Coffin Bay facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Coffin BaySouth Australia |
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View down Coffin Bay Channel
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 Coffin Bay
Location in South Australia
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| Population | 611 (2016 census) | ||||||||||||||
| Established | 1952 ("shack area") 1957 (private town) 2003 (locality) |
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| Postcode(s) | 5607 | ||||||||||||||
| Time zone | ACST (UTC+9:30) | ||||||||||||||
| • Summer (DST) | ACST (UTC+10:30) | ||||||||||||||
| Location |
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| LGA(s) | District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula | ||||||||||||||
| Region | Eyre Western | ||||||||||||||
| County | Flinders | ||||||||||||||
| State electorate(s) | Flinders | ||||||||||||||
| Federal Division(s) | Grey | ||||||||||||||
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| Footnotes | Adjoining localities | ||||||||||||||
Coffin Bay, originally Coffin's Bay, is a town at the southern extremity of the Eyre Peninsula, a wheat growing area of South Australia. At the 2016 census, Coffin Bay had a population of 611.
The town is situated on the western side of the southern tip of Eyre Peninsula about 46 km from Port Lincoln. The population swells during holiday seasons to more than 4,000 people due to its proximity to the Coffin Bay National Park.
It is a popular location for boating, sailing, swimming, water-skiing, skindiving and wind-surfing, as well as fishing (rock, surf, angling and boat).
The town is named after the bay formed by the Coffin Bay Peninsula and the mainland, and lies on the southeastern shore of the bay. Oyster farming is conducted in the quiet waters of Coffin Bay.
Coffin Bay is in the District Council of Lower Eyre Peninsula local government area, the state electoral district of Flinders and the federal Division of Grey.
History
The Parnkalla people occupied the area prior to European settlement in the 1830s.
British naval explorer Matthew Flinders named the bay on 16 February 1802 in honour of his friend Sir Isaac Coffin, who was Resident Naval Commissioner at Sheerness, where the Investigator was fitted out. The same year, French explorer Nicolas Baudin provided the alternative French name of Baie Delambre.
The bay remained uncharted until explored in March 1839 by Captain Frederick R. Lees (d.1839) in command of the brig Nereus. Lees' thorough charts became a standard reference for mariners through until the electronic era.
In 1966, Broken Hill Proprietary Company Limited established a private railway between Coffin Bay and Port Lincoln to convey lime sands. It was closed in 1989, with the track removed in 2001.
The historic former Coffin Bay Whaling Site at Point Sir Isaac lies within the locality and is listed on the South Australian Heritage Register.
