The sheltered east coast is made for kids, crab nets and unhurried afternoons by the water.
There is a particular kind of holiday that the east coast of the Yorke Peninsula does better than almost anywhere: the slow, salty, sunburnt family weekend built around a jetty and a crab net.
The gulf side of the peninsula is sheltered and shallow, its towns strung out along calm water that rarely throws up a wave. That makes it ideal for children, who can learn to drop a net, jig for squid or simply paddle in safety while the adults watch on.
Start up at Port Vincent and work south. Stansbury, the self-styled oyster capital, is a fine place to drop a line, but it is Coobowie that families come for. The sheltered bay here is some of the best blue-swimmer crabbing country on the peninsula, and there are few better ways to fill an afternoon than raking the shallows for a feed.
Save Edithburgh for last. The historic tidal pool gives the kids a safe swim, and the jetty, one of South Australia's great dive sites, is worth a snorkel even if you never put a line in. By the time you turn for home, the children will have learned to read a tide, tie a net and wait for the squid to bite, which is about as good as a weekend gets.
