Tasmania is one of the best places in Australia to see the Aurora Australis, with dark coastlines and wide views towards the southern sky. South Arm Peninsula and Bruny Island are beautiful places to start! The Southern Lights can appear year-round, while May to September brings longer dark nights. Sightings depend on aurora activity and clear skies, so they aren’t guaranteed. Here’s where to go, how to read the forecasts and what to expect when you look up.
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Staying in Hobart? Start with a dark coastal spot and an open view south, rather than chasing the most remote location on the map. South Arm offers a practical evening outing, while kunanyi adds a spectacular mountain setting when the weather and road access allow.
South Arm Peninsula is a great place to begin a Southern Lights adventure near Hobart. The coastline leads away from the bright city lights and opens up views across the water. Goats Bluff is part of this area, so plan them as one outing rather than two separate stops.
The Goats Bluff car park sits at the eastern end of Hope Beach, which faces south-east across Storm Bay. That open stretch of sea and sky is the attraction here! Finding the public access in daylight makes it easier to settle into a safe viewing position once darkness falls.
Keep to established access and paths rather than scrambling down an unfamiliar cliff or cutting across the dunes. Hope Beach has strong surf and rips, so enjoy the view from land, well back from the water. Framing the shoreline beneath the sky gives a coastal photo its setting without stepping into the waves.
Carlton Beach is another lovely coastal spot for an evening under the southern sky. A stay nearby puts the beach close at hand, without turning the outing into a mountain drive. The appeal is simple: a dark shoreline and room to look south.
Find an accessible position away from nearby lights, with a clear southern view. A familiar entry point keeps the return simple, so a long walk along the beach is not the aim. Settle into a spot with a good view and let the sky take centre stage!
kunanyi / Mount Wellington brings a very different backdrop to a night out. On a clear night, the summit landscape makes a beautiful foreground for sky photography. With broad views and an iconic mountain setting, this is an exciting place to take a camera, a world away from the waterfront below!
Give the mountain its own weather check before driving up. Low cloud can hide the sky, and strong wind, cold or ice make the summit more demanding than the streets below. Mountain weather changes quickly throughout the year, so use the official Pinnacle Road status alongside the mountain forecast rather than judging conditions from a hotel window.
Stick to the open public road and established viewing areas, and do not continue past a road closure on foot. Leave unfamiliar mountain trails for daylight. When the summit is cloud-covered or access is unsafe, head for a lower coastal spot instead, where clear sky matters more than extra elevation.
Taking your holiday beyond Hobart opens up more beautiful places to look south. Build these outings into time you’re already spending nearby.
Bruny Island combines a day of exploring with dark coastal settings after sunset. The Neck is one of its recognised Southern Lights viewing spots, bringing the sea-and-sky scenery into the evening. Stay overnight to enjoy Bruny by day and night without shaping the whole outing around getting back to Hobart!
The journey includes road travel and a ferry, with Kettering around a 30-minute drive south of Hobart and the vehicle crossing taking roughly 20 minutes. There is then more driving on the island to reach your accommodation or viewing spot. Allow time for all three stages, not just the drive to Kettering.
Stay on established access and out of the dunes. Around nesting birds, use a red-light torch and keep your camera flash off. For the daytime part of your island adventure, explore our things to do on Bruny Island guide.
Cockle Creek sits at the end of the road on Recherche Bay, around 121 kilometres and two hours’ drive from Hobart. This beautiful southern setting adds a night under the stars to a holiday in Tasmania’s far south. Make it part of that adventure, rather than a last-minute dash from the city.
There are no shops or services at Cockle Creek, so arrive with food, water and enough fuel for the drive. A nearby overnight stay keeps the evening close to your accommodation. Established public access gives you somewhere to enjoy the sky without adding a remote night hike to the plan.
The Central Plateau, Coles Bay, Stanley and Braddons Lookout near Forth also feature among Tasmania’s aurora locations. Already visiting one of these areas? Find a dark, accessible spot with an open southern view and make the most of where you are!
May to September brings longer dark nights for Southern Lights viewing, giving you more time to look without limiting the aurora to winter.
Longer nights make May to September a great period to include aurora viewing in your holiday, with more hours of darkness than summer. This is extra time to watch, rather than a promise of stronger displays or clearer weather. Add warm layers and a night beneath the stars becomes an inviting part of a winter trip!
Visiting in summer? Keep the Southern Lights on your list, with sightings possible then too and darkness arriving later in the evening. Plan your daytime exploring as usual and leave room for a promising night. Our best time to visit Tasmania guide covers the wider seasonal differences, from outdoor days to winter trips.
Head out once the sky is properly dark and the aurora forecast points to favourable activity, rather than following a fixed clock window. A time mentioned in yesterday’s sighting report is not a timetable for tonight’s display.
