Tumby Bay Eyre Peninsula

Tumby Bay is a coastal town situated on the Spencer Gulf on the eastern coast of Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is 45 kilometres north of Port Lincoln and 297 kilometres south of Port Augusta.

The first time we visited Tumby Bay was in May of 2018 as we were attracted to the town purely because they had just had their silo painted. To our amazement and joy, there was so much more do and see in this town than just its painted silos, there was street art, fine dining and ample street parking along its very impressive pristine foreshore.

After walking around the town for a few hours we decided stay for four or five days parking our motor-home at Modra's Apartments. Eric was over the moon as the boat ramp was situated right next door and he could even fish off the jetty at night just a stone's throw away from where we were camped.

We visited Tumby Bay twice that year, staying at Modra's Apartments both times and when I heard that the "Colour Tumby Street Art Festival" was back on again in 2019, we again visited in April of 2019 just for the festival.

Tumby Bay has become a cultural tourism destination in its own right, ensuring visitors like us return time and time again. Through careful planning Tumby Bay has created sustainable income streams set to give direct benefits to local residents and small business alike.

As I mentioned earlier, we have always stayed at Modra's Apartments. They have very reasonably priced cabin style accommodation and until June 2019 also accommodated Caravans & Motorhomes. The site backs onto the town boat ramp where fishing off the jetty will produce beauties like the crab pictured below. It's also a stone's throw away from the Tumby Bay foreshore also.

Right next door is the Tumby Bay Caravan Park which sits right on the Tumby Bay foreshore.  They offer numerous accommodation options from en-suite cabins, shady pebbled and grassed sites and en-suite sites for Caravans and Motorhomes. 

At the other end of town are the Tumby Villas. They offer the choice of luxury two-bedroom, self-contained villas with fully-equipped kitchens, or luxury one-bedroom, en-suite motel style rooms.

Fishing and crabbing off the shores of Tumby Bay is plentiful and easy to find. We only have a dinghy and fished well within the islands, proving there is no need to travel kilometres out to sea to get a feed. 

We caught Blue Swimmer Crabs, King George Whiting, Squid and Bream off the boat ramp jetty. We visit this area in April, which is prime fishing and crabbing time on the Eyre Peninsula.

For more information about fishing within South Australia, please visit the website of PRISA

The Colour Tumby Festival is a community-based event set by the Tumby Bay Progress Association to enliven Tumby Bay.

It's an event to promote community spirit, tourism and future prosperity by delivering a fun and engaging weekend that all members of the township and surrounding areas can enjoy.

The festival includes live painting, guided street art tours, activities for children such as 'chalk the walk', movie night on the foreshore, a Tapas night and a separate kids and adult silent disco.

It was held during the long weekend in April for the first time in 2018 when seven murals were added to the walls of buildings within the township. In 2019 a further 9 were also added to their growing collection. 

Artists have included Smug, Lisa King, Insane 51 and Adnate to name a few.