Santana’s Australia & Tasmania Cycling Cruise is a 10-day journey that starts in Tasmania, Australia’s version of Alaska. Easily the country’s best region for cycling, this Southern Hemisphere paradise is known for lush fern forests, secluded coastal roads, quirky animals, geological wonders, and white sand beaches.

We’ve chosen a perfect period of 2027, when daily highs range into the mid-70’s. Imagine escaping to perfect short sleeve cycling weather at a time of year when your friends back home may be shoveling snow.

Easy to fly to, our embark point is Tasmania’s capital. If you aren’t aware of Hobart, Lonely Planet’s guide has rated Australia’s second oldest settlement to be “One of the world’s top 10 cities to visit.” If you want to arrive a day or two early, our group hotel near Hobart’s historic center is a perfect place to recover from jetlag.

Most cyclists who tour Tasmania bring their tents and spend three weeks there. However, by chartering a luxurious yacht-sized ship for a 10-day cruise, Santana’s efficient no-repacking itinerary is the first bike tour to combine exotic Tasmania with highlights of Australia’s mainland.

Each night, as we dream of wonders ahead, our magic carpet transports us up to 200 miles to create a superior cycling vacation. Instead of a dot-to-dot pattern dictated by the location of campgrounds or hotels, our ship allows an unconnected collection of carefully-curated rides that link some of Australia’s most amazing sights.

A few miles of rainforest rides are included!

With beautifully paved roads that are surprisingly close to Antarctica, Tasmania has picturesque fjords, ancient forests, and pristine wilderness. This region of Australia also contains our planet’s greatest assortment of peculiar animals.

During our rides in Tasmania participants are certain to spot: kangaroos, koalas, wombats, quokkas, wallabies, dingoes, sugar gliders, platypus, penguins, seals, anteaters, and even a reclusive Tasmanian Devil.

Do Kangaroos go to the beach? Of course!

It’s the perfect place for them to wet their tails.

Embark Day — The combination of a lively waterfront and cultural scene with easy access to Tasmania’s dramatic wilderness and scenic coastlines makes Hobart a great place to start our adventure.

On embark morning we will assemble and test our bikes (or accept rental bikes) for a warmup ride along Hobart’s bay to reach MONA, and the world’s most eclectic collection of fine art.

Day 2 — Our first full day of cycling includes a cove visited by famous Captains Cook and Bligh. Both were undoubtedly fascinated by Bruny Island’s still-thriving colonies of Penguins and Fur Seals.

Today our various-length routes of smooth pavement meander through dunes and native heath.

Day 3 — The oldest “settlement” in Australia is the preserved and restored penal colony at Port Arthur. Now a national pilgrimage site, nearly a million “Aussies” trace their heritage to prison ships that arrived from Britain.

All of today’s forested routes pause at a wildlife sanctuary where we’ll be introduced to Tasmania’s namesake devils. Will today be the second day in a row you’ll spot wallabies?

Day 4 — Australia’s most majestic National Park is Tasmania’s Freycinet Peninsula, where we’ve secured a special permit for a choice of rides that start at the former whaling station of Coles Bay.

Our tour’s most dramatic two hours of cruising will occur when our yacht’s choreographed dance concludes with a pirouette within Wineglass Bay.

Day 5 — Our longest overnight cruise, just over 200 miles, ties up the next morning at Beauty Point, where your platypus encounter is part of our plan. This is also the day where you’ll visit a seahorse nursery and share a bit of play time with curious echidnas.

Today’s rides include the Tamar River and the mining town of Baconsfield, with its awe-inspiring museum. Long riders spin past Batman Bridge, Swan Point and Gravelly Beach before enjoying the short climb to Grindelwald for a Swiss coffee or hot chocolate.

Day 6 — Departing Devonport the next morning, we’ll race our ship along Tasmania’s north coast through the former timber town of Penguin (with its monumental statue), Preservation Bay and Chasm Creek.

Because this route has multiple points where you’ll want to pause or explore, our ship is bound to reach Burnie before us.

Tonight’s earlier onboard dinner precedes a short hike with naturalists who will reveal the secrets of their local colony before Burnie’s nightly parade of penguins emerge from the surf to reach protected nests.

Day 7 — Our Tasmanian cycling adventure continues along a colorful coast to reach Port Stanley. After a particularly easy 49 miles, everyone will have time for a hike to the top of “The Nut.”

If you took a longer route or are looking to skip the climb, a chairlift gets you to the summit of this extinct volcano for views across the Bass Strait towards Australia’s mainland. After you make your way down “The Nut,” a local cafe serves up a delicious vanilla slice. Tonight, while you dream, an overnight crossing transports us to additional days of cycling in Victoria.

Day 8 — Australia’s Cape Otway National Park was largely inaccessible until returning WWI engineers carefully carved the Great Ocean Road into a rugged segment of coast that reminds many of California’s Big Sur. Requiring 14 years of construction, the expertly graded Great Ocean Road nestles into the contours of the coastline to create some of our tour’s most memorable miles.

While most cyclists spend the better part of a week on this coast, our petite cruise ship allows us to choose pair of prime segments, the first of which starts with a motorized boost through the heart of the National Park to reach a tall trestled “canopy walk” through an ancient beech forest.

Back on our bikes, an impossibly beautiful ride along a tall ridge twists through miles of fragrant forest before emerging from the native bush for a traffic-free descent through Wild Dog Preserve to reach the village of Apollo Bay, where your choice of lunch at the Fishermen’s Co-op depends on the morning’s catch.

The most famous stretch of cycling in all of Australia is the Great Ocean Road. On a particularly scenic segment of this historic highway, our midday coffee break is at a eucalyptus grove where you’ll watch wild koalas nap and nosh.

Day 9 — A final day of cycling passes the Victorian mansions and grand hotels of Queenscliff to reach a roadway that parallels the Bellarine Heritage Railway, and your chance to race a steam-powered train to Point Lonsdale. As with all days of this tour, there is a choice of routes.

Today’s shortest option (28 flat miles) continues along the coast to Barwon Head. The pair of longer routes (39 or 52 miles) turn inland to include additional highlights and some rolling hills. On days that don’t feature bike-repacking our longest route options could stretch past 60 or even 70 miles.

As with all of Santana’s cycling cruises, the easiest daily cycling route will rarely exceed 35 miles. On days that you or your partner don’t care to pedal, there will always be a pair of zero-mile options. After a festive farewell dinner aboard what’s possibly the world’s most capable small cruise ship, tomorrow you’ll wake up in Australia’s greenest city.

Day 10 — Our cruise concludes in Melbourne, Australia’s second largest city, where a choice of disembark shuttles can get you an optional stay at a perfectly located Melbourne hotel, or to MEL International Airport—which offers bike storage if you care to see more of Australia, and non-stop flights to the U.S. when you’re ready to return home.

Established in 1983, Coral Expeditions is “Australia’s own cruise line.” While they had previously operated smaller coastal vessels, Coral caught Santana’s attention with the 2019 launch of Coral Adventurer, a full-on expedition ship with room for 120 cyclists and their bicycles!

Santana and the rest of the cruise world was captivated by the ship’s revolutionary tenders that comfortably take-on seated passengers before being lowered into the water. Better than normal tenders, Coral’s unique pair of Xplorer landing craft quickly reach shore and, if no pier is available, deploy a wide bow-ramp to provide “dry-foot” landings at beaches, bays, and inlets.

In addition to advanced stabilizers, Coral’s new expedition class cruise ship sports an ingenious wave piercing bow which cuts through the swells instead of climbing over them. Despite its petite dimensions, this unique vessel demonstrated the ability to cruise the seven seas as comfortably as a large ocean liner.

Santana’s participants have a pronounced affinity for ships with an open bridge policy. The Coral Adventurer takes crew interaction to a new level with a ship’s bridge that includes comfortable viewing seats to encourage you to stay a while.

Moreover, the entire crew is comprised of friendly Aussies that are eager to share their local knowledge and culture. The ship’s onboard expedition team provides lectures and a wealth of information about Australia’s peculiar plants and animals. As the Coral Adventurer is Australian flagged, it has permission to put cyclists and bikes ashore via its special Xplorer Landers virtually anywhere in Australia and Tasmania, rather than only at authorized international ports.

Although the 120-passenger ship is yacht-dimensioned, it has a wealth of public space, including separate lounge and dining rooms—each with enough seating to accommodate all passengers.

The chef is especially excited when the ship cruises Tasmania as this allows him to showcase fresh local ingredients. Not to be outdone, the sommelier loves sharing Tasmania’s award-winning chardonnays & pinot noirs.

All 60 staterooms have an exterior view, private bath, sound proofing, individual air conditioning, and king-width bedding that converts to a pair of full size twins. The smallest staterooms, at 182 square feet, are larger and nicer than those found on the typical cruise ship.

While not quite suites, balcony staterooms feature a larger floor plan with a private balcony.

Top-deck suites combine an even more spacious floor plan with a larger private balcony to provide the airy feel of a penthouse.

Coral Expeditions has won several awards from Cruise Critic and Tripadvisor, as well as advanced certifications for eco-tourism, green cruising, and sustainability.