Guide to Booderee National Park

A visit to Jervis Bay isn’t complete without heading to this park. Booderee National Park is the best national park on Australia’s south coast for both white sand beaches and breezy eucalyptus forests.

What’s special and unique about Booderee National Park, is that its beaches don’t have the same waves and strong current that many other beaches on the east coast do. Instead, most of its beaches are nestled in Jervis Bay, and make for a more relaxing swimming experience. There’s many of bush walks throughout the park, a botanical garden, campsites and a small general store.

Booderee National Park also isn’t part of New South Wales, like the rest of Jervis Bay. The park is located in Jervis Bay Territory, which may seem confusing, but it’s a different entity.

To enter the park, vehicles must purchase a pass. It costs A$13 for 48 hours or A$51 for an annual pass, passes can be purchased online or through the gate upon arrival. Cyclists and walkers can enter for free. It might sound pretentious to pay to enter a national park, but it’s completely worth it, and the funds go towards maintaining the park.

This guide has everything you need to know about visiting Booderee National Park.

What To Do

Booderee National Park isn’t a place to be bored. But, if you’re in doubt of what to do check out this list for the top places to visit and things to do. Whether you go in winter or summer, there’s lots to do.

Even the beaches are good to visit in the winter, whether you choose to swim or not. Other trails like the long Steamers beach circuit is better in the winter when it isn’t as hot.

Visit the Beaches

Booderee’s finest gems are its beaches. When people think about Jervis Bay, they often think about Hyam’s Beach, which was once named the whitest beach in Australia—this isn’t true anymore though.

The beaches at Booderee have the same white sand but are a bit more luxurious as they’re backed by protected forests. There tends to be less people at Booderee’s top beaches versus other beaches in Jervis Bay, likely because the park fee scare some people away.

Aside from relaxing and swimming at the beaches, try looking for sea life in rock pools or just off the rocks. Snorkelling is also an option, or go for walks along the beaches.

Walk through the Botanic Gardens

The Botanic Gardens have a lot to offer to visitors. They’re also the only Aboriginal-owned botanical gardens in Australia. These botanic gardens have a different setting than the rest of Booderee. Visitors can admire the curated diversity of plants in their natural habitat.

I found Booderee’s Botanic Gardens more naturally set-up than other botanic gardens in Australia. The plants at Booderee are situated next to those that naturally grow well together, whereas other botanic gardens take a bigger focus on aesthetics.

Trek through the Trails

The park is full of walking trails, some with views and others focused on nature. I’ve done most of the walks in the park and enjoyed all of them—as long as it’s not too hot. Munyunga waraga dhugan is an easy hike that can be done anytime of year.

The Steamers Beach circuit loop reflects Booderee’s white-sand in its trails. It’s a good walk on a cool day, as there isn’t much shade, which makes it harder on hot days. Check out the walks section below for more information on all of the walks in the park.

Catch the Beach Sunset Glow

There’s a bit of science that goes to finding the best sunset. It’s about clouds, the scenery, the right timing and more. What you don’t need to worry about at Booderee is stunning scenery to match the perfect sunset. Camping overnight in the park is the perfect time to enjoy a sunset on the beach, and requires less effort to getting ‘home’.

Despite its busyness, Green Patch is a great spot to catch the sunset. When I went, even a warm evening there was only one other couple that walked by. While I can’t base the entire summer season on this one evening, I doubt it’s ever packed.

Beaches

Next to the calming drive into Booderee National Park, visiting the beaches is what convinced me to buy an annual pass. This is why the park is busier in the summertime, because most visitors have the same idea.

What’s great about these beaches is they have the same shimmery white sand beaches and pristine turquoise water that Jervis Bay is known for—if not better. The low waves are an idyllic setting for a long beach day. Even on a windy day, it’s easy to swim. These are all of the beaches at Booderee National Park, and what each one is best for.

Iluka

This is the closest beach to the entrance of the park, it has its own picnic tables and bathrooms, making it a good option for a beach day.

