Cape Willoughby Information

Guided tours of Sturt Light and the weather station are conducted daily (except Christmas Day). You can climb to the top of Sturt Light to experience the panoramic view of Backstairs Passage, Fleurieu Peninsula and Dudley Peninsula. Tours operate at 11.30am, 12.30pm, 2pm, 3pm and 4pm in summer, autumn and spring holiday periods and 11.30am, 12.30pm and 2pm at all other times.

Matthew Flinders discovered Kangaroo Island in 1802 and named the area Cape Theta. The name was changed to Cape Willoughby between 1810 and 1814. Cape Willoughby is thought to be named after a village in Lincolnshire, England, however, it may have also been named after Sir Nesbit Josiah Willoughby who defeated the French at Mauritius while Matthew Flinders was a prisoner of the French.

The shipping trade was vital for the development of the young colony of South Australia before the advent of efficient forms of land transport. Cape Willoughby Lighthouse was built to assist the safe and economic operation of the rapidly expanding coastal shipping trade between the eastern colonies and the colony of South Australia, via Backstairs Passage. It is renowned for being a treacherous stretch of water. Some hazards include the Yatala Shoal (reef), The Pages Islands, the Scraper, strong tidal currents and high wind velocity.