Head to the beach these school holidays

Did you know some of SA’s marine life is found nowhere else on earth?

Our marine areas boast icon­ic species such as the south­ern right whale, bot­tlenose dol­phin, leafy sea drag­on, Aus­tralian sea lion and giant cuttlefish.

To give more South Aus­tralians the oppor­tu­ni­ty to expe­ri­ence and learn about these unique marine envi­ron­ments a pro­gram of 40 events and activ­i­ties is on these school holidays.

The Immerse Your­self cam­paign includes a range of activ­i­ties in diverse loca­tions across the state, many of which are free.

Here’s some of the options you can enjoy:

• Snorkel in and around sanc­tu­ary zones at a ​‘come and try’ snorkelling day, expe­ri­enc­ing first­hand the ben­e­fits of pro­tect­ing marine life. These events are run by trained experts from Expe­ri­enc­ing Marine Sanc­tu­ar­ies, a non-gov­ern­ment organ­i­sa­tion cre­at­ed to raise aware­ness, under­stand­ing and involve­ment in marine conservation.
• Join a ranger for a guid­ed reef walk at Dhil­ba Guu­ran­da-Innes Nation­al Park and learn more about the sea life in the South­ern Spencer Gulf Marine Park.
• Dis­cov­er the marine parks and coastal life around Robe on a rock­pool ram­ble, mys­ter­ies of the sea tour or guid­ed bird­watch­ing session.
• Fish, build sand­cas­tles and snorkel in Port Noar­lun­ga Reef Sanc­tu­ary Zone at a free fam­i­ly fun day.

To coin­cide with the Immerse Your­self pro­gram Nature Play SA has announced that January’s park of the month is Encounter Marine Park, adja­cent to the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The area offers some of Australia’s best pre­served ocean wilder­ness includ­ing spec­tac­u­lar reefs and vital­ly impor­tant fish breed­ing and shel­ter areas.

Stay tuned to the Nature Play SA web­site for more infor­ma­tion, includ­ing a list of 25 things to dis­cov­er in Encounter Marine Park, and to reg­is­ter for a Nature Play Pass­port.

With so much to see and do, sum­mer is the per­fect time to get out and about in SA’s marine parks.

Many of the Immerse Your­self events and activ­i­ties are free, how­ev­er book­ings are required.

We would love to hear about your expe­ri­ences in out marine parks this sum­mer. Share your com­ments and pho­tos below.