Traveller Essentials

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Contact numbers, opening hours and information on King Island businesses – Quick Guide 2024.

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If you are interested in birds, then King Island is a great place to visit.  It is home and host to a wide range within a relatively small area.  These include 9 King Island endemic subspecies, (live nowhere else in the world), 10 of the 12 Tasmanian endemic species, Bass Strait migrants that travel between the Australian mainland and Tasmania every, Spring and Autumn, as well as international migrants.  Many other species are resident including some that are rare in other parts of Australia such as the Hooded Plover. 

The shag lagoon bird hide on the way up to the north of King Island is a great place to stop in check out birds. There are some binoculars there for you to use as well.

 A bird survey program “Wings on King” runs surveys in Spring and Autumn, surveying over 60 sites across the island including on private land.  Registrations are open to any birder who is interested.  To find out more about the birds of King Island or Wings on King visit their website.

Website: www.birdsofkingisland.com

As with many other relatively isolated locations only Telstra’s mobile service is available. If your mobile phone is with Optus or Vodafone your phone will not work on King Island unless you have roaming turned on (please speak to your provider to find out the costs of this). Aldi sim cards work on King Island as they are using the telstra network. Mobile phones and prepaid telstra sim cards can be purchased at Currie Newsagency located within Currie post office.  Public Internet access is only available in a small number of locations and in limited amounts and with limited speeds. 

Free wifi is only available at the Currie library and outside the Currie post office (via Telstra air). 

Some accommodation providers do have wifi but it is only a few and with telephone/internet outages common, this cannot always be relied upon. If internet access is essential during your stay on King Island, please ensure you ask your accommodation provider prior to booking and consider bringing along your own device that can provide a hotspot for you via the 3G/4G Telstra network. 

It is not uncommon to see visitors and residents alike sitting in their car outside the library or the post office making use of the free 1/2 hour internet access via Telstra air.

We do not have any public transport on the island. Car hire is available at the airport, we recommend you book before arrival to ensure availability. You also won’t find an Uber or shuttle buses on the island.

Although there are currently no formal camp-sites there are camping options on King Island. It is always recommended that you contact the land owner to check whether camping is OK on their land and always observe the fire restrictions in place. We do not have public showers on the island.

We do not have any companies that hire equipment on the island. If you are camping you will need to bring most of your equipment with you, with the exception of cooking gas which you are not allowed to bring on the plane. Gas and some camping items e.g chairs, mats, cooking stoves can be obtained from Jim Mckenzies agencies in Currie. Phone ahead to ensure they have what you need: (03) 6462 1415.

A few accommodation providers have bikes, surfboards or kayaks for their customers, so please check with your accommodation provider if you would like to access these items. 

Some visitors have had success with borrowing a bike or surfboard through posting a message on our community noticeboard on facebook. You can access it via this link.

You can currently send your car to King Island on by boat from Tasmania. There is a tourist discount available but you will need to check the current arrangement with Bass Island Lines who are currently operating the service. Vehicles can take anywhere from 4 days-2 weeks to make the journey depending on the boat schedule and weather, so please factor this into your time on the island. Also consider that there is no transport to and from the dock on King Island to pick up/drop off your car, so you will need to arrange a lift or hire a car to get to/from the dock and an extra person to help you return the hire car.

King Island, like the State of Tasmania, has a natural advantage as an island and is relatively free of many pests, weeds and diseases that are present on mainland Australia. You can help protect this beautiful island by ensuring you don’t bring any unwanted guests with you when you come to visit. Please remember not to bring any fruit and vegetables, fish, animal products, plant material, soils and seeds. King Island has some of the best produce in the world – so there’s no need to bring anything!

Please also check that your golfing, camping, fishing and other equipment have been cleaned and dried and are free from soil, weed seeds and other potential pests or diseases. It only takes a weed seed or other introduced pest or disease to spoil the magic of this near pristine part of the world. It is a beautiful place – so let’s keep it that way! You help is appreciated. Find out more about how you can help protect King Island and Tasmania by visiting Biosecurity Tasmania’s Travellers Guide to Tasmanian Biosecurity webpage.

You can bring a dog or cat with you, but please check with the airline you are travelling on first. If you plan to fly with REX you will need to provide your own cage. King Island Airlines have cages available but please check when you book as they may be the wrong size or could be reserved for another pet. For further information about Sharp Airlines please visit their website.  Before your dog arrives on King Island the owner must treat it for Hydatid Tapeworm 14 days beforehand.  Evidence must be provided on arrival to the Biosecurity officer that the dog was treated.  Please visit the Bio Security website for further information.  https://nre.tas.gov.au/biosecurity-tasmania/biosecurity

If you have any questions please contact 

Biosecurity Tasmania (Biosecurity) Enquiries
13 St. Johns Avenue
New Town TAS 7008
Phone: 03 6165 3777
Fax: 03 6173 0225
Email: Biosecurity.Tasmania@dpipwe.tas.gov.au

King Island has a mixture of gravel and sealed roads and very few cars. If you are not used to driving on unsealed roads then you need to take extra caution. You will find that some of our roads are narrow and if you see a truck heading towards you please slow down and move onto the edge of the road if possible. There’s no need to rush on King Island so take your time, drive safely and enjoy your surroundings.

Please contact Tasports on (03) 6461 1155 to get current information on mooring on King Island.

The season differs for male and female Crayfish but both commence on the 15th of November. The season for females ends on the 30th April of the following year while you can continue catching the males until 31st August. Further details are available from the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment