Isolation has kept South Australia's Eyre Peninsula coastline in a pristine state, but its natural beauty is under threat as visitor numbers continue to increase.
Greenly Beach and Perlubie Beach are two key areas without official camping grounds that are under pressure from tourists.
As many as 100 caravans and campers have been seen on Perlubie Beach at a time, a dramatic increase on years past that worsened during the pandemic.
"Maybe there needs to be limits," Eyre Peninsula tour operator Craig Haslam said.
"Perlubie has been smashed – literally smashed – for a long time, and people are going there because it gives them that extra bit of freedom, rather than actually being in a camp ground, but we need to monitor it and we need to manage it."
The region faces the conundrum of needing visitors to help struggling businesses, but also the desire to preserve the area's unspoilt beauty.
"As we grow, that's our challenge — how do we continue to develop and grow the destination, but at the same time keeping the same values that are important to us as a region?" Mr Haslam said.
"There are so many places along our coastlines that are beautiful spots.
The Streaky Bay Council has raised similar concerns with the state government, which controls the beach, highlighting the inadequacy of the infrastructure.
The council has been in talks with the state to try and arrange handover so it can take over the management of the site.
Streaky Bay Mayor Travis Barber says the increase in visitors is welcome, but sustainability in the area is crucial.
"The growing population of the destination as a campsite is placing significant pressure on the beach and we're reaching a tipping point in terms of sustainability," he said.
Word of mouth
Peter Hanson has been visiting Perlubie for 20 years, and says the number of caravans on the beach has swelled to about 100 over Easter and Christmas over the years.
He travels 1,200km from Donovan, near the Victorian border, to camp in the car park off Perlubie Beach for two months every year.
"When I first started coming here there was no-one on the beach, and then probably half a dozen up here," he said.
He said it was a great place for families and that many camped along the beach as a stopover en route to Western Australia.
Mr Hanson said most caravanners had little impact on the beach environment.
"There's one toilet, but 90 per cent of the campers have got their own toilet and showers and cassettes that collect their water, and they just take it into Streaky Bay to dump it."
Too many footprints
Regional Development Australia (RDA) Eyre Peninsula tourism development manager Annabelle Hender said the volume of visitors was creating "environmental pressure".
"Just trampling, vehicles driving off-road — it can disrupt birdlife that nest on the beaches," she said.
"There's not necessarily one vehicle that causes the trouble, or one visitor, but it's an increased pressure when you have multiple or an increased number of tourists all using the one space."
Ms Hender said the RDA was working through the Eyes on Eyre program to increase infrastructure at camp sites.
"Perlubie is definitely on our list, as is Greenly Beach," Ms Hender said.
Greenly Beach has no camping facilities, but plenty of tourists have been staying on the cliffs.
"We feel like we do have the solution — we have campgrounds like Sheringa and Walkers Rock that have been brought onto this online booking program," Ms Hender said.
"That is a way we can manage capacity at those sites.
"We know we have this model that we have trialled and tested in Elliston that is ready to be implemented in Perlubie and Greenly Beach, in cooperation with the council.
"It's just working through those land issues to ensure the councils have the ability to implement these programs at the sites."
