Distance: 4km
How long: 1-2 hours depending how long you stop and enjoy
How hard: Easy grade with some stairs
How to get there: Ferry to/from Watsons Bay Wharf
Why do it: History, views, cafe and swim spot
HISTORIC SITES
Gab Bluff
Visit the giant anchor from the wreck of the Dunbar. After 81 days at sea coming from England, the ship crashed into the reef at the foot of South Head with only one survivor - able seaman James Johnson.
Hornby Lighthouse and Keepers Cottage
One of the oldest surviving lighthouses in Australia - built immediately after the tragic wrecking of the Dunbar. The light station’s first head light keeper was none other than the Dunbar’s sole survivor, James Johnson.
Camp Cove
Traditional camping and fishing sites for the Cadigal people for thousands of years. This site is most well known because the Europeans first made landfall here on January 21, 1788.
Green Point Reserve
A torpedo station during WWI and the site of one of three submarine cable piles supporting an anti-submarine net that stretched across the Harbour during WWII.
Click the links below to download the Bondi to Manly App to follow the maps and read more about these sites:
DIRECTIONS
Starting from Watsons Bay Wharf, walk east to The Gap then follow the Gap Bluff Walking Track as it loops to Cliff Street arriving to Camp Cove Beach. From Camp Cove Beach, take the stairs at the north end of the beach which will loop you around South Head and return to Camp Cove Beach.
*There’s a great cafe on Camp Cove Beach to grab an ice cream, some lunch or a fresh orange juice.
Walk along the Beach taking the stairs at the south end of the Beach then turn right to walk along the footpath parallel to the water in front of the monument commemorating the landing place of Governor Phillip. Continue straight and walk around Green Point Reserve, observing the submarine cable pile.
Continue looping around Green Point Reserve until you arrive on Pacific Street. Follow Pacific Street on the right side of the road until the T intersection with Cove Street.
Turn right then take the walking path as it veers right to the foreshore at Watsons Bay, bringing you back to where you started.
* Grab some fish and chips from Doyles on the Beach or visit Watsons Bay Hotel for a great beach-side pub feed.
Click the map below and follow the yellow ‘WATSONS BAY LOOP’.
