Jervis Bay area attractions

 

Jervis Bay, about 2.5-3 hours from Sydney/Canberra, is a Marine Reserve of outstanding natural beauty, with white sandy beaches, (regarded as the worlds whitest), towering sandstone cliffs and sparkling blue waters. Booderee National Park is the major attraction of the area, and is just a 10 minute drive away from the main tourist town of Huskisson (the gateway town to the Bay).

Information on this page

• Booderee National Park
• Dolphin & Whale watching



• Diving and snorkelling
• Regional Markets
• Birdlife
  

Related pages:

• Jervis Bay -How to get there
• Huskisson, Vincentia and Hyams Beach -description
• Shoalhaven -other attractions in the area
• Accommodation nsw -Jervis Bay Guesthouse.
• Links to: other Jervis Bay sites, Shoalhaven Tourism, accommodation nsw, ....

 Booderee National Park

Booderee national Park has beautiful native bushland, fantastic beaches (such as Murrays, Cave, and Greenpatch) a variety of birdlife, and numerous walking tracks and picnic spots. It was rated in the top 10 parks in Australia for seeing wildlife by Fodors guidebook. It is a very easy park to explore, with a good network of roads and car parks dotted around the perimeter. Also, because it's a coastal park, most of the walks are quite flat, and very easy to do. Next to the Park you'll find the Botanic Gardens, established in 1915, with lovely walks, such as the lake and rainforest walks, and a fascinating display of native plants. You should allow at least a full day for exploring this incredible park, preferably two-three days.

You can catch a dolphin watching cruise to see the 60 or so permanently resident Bottlenose Dolphins. You can also catch a cruise to see Humpback Whales as they migrate north from Antarctica in June-July and south from September to November. The best places to see them from land are Pt. Perpendicular and the old ruined lighthouse in Booderee Park. There is also a local seal colony, which can only really be reached by boat charter.

Diving and snorkelling

Thousands of divers already know that this area is second only to the Great Barrier Reef for diving. It features a huge variety of dive sites including seal colonies, shipwrecks (SS Merimbula wrecked in 1928, Wandra 1915), deep-water reefs, steep drop-offs, underwater caves (the Cathedral Cave which penetrates to 71m), and tunnels, sea and spong gardens, kelp forests, spectacular underwater formations and a plane wreck (a Firefly, lost in 1956).

In winter, when the visibility is best (up to 50m), you can see giant sea salps 10-20m in length. There are also giant cuttlefish (a metre or more in length), the strange Weedy Sea Dragon and Pelagic Kingfish. Dive shops: Pro Dive 02 44415255, and JB Sea Sports 02 44415012.

Regional Markets

The region offers a diverse range of landscapes for birdwatchers, from rocky headlands and coastal heathland to rainforests and protected islands. There are many walks in Booderee National Park which offer opportunities for bird sightings. These include the White-cheeked Honeyeater, Eastern bristlebird, many different Honeyeaters, White-bellied Sea Eagles, Powerful Owl, Glossy Black Cockatoos ("Nowra" is Aboriginal for "black cockatoos"), lyrebirds and Satin Bowerbirds.

Nowra also has good bird-watching walks, such as Ben's walk. Near Nowra is Commerong Island, which provides an ideal spot to see waders.

At the entrance to the Bay is Bowen Island where there is a large breeding colony of Little Penguins (landings aren't allowed on this island).

last updated on