Coles Bay: what to see, where to stay and how to get around
Coles Bay sits at the gate of the Freycinet Peninsula, where a ridge of pink granite called the Hazards stands between the village and one of the most photographed beaches in Australia. This is the day on foot that everyone comes for: up to the saddle above Wineglass Bay, down to its sand, and, if your legs allow, across to Hazards Beach and back around. The lookout alone is about an hour and a half return; the full loop is about 11 km and five hours. Start early, carry water, and buy the park pass first.
A short history of Coles Bay
Coles Bay is a small village on the east coast of Tasmania, at the entrance to the Freycinet Peninsula. The French expedition of Nicolas Baudin arrived here in 1802 and named the peninsula after the Freycinet brothers, officers of the expedition. In the 1820s and 1830s whalers worked in the bay. In 1916 the Freycinet Peninsula was declared one of Tasmania's first two national parks. Today the village serves as a base for walks to Wineglass Bay.
The ten best sights in Coles Bay
1Freycinet National Park Visitor CentreBuy the park pass here before you drive in; rangers know which walks are open
2Spiky BridgeA two-minute stop on the highway south of Swansea, built by convicts
3East Coast Heritage MuseumA small museum in Swansea, for a rainy hour on the way in
4Wineglass Bay LookoutSteep steps for about 45 minutes up; go early, the car park fills by mid-morning
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5Wineglass Bay
Going down to the sand doubles the climb back; take water and allow three hours return
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6Mount Amos
A scramble on bare granite with the best view of Wineglass Bay; do not go up in the wet
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7The Hazards
The pink granite peaks glow at sunset; watch from the beach at Coles Bay
8Hazards BeachLink it with Wineglass Bay across the sandy neck for a full-day loop
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9Honeymoon Bay
A small sheltered cove ten minutes from the village; calm water for a swim
10Sleepy BayA short walk down to orange-stained rocks and surf; no swimming, the water is rough
Scan with your phone camera to open the map there
What is an audio walk?
Tours in Coles Bay →A guide in your headphones: open the walk on our site, walk from stop to stop, and at each one your phone tells its story. No guide, no group, and free. This is the first walk in Coles Bay:
Free walking tours in Coles Bay
Wineglass Bay and the Hazards
Coles Bay sits at the gate of the Freycinet Peninsula, where a ridge of pink granite called the Hazards stands between the village and one of the most photographed beaches in Australia. This is the day on foot that everyone comes for: up to the saddle above Wineglass Bay, down to its sand, and, if your legs allow, across to Hazards Beach and back around. The lookout alone is about an hour and a half return; the full loop is about 11 km and five hours. Start early, carry water, and buy the park pass first.
- Freycinet National Park Visitor Centre · Freycinet and Mount Field were declared in 1916, which makes them the oldest national parks in Tasmania. The peninsula was named by the French expedition of Nicolas Baudin in 1802, after the Freycinet brothers who sailed with it.
- The Hazards · The range is granite that cooled deep underground around 400 million years ago, and its pink comes from crystals of feldspar. The name is said to come from Captain Hazard, a whaler who worked these waters in the early 1800s.
- Wineglass Bay Lookout · From the saddle the bay is a perfect curve of white sand, but the popular story behind the name is grimmer: in the whaling years, the water of the bay was said to turn red with blood, like a glass of wine.
- Mount Amos · At 454 metres, Amos is the one Hazards peak with a marked route to the top, mostly up bare slabs of granite where you use your hands. From the summit you see Wineglass Bay from above, rather than from the side as at the lookout.
- Wineglass Bay · From the sand a flat track crosses the narrow isthmus to Hazards Beach on the other side of the peninsula, only about a kilometre and a half away. That is how the full loop of about 11 km works without climbing the saddle twice.
- Hazards Beach · Behind the beach are large shell middens, heaps of oyster and mussel shells left by the Aboriginal people of Oyster Bay over thousands of years of meals. They are protected; look, but do not walk on them.
Great Oyster Bay
The calm water west of the peninsula is Great Oyster Bay, and its shore is where the east coast feeds you: oysters, mussels, berries and wine, with black swans on the lagoons in between. This route follows the road from Coles Bay round the head of the bay to Swansea, the old town on the far side, and back. It is a good half-day by car, or a slow lunch. On a clear afternoon the Hazards across the water turn pink, which is the reason to come back the same way.
- Freycinet Marine Farm · The oysters here are Pacific oysters, a species brought to Tasmania from Japan after the Second World War because the native oyster beds had been fished out. They grow in the shallow water of Moulting Lagoon, just behind the shed.
- Moulting Lagoon · Black swans gather here in their thousands to moult: for a few weeks they lose their flight feathers at once and cannot fly, so they need a safe, shallow lagoon. The wetland is protected under the Ramsar convention.
- Melshell Oyster Shack · The bay takes its name from the huge beds of native oysters that early settlers found here. They were dredged so hard in the 1800s that they collapsed, and today's oysters are farmed in racks instead.
- East Coast Heritage Museum · Swansea was first called Great Swanport, and it is one of the oldest towns on Tasmania's east coast, settled in the 1820s. The museum keeps the local history of the coast, from its first farms to the present.
- Spiky Bridge · Convicts built the bridge in the early 1840s from local fieldstone, and set a row of stones upright along its sides. No one is sure why; the most common story is that they were meant to stop cattle from falling off.
- Schouten Island · Abel Tasman sailed down this coast in 1642 and named the island after Joost Schouten, an official of the Dutch East India Company. It is now part of Freycinet National Park, separated from the peninsula by a narrow channel.
North to Bicheno
The ocean side of the peninsula is wilder than the bay: granite headlands stained orange, a lighthouse on a cliff, and surf. This route takes in that coast inside the park, then drives 40 minutes north to Bicheno, a fishing town with a blowhole, penguins and a wildlife park where you can see Tasmanian devils. It is also the direction of Launceston and the Bay of Fires further up the coast, so it can be the morning you leave. Allow most of a day, and stay for the penguin tour after dark if you are sleeping nearby.
- Cape Tourville Lighthouse · Humpback and southern right whales pass this cape on their migrations. Southern rights were hunted from shore stations along this coast in the 1800s until they almost disappeared, and only in recent decades have they started coming back.
- Sleepy Bay · The bright orange on the granite is not the rock but a lichen, a partnership of a fungus and an alga that thrives in the clean salt air of this coast. The same lichen gives the Bay of Fires further north its colour.
- Bicheno · The town's old name was Waub's Harbour, after Wauba Debar, an Aboriginal woman who saved two sealers from drowning by swimming them ashore in a storm. She died in 1832, and her grave is in Bicheno.
- Whalers Lookout · In the 1800s whalers stood on this granite knob watching the sea for spouts, then rowed out to hunt. Today the same rock is a short climb for the view over the harbour and the islands.
- Bicheno Blowhole · Waves push into a crack in the granite and the compressed water bursts out through the top. It works best with a swell from the south-east, around mid to high tide.
- East Coast Natureworld · Since the 1990s a contagious facial cancer has killed most of Tasmania's wild devils; it spreads when they bite each other. Parks like this keep healthy animals as insurance populations, in case the disease wins in the wild.
Getting to Coles Bay and getting around
- Coles Bay jetty, Wineglass Bay cruises · The cruise around the peninsula to Wineglass Bay leaves from here; book a day ahead in summer
- Coles Bay fuel · The only pump on the peninsula, and prices are higher; fill up in Swansea or Bicheno if you can
Cheap eats in Coles Bay
Coles Bay is a village of a few streets, so quick food means a café, an ice-cream counter and, best of all, oysters straight from the water. Tasmania's east coast grows some of the best shellfish in Australia, and the farm gates along the bay sell them by the dozen. Prices are in Australian dollars and higher than on the mainland. Many places close early or for days out of season, so check before you count on dinner.
- Freycinet Marine Farm · A dozen oysters about A$25-35
- Géographe · Café in the village; breakfast about A$15-25
- The Ice Creamery · Ice cream next to the café, about A$6-9
- Granite Freycinet · Café on the esplanade; coffee and a pastry about A$8-12
- Melshell Oyster Shack · Farm-gate oysters on the road to Swansea, about A$20-30 a dozen
- Kate's Berry Farm · Berry ice cream and pancakes, about A$10-20
- Blue Edge Bakery, Bicheno · Pies and pastries in Bicheno, about A$6-10
Museums in Coles Bay
- East Coast Heritage Museum · Small museum in Swansea; under an hour
- Spiky Bridge · Roadside stop south of Swansea; free
- Freycinet National Park Visitor Centre · Displays on the park, plus passes and walk advice
Nature and day trips near Coles Bay
- Wineglass Bay Lookout · About 1.5 hours return; arrive early
- Moulting Lagoon · Seen from the road; binoculars help
- Mount Amos · Steep granite scramble; dry weather only
- Friendly Beaches · Empty white sand; strong surf, swim with care
- Cape Tourville Lighthouse · Flat boardwalk with ocean views; whale season May to November
- Apsley Waterhole · Swimming hole in Douglas-Apsley National Park; short walk
Things to do in Coles Bay with kids
- East Coast Natureworld · Devils, kangaroos and birds; feeding times posted
- Bicheno penguins · Guided tours after dusk; no torches or flash
- Honeymoon Bay · Calm, sheltered water and rocks to climb
- Bicheno's Glass Bottom Boat · Kelp, fish and seals seen through the floor of the boat
- Bicheno Blowhole · Spray shooting from the rocks; keep children back from the edge
Where to eat in Coles Bay
- Richardson's Bistro · Casual meals at Freycinet Lodge by the beach, about A$30-45
- The Bay Restaurant · The lodge's main restaurant facing the Hazards; book ahead
- Iluka Tavern · The village pub; pub meals about A$25-35
- The Lobster Shack, Bicheno · Rock lobster and seafood by the harbour, about A$40-90
- Tombolo Freycinet · Pizza and local wine at Devil's Corner, about A$25-40
Frequently asked questions about Coles Bay
What is there to see in Coles Bay?
The top sights in Coles Bay are Freycinet National Park Visitor Centre, Spiky Bridge and East Coast Heritage Museum. The full list on this page has 10 sights, each with a photo and a short note.
How many days do you need in Coles Bay?
Three to four days are enough to see the best of Coles Bay without rushing, including at least one walking tour.
Is there a free walking tour in Coles Bay?
Yes. sleepntrip has 3 free audio walks in Coles Bay, with no guide and no group: your phone tells the story at every stop. The first one: Wineglass Bay and the Hazards.
How do you get to Coles Bay and get around?
The main ways are Coles Bay jetty, Wineglass Bay cruises and Coles Bay fuel. Full details are in the transport section on this page.
Where to stay in Coles Bay, and for how much?
sleepntrip shows only rooms in Coles Bay that meet nine conditions: a good location, high guest scores, cleanliness, and a price of up to $80 a night for two. Pick your dates and see what is free.
Looking for a hotel in Coles Bay for your dates?
Only rooms that meet nine conditions, up to $80 a night.