Maggie Beer stands in the crystal-clear shallows and watches the activity around her feet. Teeny crabs scuttle across the sand and pebbles on the bottom, heading towards her suddenly vulnerable toes.

She is talking about this “unique place”, the secrets of its tides and currents, the cherished memories it evokes of family holidays and impromptu feasts. A place called Coffin Bay.

Coffin? The name was picked by explorer Matthew Flinders to honour his buddy Sir Isaac Coffin but now sounds way too grim for this summer playground where South Aussies like Maggie come to swim, fish, explore and unwind.

For the rest of the country, Coffin Bay is synonymous with oysters, those big, briny beauties that are found on menus far and wide.

You can see some of the racks where they are raised, protruding like fence lines from the tranquil waters of the bay, as you begin the descent into town. 

That road in becomes a main street of sorts, with the foreshore to one side and a higgledy-piggledy mix of shacks and more established homes to the other. Look further and there is a general store, a pub and two restaurants. Beyond that bushland, vast dunes and, finally, the roar of the Southern Ocean. 

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Distance has helped keep the crowds and commercialism away from Coffin Bay. Coming from Adelaide, it is a full-day drive, with or without a ferry crossing. The quicker option requires booking a flight to Port Lincoln, then hiring a car.

A charter tour that is part of the Tasting Australia festival, however, allows one fortunate bunch to travel in style. The itinerary is extraordinary. Four different locations. Four exceptional chefs. The finest seafood and other regional bounty. Oysters, blue fin tuna, kingfish, marron… it’s all there.

Our group joins Maggie aboard a purpose-built vessel that cruises out from Coffin Bay, past secluded beaches and honeycomb rock-faces fringed with gums. 

The plan had been to travel further to an oyster patch in open water where the boat could tie up and the crew wade out to the racks and bring back a basket.

Strong winds and lumpy seas have made this impossible, so hatches are battened while oysters collected that morning are shucked for Maggie to dress with either a shallot and verjuice (of course) vinaigrette or ponzu sauce. Others are gulped with only the “Coffin Bay liqueur” they have held in their shells.

Crewman Scott explains how two ocean currents converging below Coffin Bay create a unique, nutrient-rich smorgasbord, so when the tide comes in “dinner is served”.

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The boat then heads to a sheltered beach where it nudges into the sand and puts down a gangplank for passengers to disembark.

Inspiring young chef Emma McCaskill  (Sat Bains, England, Penfolds Magill Estate) is under a marquee, wok-frying vongole (or mud cockle) with her own XO sauce. The shellfish clatter against the pan’s metal sides as she shakes it back and forth over a fierce flame, before lifting the lid and releasing a whoosh of divine, chilli-spiked steam.

After slurping the sweet meat from the opened shells and mopping up juices with chunks of bread, guests laze on picnic rugs or take off their shoes and stand in the water sipping pinot gris. 

Too soon the call comes to climb into a fleet of four-wheel-drives for the trip to Coffin Bay’s yacht club, where tables have been spread across a lawn that runs all the way to the waterfront. 

Chef Peter Clarke (Vintners) and his team have taken over the kitchen inside to create a tasting menu of top-shelf local seafood. Sublime crimson slices of blue fin tuna are dressed with buttermilk and salsa verde. Diced kingfish,  edamame, seaweed and puffed rice are combined to make a mini poke bowl. Charred octopus tentacle gets a splodge of sunny romesco sauce. 

The final stop is the most memorable. A short drive from town, a flat stretch of land has been criss-crossed by a remarkable network of deep, water-filled channels that are clearly man-made.

This is the home of Coffin Bay Marron, where owners Ben Underdown and Astyn Reid have repaired and restocked the 15km of abandoned waterways. Earlier this year, they won a delicious. Produce Award for the quality of the marrons they raise.

In a dreamy site on the gum-lined banks of one of the channels, chef, author and TV personality Darren Robertson (Three Blue Ducks) is tending a campfire. He looks like a swagman who has found his billabong.

Darren arranges marron split head-to-tail on a wire grill above the coals. As the shells begin to char in the fierce heat, he dribbles a lemongrass, coconut and butter emulsion over the slowly whitening flesh. Oh gosh, they are good.

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The British chef, now based in NSW, is already making plans to return to the property. 

“This has been an amazing experience for me and for the group who have come here it is once in a lifetime,” he says. “It is so beautiful in this vast landscape and I’d love to do some more events here.

“All the top chefs know Coffin Bay because of the oysters but there is much more stuff coming from here now.

“And it’s still a bit untouched. The people living here embrace the area and have simple lives. They are the luckiest people on the planet.”

The best things to do in Coffin Bay

On The Water

Head out to an oyster patch on purpose-built boat with Experience Coffin Bay for a tasting straight from the sea. If the weather is right, pull on a pair of waders and explore the racks.

Closer to town, Oyster Farm Tours has a semi-submerged platform to sit and slurp the critters in style. A glass of fizz or riesling seems mandatory and waterproof waders are supplied, of course

Eating Out 

Dining in Coffin Bay is limited but locals give a big vote on confidence to 1802 Oyster Bar. As well as oysters every-which-way, owner/chef Andy Williams has access to the best seafood from across the peninsula for dishes such as hay-aged kingfish with baby peas, lardons and smoky potato cream.

The Coffin Bay Yacht Club opens for dinner on Friday and Sunday nights. The meals are simple (try the whiting and chips) but there is no questioning the view.

If you are staying in Port Lincoln, Line & Label Restaurant, part of an extraordinary cellar door complex, is open on weekends. The menu has plenty of seafood, including ocean jacket snouts which aren’t nearly as intimidating as they look.

As its name suggests, The Fresh Fish Place is part processor, part retail shop and part café. While the setting is basic, the quality of the produce is superb in dishes such as a sashimi plate, tempura-style abalone or the seven choices of battered fish and chips.

Getting to Coffin Bay

Qantas flies from Adelaide to Port Lincoln four times a day. Coffin Bay is 690km from Adelaide by road, though the distance (if not the time taken) can be shortened significantly by catching the ferry from Wallaroo to Lucky Bay.

Tasting Australia Festival 2022

South Australia’s top food festival returns April 29 – May 8, with Darren Robertson as Co-Festival Director and Emma McCaskill as the new Food Curator. A fresh cast of star chefs arrives in Coffin Bay aboard Tasting Australia Airlines, one of several gourmet journeys across the state. In Adelaide, along with events city-wide, Town Square bustles with masterclasses, chef’s tables, pop-up bars and food stalls. tastingaustralia.com.au

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