When the Europeans first brought back word of the platypus, many thought it was a hoax. A mammal with webbed feet, that lived in water with fur and a duck's bill but had venomous spines seemed like a joke to many people until they brought back a specimen.
An encounter with a platypus still evokes wonder and seeing one in Australia in the wild requires luck and patience. In four years, we only saw platypus' a handful of times and we tried several times to see them.
Here are the spots with the best chance of seeing platypus in the wild.
Where to see a platypus in the wild near Sydney
Jenolan Caves Blue Lake
Jenolan Caves is an unlikely spot for a resident platypus, but you can see them in the blue lake near the entrance of the Jenolan Caves House.
If you walk a short distance along the path towards the dam, look for ripples on the water and chances are if you are there at dawn or dusk you will see one.
Jenolan Caves are well worth a visit, we've taken many visitors here and everyone is always impressed. The caves house is an atmospheric place to stay, it feels like stepping back in time. It would also mean that it's easy for you to be at the pool at dawn or dusk.
There are also various walking trails to keep you busy. Why not combine it with a trip to one of our favourite places in Australia, the Blue Mountains?
Berrima, Southern Highlands, NSW
This is the closest place to Sydney that we’ve ever seen a platypus, at just a 1.5 hour drive. The place to spot them is in the Wingecarribee River, which is right in the town centre. Head for the Stone Quarry Walk which is just beside the Holy Trinity Anglian Church and walk for a few minutes down the path until you reach the river.
You will come to a rocky platform which offers a good view from above and allows you to easily spot those telltale ripples. We’ve written more exact instructions, as well as other things to do while you’re in the area in this post.
Bombala Platypus Reserve, NSW
Bombala Platypus Reserve in the Snowy Mountains is known as one of the best spots in NSW to catch a glimpse of one of these elusive creatures. It's actually quite far from the main areas most people stay when visiting the Snowy's (1 hour 50 from Thredbo and 1 hour 25 from Jindabyne) so it's a quiet spot and on our visit we were the only ones there!
The reserve is a beautiful place on the water and it would be a peaceful place to bring a picnic as you wait. There's a large viewing platform over the river and it was easy to spot the platypus burrows. Unfortunately for us we were unlucky with actually catching sight of a platypus itself but I read so many reviews of people seeing them here that I still wanted to include it in this blog.
Getting there: You’ll definitely need your own wheels for this one and the setting is quite remote. The drive to get here from Thredbo or Jindabyne is absolutely stunning through vast open plains dotted with huge rocks and boulders.
Where to see a platypus in the wild in Queensland
Canopy Treehouses
I don't know if any other hotel can say they have a platypus on their grounds, but Canopy Treehouses can certainly lay claim. In the creek on their property are a couple of resident platypus, however spotting them can be difficult as they share the water with terrapins who love to mislead in lowlight!
We were lucky enough to see them several times. There are two spots, both of which are a short walk from the tree houses. The owner will give you a map for guidance.
Atherton Tablelands
If you don't want to stay at the treehouses, which we'd highly recommend as it is one of our favourite places to stay in Australia, we have a few more suggestions in the area.
We'd recommend first trying the platypus viewing area at Yungaburra on the Gillies Highway. There are very regular sightings here and some are even lucky enough to spot them in the day time.
If you aren't lucky at the viewing platform and want an almost guaranteed sighting you can head to the Australian platypus park. It's a guided viewing, at a cost of $8.50 for adults and $6 for children.
We also know that you can see platypus near MacKay (which is about 850km north of Brisbane). We sadly haven't made it there ourselves yet, but check out this guide to how you can spot one in Eungella National Park.
Where to see a platypus in the wild in Tasmania
Mole Creek
This small town in the North of Tasmania has it's own population of platypus that just hang out in the creek behind the shops and hotels.
We were sitting having dinner in the Mole Creek Guesthouse when the chef let us know that there was a platypus in the creek at the bottom of the garden. We rushed out but just missed it.
Many of the other guests did see it though, and it's a fairly common occurrence.
Getting there: Mole Creek is a 1 hour drive from Launceston or a 3 hour drive from Hobart.
Where to see a platypus in South Australia
Flinders Chase National Park, Kangaroo Island
Kangaroo Island is one of the best places in Australia to see wildlife and it has it's own resident platypus as well.
A good spot to check out is the water hole on the easy Platypus Waterhole Walk, 4.7km return, from Flinders Chase National Park Visitors Centre.
We visited as part of the longer Black Swamp hike (8km) so if you fancy a longer stroll then we'd recommend this too.
There are good information boards at the water hole to swat up on those platypus facts. Did you know they produce venom?!
Where to see a platypus in Victoria
Lake Elizabeth, The Otways
There are lots of places in Victoria, including several other spots in the Otways, to see a wild platypus but the one with the highest sightings is Lake Elizabeth. Your best chance to get up close and personal with the platypus is to take one of the guided canoe trips (90% chance of sightings).
It's a large lake and the boats move you around more quickly than you can go on foot. We chose to visit on foot and we did see platypus from the lake jetty but it was a bit further away than we'd have ideally liked. You could get lucky and one could come quite close to the shore but on the evening we saw one, the boat trip saw three.
Despite not getting as good a look at the platypus as we'd have liked it's still a magical spot and we were surrounded by wild koalas growling for over an hour which was a pretty special experience in its own right.
To reach the lake you need to take a 1km walking path (each way) which has one short steep section (despite the sign at the trail head making you think it will be much harder!). When you get there you can wait at the jetty or take the lake loop walk which is just under 5km in total.
It's worth noting that the loop does not hug the lake the whole way, it goes into dense bush at points which means you don't have the ability to be constantly on the lookout for platypus, which is why we chose to sit and wait quietly at the jetty. We visited at dusk but I would recommend dawn if you can stomach an early start as we heard sightings are more frequent then and platypus prefer cool weather.
The Otways is an incredible area for wildlife watching and we detail lots more opportunities in this post.
Getting there: Lake Elizabeth is an hour from Lorne (one of the nearest towns) and over 2 hours from Melbourne. You can park near the campground and start the walk from there.
Best time of day to see platypus
Platypus are very shy animals and will retreat at the slightest noise, so being still and silent is essential. They're nocturnal animals, with your best chance of a sighting at dawn and dusk, so plan your sightings with this in mind.
They also prefer dark and gloomy weather, so if you are looking on an overcast day your chances may be higher. With some luck, everything may come together for a glimpse of this amazing animal. We've seen lots of incredible Australian animals but we'll never forget the times we were lucky enough to see platypus in the wild.
How to spot a platypus
Platypus spend a lot of time hidden away, so it's likely that you'll only see a glimpse before they dive underwater. The best way to spot a platypus is to watch for a disturbance in the water (water bubbles were the best way) and look for ripples. If you're in the right place at the right time, then all you need to do is wait (which can be for a long time!).
Want to see other Australian animals?
We love nothing more than to see iconic Aussie animals in the wild and have put together several guides about the best places to see each one. Check out our guides below:
- The best places to see Kangaroos near Sydney
- The best places to see Kangaroos near Melbourne
- The 10 best places to see wild Koalas
- How to see a wild Cassowary
- Places you will see wild Wombats
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