Find Zoo Without Fences

Australia’s unique wildlife is one of the main attractions for visitors. Here are some of the top places you can get close to them in their natural habitat.

Whale watching from land or sea, dolphin cruises, swimming with seals, sea bird watching and other aquatic creature encounters are plentiful along the New South Wales coast from Eden in the south to Cape Byronin the north. Prime whale-watching sites include Byron Bay, Port Stephens, Jervis Bay, Merimbula and Eden and even close to Sydney from the beachside headlands. On Montague Island you can view colonies of little penguins and Australian fur seals. Port Stephens, Byron Bay and Jervis Bay are popular places for dolphin-watching.

The Northern Territory teems with wildlife and a great way to see the wildlife of the rivers and wetlands of the Northern Territory is on a guided cruise. Yellow Water is a billabong in Kakadu National Park where you will see submerged crocodiles, wild horses and buffalo. During the wet season it attracts millions of migratory birds. Crocodiles are the most famous of the Territory's creatures, and can be seen in most rivers and billabongs in the Top End.

The Queensland coastline is a convoy of cruising humpback whales between July and November. Hervey Bay is known as the ‘Whale Watching Capital of Australia’. Many operators will take you on a whale-watching cruise to see their spectacular acrobatic antics. On the Great Barrier Reef you can snorkel close to a kaleidoscope of colourful fish, sea turtles and manta rays in warm tropical waters. Swim with inquisitive minke whales on an expedition from Cairns or Port Douglas. Watch nesting sea turtles and emerging hatchlings head to the ocean at Mon Repos Conservation Park, Heron Island or Lady Elliott Island; or feed wild dolphins on Moreton Island. Queensland is also home to more than 600 bird species and is one of the best places in the world to go birdwatching. Eungella National Park near Mackay is platypus country. Nowhere else in the world are you as likely to see as many of these extraordinary creatures as here.

Kangaroo Island is a true zoo without fences. Watch Little Penguins waddling home after a day out at sea, or take a cruise and swim with the island’s resident pods of dolphins. Bird-lovers will find some 270 species including the rare Glossy Black Cockatoo, which is only found here. The Seal Park Conservation Park is one of the only places in the world where you can wander within metres of hundreds of rare Australian Sea-lions as they lazily doze on the beach. On the Eyre Peninsula you can swim with sea lions and dolphins. Watch little penguins make their way to the burrows at dusk at the Granite Island Recreation or Nature Park at Victor Harbour. In winter the Great Australian Bight is the best place to spot southern right whales nursing their young.

Tasmania's isolation from mainland Australia has meant the survival of many plants and animals that are rare or extinct elsewhere in the world. You may be lucky to encounter a wombat or shy platypus or hear the chilling screams of a Tasmanian devil as you walk a forest path or sit quietly by a stream in the World Heritage-listed wilderness. Narawntapu National Parkis one of the best places to see a variety of animals. See fairy penguins waddle up the beach at dusk at Bicheno on Tasmania’s east coast. Birdwatchers should not miss visiting Bruny Island.

Victoria’s Phillip Island Nature Park is home to one of Australia's most popular wildlife attractions, the nightly Penguin Parade. Rangers guide small groups of people to view the penguins as they come up the beach each evening. You can join an expedition to swim alongside playful dolphins or seals in Port Phillip Bay. Victoria has more than 100 national parks where you can see kangaroos, emus, wombats, lyrebirds, glow worms, platypus and Tasmanian devils in their natural habitat. Watch for whales at Warrnambool between June and September.