Jvall

So i've been looking through, trying to find a memorable tour for kangaroo island, since i plan to stay there for 3-4 days.
However, finding a great number, I don't know which to choose. It's extremely difficult to tell which group has the best tour guides. I want to see as much wildlife as possible. It seems that they're all fairly pricey, so my spending allowance is pretty flexible.

Just wondering if anyone has been on tours through KI, and if they can recommend a specific company/group. Day tours are fine, but I may book several if that is the case.


Thanks for all your help!
Jenn

Windy04

I had a wonderful experience with Adventure Charters -- great guides, great wildlife, great food! I did a two day tour with them. They are a bit on the expensive side.

mirsy

We had a wonderful experience with Outlook Tours. We stayed at The Lookout luxury apartment and had delicious gourmet meals. We did three nights and two days and the price included our lodging, all meals, and two days of touring with Malcolm. We saw lots of beautiful sights and lots of wild life. We generally like to do things on our own, but Kangaroo Island is one place where you want a good guide. Check out www.the-lookout.com.au

Jvall

Thank you both for your input. I will look into each of them to see which one is more to my liking.

wlzmatilida

Jvall,

I second the vote for Adventure Charters. I know the owners, who are a delightful couple, it's a family run business and they take great pride in their operations and their guides are wonderful and keeping their tours small ensures flexibility and is more personalized.

The food's amazing (after lunch with them you won't need dinner!)

Hope this is helpful!

Regards,

Melodie
Certified Aussie Specialist

downunder05

Yet another "thumbs up" for Adventure Charters. We usually don't fork out that kind of money on tours but we went ahead and booked a 2 day tour in November with them and it was worth every penny! It truly was one of our favorite memories--

Jvall

Well, I guess i've got figured out which company is the best to go with, haha.

I had a look on their website, but I don't see any reference to price quotes.
I don't mind paying more, but could one of you please give me an idea of the price range, so i know how much to put towards my trip budget.

bdehning

Let me know the prices you here about for this tour. It sounds interesting.

downunder05

From what I can remember, we paid around $800USD for a 2 day tour with Adventure Charters in November. This included round-trip air to KI from Adelaide, pick-up to/from airport, 2 full days of touring including meals and one night lodging at one of several options. As I said before, you really can't beat the experience. If you email them, they'll email you all the prices and packages they offer.

walkman

Best to get accurate information about KI tours and costs etc. Tour details and costs can be found on the South Australian Tourism website at www.tourism.sa.gov.au Go to Tours, Kangaroo Island and you will get the details and prices. The Adventure Charters 2day/1night package is listed at $808.33 AUD per person and that is the on Island cost - not including airfares so I think downunder05 is a bit mistaken on what they remember. The Tourism Kangaroo Island website is very useful in providing accurate information about 4WD touring on the Island - see www.tourkangarooisland.com.au Some touring companies - eg KI Outlook Tours conduct all private touring and accommodation packages and offer a nocturnal penguin tour in their packages and are worth the comparison. see www.the-lookout.com.au

downunder05

I just found our Adventure Charters c/c receipt dated Nov '05 and the price was $840 USD and that included round-trip air (REX)from Adelaide, 2 full days touring and one night at KI Lodge. Unless the price went up in the past few months, it still should be about that much.

downunder05

Just had a look at Adventure Charters website and they've changed their name to Exceptional KI
We took the KI In Style Tour and as you can see, it does include airfare:

This two day/one night package includes:
Two full days of personalized touring - both the Island Life and Flinders Chase Focus itineraries
Dinner, bed and breakfast at one of the Island's finest accommodation houses
Airport transfers on the Island and return airfare from Adelaide.

walkman

In the interests of accuracy, and we all would like accurate travel information, Exceptional Kangaroo Island's KI in Style, 2day/1night package is advertised at $808.33AUD per person on the South Australian Tourism site. When reading the tour details you will find the statement
" Tour can also depart from Adelaide at additional cost for return airfares" Let's not confuse our potential traveller.

downunder05

Sorry to be confusing but although our tour did include airfare for $840 USD, it still comes out to be roughly the same if you go with the price mentioned. Roundtrip air on REX is $150 AU, add the $808 AU cited, that would be $960 AU or $700USD, even less than I first stated. Best to contact the tour group and airlines firsthand. If you do go with Adventure Charters and plan to tour the day you arrive, you'll need to fly as the ferry doesn't arrive early enough to join a full day of touring. Be sure to catch a nocturnal tour while you're there too and see the penguins--we went with Alkima for about $50US and really enjoyed that as well.

