The two-hour Steamers Beach walk in Booderee National Park encapsulates some of the best things about Jervis Bay: wildlife, au naturel bushland and an eyeful of aquamarine waters.
As a holiday destination, Jervis Bay in South Coast NSW is straight off a postcard. Crystal clear waters, idyllic villages and friendly wildlife, it’s all here. Compared to the hustle of Sydney, Jervis Bay might as well be Mars – yet it’s only three hours’ drive from the city.
There’s lots of things to do in Jervis Bay from water sports and wildlife meet-and-greets to easy going walking trails (this post provides a menu of activity). But if you want to get even further off the grid and build up a sweat, the challenging-ish Steamers Beach walk well and truly delivers.
At the far-end of Jervis Bay Territory sits the ruggedly handsome Steamers Beach. Flanked by cliffs, the appeal of this natural amphitheatre is three-fold with minimal crowds, a real sense of remoteness and a reckless amount of ocean in the Derwent pencil shade of turquoise green.
A total of 4.6 kilometres return, the two-hour walk tracks through the guts of Booderee National Park, before arriving at the secluded Steamers Beach. Plus you can add on a detour to Brooks Lookout and the 11-kilometre St George Head Circuit if you’re after a serious all-day hike.
You’re going to want to pack water, food and sunscreen for this one.
The view of Steamers Head from Brooks Lookout
Getting to Steamers Beach car park
Jervis Bay and Booderee National Park are technically in the Australian Capital Territory, challenging everything you thought you knew about Australian geography. Once you cross the NSW-ACT state border and pay your $13 national parks fee (which covers one vehicle for one day), pick up a map from the Booderee Visitor Centre – it has the park’s walking trails clearly marked.
Back in the car, follow Jervis Bay Road for 3km, then make a right at Wreck Bay Road. Follow this for 2km before making another right turn onto Stony Creek Road. This is an unsealed road but we managed to navigate it in our obnoxious Volkswagen convertible without getting a flat. Follow Stony Creek Road for 1km, then chuck another right and 400m later you’ll arrive in Steamers Beach car park.
The Steamers Beach walk playbook
Bushland – from the car park, head down a clearly-marked 4WD fire trail (not open to vehicles), where eucalypt and tea-tree forest provide plenty of shade and serenity. You might even come across the odd military exercise, with Jervis Bay home to a defence base.
After a while you’ll get to a junction, where there’s a directional sign. The sign tells you Steamers Beach is 1.1km away – or you can panic and think the sign is telling you Steamers Beach is 11km away. All the difference a faintly-painted dot makes.
Brooks Lookout – en route to Steamers Beach there’s the option to take a two-kilometre detour up to Brooks Lookout. It’s a hike up a gravel, sun-exposed path but the cliff top lookout offers a payoff in the form of incredible views over Steamers Head to the east and this sight to the west…
Steamers Beach – head back down to the original fire trail path, keep walking and you’ll soon reach a cliff top clearing. Here a sign advises that the beach is 300m away and warns of a steep descent ahead. Hold onto your hats! There’s 230 stairs in total, but the views along the way – just wow. You can see everything: the wide arc of sand and ocean that’s more see-through than a Kardashian outfit. There’s the tent city of beach campers, cute rock pools at the far end of the beach and a shark playing out at sea. No joke.
If you’re brave, stop for a swim or a surf (now it’s obvious why the husband dragged me here). A known surf beach, Steamers Beach is a lot less crowded that your average Jervis Bay beach. but also not as friendly. The wild ocean is frequented by powerful surf, rips and a local shark population.
St Georges Head Circuit
If you’re feeling like Indiana Jones, keep following the Circuit Trail around and onto St Georges Head at the southern-most tip of Jervis Bay. This 11-kilometre walking loop sounds pretty special, combining more bush trekking, with little detours to Kittys Point, Kittys Beach, Blacks Harbour, Whiting Beach and Blacks Waterhole.
I would have been a keen bean to explore more of this pocket of paradise, but we had a dinner reservation at 6pm.