Match the date and time in the forecast with the cloud conditions at your viewing spot, then plan around that evening’s sky. Leave yourself a sensible return journey, too, with enough energy to drive safely rather than staying out for an arbitrary extra hour.
Get ready for your night out with a few useful forecast checks. Official notices explain the activity; your local sky tells you what is visible.
The Bureau of Meteorology's aurora service uses three notice types. Each helps at a different stage of planning:
An outlook is useful for planning; an alert is about activity happening now. Read the area covered and the timestamp before heading out. Times marked UT or GMT are not Hobart local time, so convert them to your local clock. The notice for this evening is the one to act on, not an exciting alert from a previous night!
Kp describes global geomagnetic activity, while Kaus gives an Australian activity estimate. Higher activity generally helps the aurora extend farther from the polar region. Treat the numbers as activity clues, not a pass-or-fail score for your chosen beach. No single number settles the question without the viewing conditions.
The BOM auroral oval map shows a modelled viewing area, assuming a clear night and a particular aurora height. One detail is easy to miss: selecting a future time uses the last displayed K value, rather than predicting a new value for that future hour.
For a closer look at the near-term outlook, use the Southern Hemisphere view on the NOAA short-term aurora forecast. Its lead time is around 30–90 minutes. Read the timestamp as well as the coloured oval; this is a short-term tool, not a calendar for a holiday months away.
A clear southern horizon gives you a much better view than thick cloud, even when aurora activity is strong. Look at cloud cover around your viewing location, not just above Hobart. Bright moonlight and nearby streetlights also make a faint display harder to pick out.
Recent local sightings help put the forecast into context. Read where and when the photo was taken before adding it to your plans. A spectacular image shared today might be from another night! Use fresh reports alongside official activity notices and the sky outside, rather than chasing an old photo.
Yes, you can see the Aurora Australis without a camera. A faint display may look like a pale or grey glow, sometimes with green, rather than the vivid sky in a long-exposure photo. Stronger displays can show visible colour and structure, too, making the Southern Lights an incredible sight beyond the camera screen!
A camera gathers light over several seconds, so photos often bring out more colour and detail than is visible in the moment. A colourful image is not automatically the work of a filter; eyes and cameras simply record the scene differently, especially when the light is faint.
Give your eyes time in the dark and keep your screen dim. Look along the southern horizon as well as higher in the sky. Take a photo to capture a subtle glow, then put the phone down for a while. There’s something magical about enjoying the night without watching it all through a screen.
You don’t need a bag full of specialist gear to get started. A steady phone or camera is the first step towards a great night-sky photo!
Start with Night mode or Pro mode if your phone supports it. Set it on a tripod or secure support, then use the timer so pressing the shutter doesn’t shake the shot. Turn the flash off and dim your screen while you’re waiting between photos.
If your phone offers exposure control, try a longer exposure and adjust after a test shot. Otherwise, start with its night-photography mode. A power bank keeps you prepared for an evening of shooting, while a strip of coastline or another recognisable foreground puts your Tasmania adventure into the photo!
A wide-angle lens and tripod give you a straightforward setup. Focus manually on a bright star, use an aperture of f/4 or wider, and shoot RAW to leave more room for editing afterwards. An exposure of five to 30 seconds is a starting range, not one setting for every display.
As the aurora brightens or moves, a shorter exposure helps capture it without leaving the shutter open too long. Take a test photo, look at the result and adjust to the sky in front of you; the next shots are a chance to fine-tune the image.
Pack warm layers, a waterproof jacket, a torch and a charged phone for your evening outdoors. Add water and enough fuel for the return drive. Visit your viewing spot in daylight first to find public access, safe parking and a place to stand. Then you can settle in without searching in the dark!
Stay on formed paths and out of dunes and wildlife areas. Keep your torch pointed down around other viewers, and stay well back from the water. Watch for wildlife on the drive, and stop when you’re tired rather than adding another faraway spot to the night.
Make the most of Tasmania by day as well! Explore the island’s coastlines, forests and historic places, then leave room to head outside when the evening looks promising. A Southern Lights outing adds a little extra adventure to a holiday already full of beautiful places to discover.
Yes. A stay near a dark, accessible spot with an open southern view lets you walk out when the sky is suitable. Bright central streets do not offer the same view. For an outing farther away, arrange outward and return transport before leaving, rather than relying on a taxi from a remote viewpoint. Our where to stay in Hobart guide helps with the accommodation side of the trip.
Yes, aurora photography workshops are offered in Tasmania, giving you a way to learn with photographic guidance. They are separate from general sightseeing tours and teach photography rather than promise a display. The Tasmania tours above explore daytime sights and wider island itineraries. Book those for your holiday exploring; an ordinary Hobart departure does not automatically include a Southern Lights session.