Jvall

Thanks a bunch. Sorry I haven't been on lately to reply.
$808AU, excluding travel to KI, sounds reasonable, since the tour seems to be one of the best (based on several of your opinions).
I will take take your advice and email them to see if the rates will change in the near future.
I am definitely planning on doing the nocturnal tour as well! Thank you both for the updated info.

dave_261

We wound up doing the 2 day 1/night tour with Adventure Charters. After debating heavily between doing a self-drive tour and the AC tour, we were very glad we went with them.
We had already reserved the night at Stranraer Homestead, and decided that it would be cheaper to purchase our own airfare on Rex (using their internet fares) than purchase air through AC, so we were able to keep our costs a bit lower than their standard 2 day/1 night package.
FWIW, our rates were as follows (all in $AUD):
- 2 day/1 night AC tour: $1,180 ($295/person per day)
- 1 night Stranraer: $190
- Stranraer dinner for 2: $100
- Stranraer nocturnal tour for 2: $100
- R/t air Adelaide-KI for 2: $220

Excluding dinner and the nocturnal tour (which aren't included in the normal AC 2-day package), our per person rate was AUD$790, including air.

We lucked out on the tour, as the 1st day we only had 1 other couple joining us, and the 2nd day we were all alone.
We had booked the very early flight into Kangaroo Island, which arrives at 7:35am, and our AC guide was waiting for us to start the tour early with coffee.

bdehning

What is the cheapest airfare recently seen from Adelaide to Kingscote? We are not going till April 2007. Does Rex change fares much?

dave_261

We paid AUD$110 r/t last December for travel in January (so $55/each way).

Seems that the RexNet internet fares, whether you're looking at this month or next April, are now $74/each way.

I suspect nobody has any way of knowing whether that fare will go up or down in the future.

SeeSee

I used Kangaroo Island Wilderness Tours with a private tour for just our group of 4, which provided some flexibility. We did one day of touring with them and they were great in advising us that we don't need to use them for Flinders Chase Nat'l Park since it's all on sealed roads (we rented a car on KI for this part of the tour and drove around ourselves with no problems).

We used KI Wilderness tour to see seal beach, little sahara (would never have found it ourselves) and middle of the island parts where driving is more difficult and had a great time with them.

http://www.wildernesstours.com.au

We stayed at the Stranraer Homestead, which is a bit out of the way but the owners were incredibly attentive. The rooms were marvelous B&B rooms with potbelly stoves and fully remodeled bathrooms. One of the owners was a former Home Economics (cooking) teacher on KI before getting married and we had a feast everyday!

Ausierover

We recently did a 2day/1night touring and accommodation package with Kangaroo Island Outlook Tours and can highly recommend them. The package cost $710AUD per person and that covered all on Island costs. Their tours are always private tours and the accommodation is at The Lookout private apartment so you don’t need to share with others at all. The private tour allows for flexible programmes and all packages include a nocturnal penguin tour. The Lookout is a 4 ½ star 2 bedroom apartment set in wonderful gardens with world class ocean views. It is only 10 minutes from the ferry so you can fly or ferry to the Island. All meals were included with 3 course dinner and wine and gourmet lunches were served in great bush settings. Malcolm, the driver/guide has many years experience in the touring business on the Island and has great knowledge about the wildlife. We got some great shots of a wide range of animals in the wild, it was a great experience.

As Aussies, we got the tip for this place through Swiss friends who have sent a string of their Swiss friends to The Lookout in the last year. All returned with rave reviews, and you know how the Swiss insist upon high standards. Our experience was equally fantastic. We shall never forget the wonderful evening views from the garden across the sea to the mainland