Cannibal Bay is a 1km stretch of sand, unremarkable by Catlins standards, except…you can drive on it! Most tourists would never dare, but the beach-drive access is 2WD easy-peasy onto the firmlypacked sands. At the far end of the beach there’s a track thru the grasses that heads over to Surat Bay. Why not have a fun drive to the end of Cannibal’s beach and then walk the track over to Surat Bay where you can take a longer walk on the deserted 3km stretch of sand, where you’ll almost always spot some lounging Sea lions? Of course you’d need to time this adventure with the tide in mind.
On the drive across the beach look for the obvious tracks from Sea Lions who amble up Cannibal Beach to recline in the grasses. At the far end of the beach you may even find the tracks of some Yellow-eyed penguins that have waddled up the beach to their nests.
Even if the tide is high or you won’t risk a beach-drive, the walk is still nice. On the nearside tidal rocks you’ll find tide pools a-swirl with copious kelp.
WALK: The marked track to Surat Bay begins at the end of Cannibal and takes 10 minutes to weave over to Surat.