Green Patch

Green Patch Beach is right next to Green Patch Campground, meaning its visitors are often those camping in the area. During high traffic times, there’s even a small trailer selling coffee by the beach. Aside from campers, this beach tends to attract families along with other tourists.

Bristol Point

East of Green Patch is Bristol Point, also with its own campground. Similarly it also bathrooms and picnic tables for a beach day. There’s bush walks around the beach and rocks to look for sea life.

Scottish Rocks

On a rainy evening walking along Scottish Rocks shore, I came across small stingrays close to the waters edge. Scottish Rocks is a personal favourite for walks as its relatively flat for a beach. I found it also has more rocks (not just the long, flat Scottish Rocks) and seaweed close to the shore, which isn’t my favourite for swimming. But it is great for spotting stingrays and other sea life!

Also beware, Scottish Rocks Beach doesn’t have bathroom facilities, meaning it’s not the best beach to stay at for an entire day.

Hole in Wall

In reality, Hole in Wall is more of a “Empty Space Between Two Walls”, but hey, that name is definitely not as catchy. Similar to Scottish Rocks, Hole in Wall is better to go for a walk, but less of a beach day expedition. This is because it doesn’t have bathrooms and has lots of seaweed and rocks close to the waters edge. Regardless of marine life, it’s still safe for swimming.

Getting close to the Hole in Wall is best during low tide!

Murrays Beach

The furthest beach down Jervis Bay Road leads to the most amazing beach in Booderee National Park (well, at least in my opinion). Murrays Beach is has soft sand, few rocks, and even some occasional shade from trees along the beach. And yet, even on a hot summer day, it never gets as crowded as Bondi Beach.

I can’t promise this is real, but I truly believe the water at Murrays Beach is the most clear out of any other beach in Jervis Bay. The beach shore also dips more than at other beaches, so you don’t have to walk a kilometre just to swim. And, even though it’s close to the open ocean, the water is still calm. Without much wind and a perfect tide, the water is perfect for wading and relaxing.

Murrays, is the last beach in Jervis Bay, mostly hidden from the wind by rocks on either side of the beach. The beach looks directly out towards Bowen Island—which exclusively houses Booderee’s little penguin colony. Some people have even come across the tiny penguins close to the beach here!

Steamers Beach

This beach is only accessible by a 1 hour return walk from the parking lot. Swimming isn’t recommended due to large sharks and severe tows.

What’s unique about Steamers Beach is that the sand’s colour is different than other beaches around the bay. Booderee believes this could be from a tsunami during ancient Australian times.

Kittys Beach

Kittys beach is also only accessible by foot via the Steamers Beach parking lot. It’s about a 2 hour walk from the parking lot, which is why it isn’t that busy. The beach itself is just 50 meters and protected by large waves from rocks on either side. This makes it a perfect place to swim on a hot day.

Whiting Beach

Whiting Beach is the last beach accessible by Steamers Beach circuit trail. It’s another 50 meter strip of beach, similar to Kittys Beach. Aside from being accessible by foot, boats can also access the beach. There’s a waterfall and dense forest behind the beach, making visitors feel like they’re in an Australian fairytale.

Cave Beach

Cave Beach gets its name from the wall of caves visitors see on the right hand side, while entering the beach. It’s one of the few beaches that are good for surfers because unlike the other beaches, there’s nothing to break the waves.

Bherwherre Beach

The last beach in Booderee National Park is Bherwherre Beach, it’s another option for surfing in the park. However, this beach is also a good swimming spot. Bherwherre Beach has the same access parking lot as Cave Beach, it’s just a 10 minute walk.

The trail to the beach swerves around Ryans Swam before arriving at the Bherwherre. It’s also the longest beach in the park at seven kilometres.

Walks

Booderee National Park is relatively flat, so there’s less hikes and more walks in the area. That doesn’t mean the trails don’t have views though. Most of the walks in the park are to and from different beaches. But, a fair few go inland and have cliff views of the water instead.

