School of nannygai just outside Jervis Bay

School of nannygai just outside Jervis Bay

Jervis Marine Park is in an area famous for its clear waters and abundant marine life.

The marine park is about 20 kilometres offshore, adjacent to the New South Wales Jervis Marine Park and Commonwealth Booderee National Park.

Together these parks protect a wealth of naturally and culturally important places including land and Sea Country of the Wreck Bay people, the Traditional Owners.

Beneath the surface, Jervis Marine Park links shallow continental shelf to the deep ocean.

Undersea canyons cut into the continental shelf from the deep waters beyond, providing habitat for deep water, shallower water and wall-dwelling species.

Rocky reefs on the shelf itself support yet more diversity.

The East Australian Current influences life here, moving water across these features to create local upwellings that fuel the marine food chain.

Jervis Marine Park covers 2473 square kilometres, with depths from 120 metres to 5000 metres.

It has Habitat Protection and Special Purpose (Trawl) zones.

Explore

Jervis Bay is famous for its:

  • clear waters
  • white sandy beaches
  • whale-watching
  • diving
  • fishing
  • boating.

There are so many reasons to take to the water from here.

Join a locally-operated tour and learn about the astonishing marine life in the region from the people who know it best.

Some tours and charters stay in the bay, others head further out towards Jervis Marine Park.

Be sure to experience Booderee National Park while you’re in the region. It’s a tranquil, nurturing place rich in living culture and natural beauty.

This park is managed by:

  • the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community
  • Parks Australia.

Join Booderee’s Traditional Owners on a guided tour, camp in a peaceful bush setting and enjoy more of those beautiful beaches, invitingly clear waters and abundant marine life.

Find out more about Booderee National Park.

Discover

Jervis Marine Park is a Biologically Important Area for white-faced storm-petrels.

These tiny but tough seabirds breed in burrows on nearby land, and rely on a good local supply of seafood for their young.

When these storm-petrels feed, it looks like they’re dancing. They fly buoyantly just above the waves, dangling their long legs down and pattering the water with their webbed feet.

Like a built-in sea anchor, the drag between their feet and the water holds the storm-petrel in place against the wind for just a moment, long enough to reach down and seize a shrimp-like crustacean, tiny fish or squid from the surface.

See if you can spot a storm-petrel next time you’re at sea.

Select the park area on the map below to see what you can do in the Jervis Marine Park.

Network

Temperate East marine parks

Park area

2,473 km2

Depth range

120 to 5,000m

Average depth

2699m