay and Chinamans Bay are known to surfers around Australia for the excellence of their waves and Browns Beach has a reputation with anglers fishing for salmon.

Bird Watching

Innes National Park is home to a number of rare and endangered species of bird. If you are a keen birdwatcher it is worth preparing to see the mallee fowl, the western whipbird, the osprey and the beautiful white-breasted sea eagle. The winter rains attract over 120 species of bird to the park in the spring months when the wildflowers are blooming.

Inneston

The historic town of Inneston was first settled in the late 1880s when gypsum was first discovered in the area. Today it is nearly a ghost town (lots of rusting old equipment, a crushing plant, a disused Post Office, stables and so on) but some of the cottages have been leased to people who are trying to revitalise the tiny settlement.