What I like about the walks in the park at Booderee is that the flora throughout a hike is ever-changing. It makes the walks more dynamic than other national parks.

I’ve only included here a list of walks that are more than 30 minutes, check out Australian Governments brochure for walks shorter than this.

Telegraph Creek Nature Trail – 1 hour

This is a perfect short walk in the area Green Patch. It’s good for backpackers or a family wanting something short and simple. There’s signs along the way sharing information about the local flora and fauna. It’s a circuit trail so you don’t have to walk back the same way.

Steamers Beach walk – 1 hour return

The only way to get to Steamers Beach is by this one hour walk through the forest. Keep an eye out for wildlife, I saw a red-bellied black snake on the edge of the trail.

Beginning in a shady forest, the walk ends up at a small trail heading down to Steamers Beach. Some of the best views are higher up. Remember swimming isn’t recommended at Steamers Beach due to large sharks in the area.

Cave Beach car park to Bherwherre Beach via fire trail – 45 mins

If it’s less of a beach day and better for enjoying a walk, take the fire trail from Cave Beach car park for a longer route to Bherwherre Beach. The trail leads visitors through sand dunes and tall blackbutt forest.

Munyunga waraga dhugan (loop walk) – 2.5 hours

This walk starts and ends from Murray’s Beach. What starts out in a pale green eucalyptus forest goes into a dynamic dry swam-like terrain with cat tails. Then it changes again to desert bush with volcanic-like rocks. Don’t worry if you can’t pronounce the trail name, in english it means ‘white-bellied sea eagle’s home camp.’ It’s translated from Dhurga, the native language to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal people, some of which still live in the area.

Depending on which direction you start the walk, you’re likely to run into some of the sea eagles with their distinctive white-bellies. Their nesting area is at Governors Head, which faces out to Bowen Island.

Steamers Beach Circuit Walk – 7 hours

This is a full-day walk that should be started in the morning, and ideally not on a hot day. This seven hour version of the walk goes to every stop along the way, because otherwise the walk itself can get… repetitive. Make sure to bring lots of H20 and snacks for yourself.

Here is the route: Steamers Beach parking lot to Steamers Beach, then to Brooks Lookout, St Georges Head, Kittys Point, Kittys Beach, Blacks Harbour, Whiting Beach, Blacks Waterhole, then back to the parking lot.

Camping

Staying in the park is the ultimate way to get full use of that 48 hour parks pass. Or, just another way to take full advantage of getting to the beach early. There’s campsites of all sorts of within Booderee National Park, in the form of three campsites.

Here’s all the ways to stay the night in the park!

Green Patch Campground

Booderee’s biggest campground is Green Patch. It’s also the only campsite in the park for drive-in camping, meaning camping in or with a vehicle. None of the sites at Green Patch are powered but they have all the best amenities from a paid campground. This includes hot showers, sheltered areas and free barbecues—although bring your own gas stove to play it safe.

Green Patch campsite sits right behind its beach, so visitors can spend as much time as they want on the beach. What I like about this campsite, is all of the sites are relatively private. Although they’re spaced close together, there’s trees surrounding each site, more or less. There’s also some bush walks around the area if you get tired of milling around your campsite.

Bristol Point Campground

This campsite is walk-in only, but has all the same amenities as Green Patch, including hot shower, barbecues, washrooms and wood fireplaces. Bristol Point is also behind a beach, so campers can take advantage of spending as much time at the beach as they want. There’s bush walks in the area and even to other beaches, including all the way to Murrays Beach.

Cave Beach Campground

Cave Beach is the smallest campground at Booderee, it’s available for walk-in campsites only. There’s only cold showers at this campsite and it’s closest to the best surfing beach in the park. Campsites book up quickly for this and the other campgrounds in the park, so book ahead during busy times.

To see more about Australia’s national parks check out this category for guides, trip suggestions and more.