Walks Near Sanctuary Point: White Sands, Booderee And Spring Tracks

Why Spring Is The Right Time To Walk Around Jervis Bay

Mid October to early December is a sweet spot for walking on this part of the South Coast. Days are warm enough that a swim at the end of a track is tempting, but most mornings are still comfortable for a two- or three-hour walk. NSW National Parks lists average summer temperatures for Jervis Bay National Park of 17°C to 24°C, and Booderee gives 17 to 24°C for January.

Spring also brings the bush to life. Booderee's Telegraph Creek Nature Trail passes through woodland and heath where, in the park's words, wildflowers attract a wide variety of birds in spring, and early starters on the Murrays Beach loop may glimpse the endangered eastern bristlebird.

The whale season has not quite finished either. Visit NSW lists whale season around Huskisson and Vincentia as May to November, and Booderee notes that during the southerly migration in spring, whales sometimes come close to shore and spend time in sheltered bays with newborn calves. Take binoculars on any headland walk, but treat sightings as a bonus.

The trade-off is that spring is when fire danger ratings start to matter and snakes become more active. Neither is a reason to stay home, but both are reasons to check conditions each morning.

Start Close: The St Georges Basin Waterfront

Not every walk needs a car. The Luna's Sanctuary listing describes the St Georges Basin waterfront as a few minutes' walk from the house, which makes it the obvious arrival-afternoon stroll or early coffee walk. The basin is calmer and more sheltered than the open bay, and a first walk there is a good way to find the nearest reserves and water access before the bigger outings.

We cover paddling, fishing and the foreshore in more depth in our St Georges Basin guide, which you can find among the WTP holiday home guides. This guide looks further out, at the marked bush and coastal tracks around Jervis Bay.

White Sands Walk And Scribbly Gum Track, Vincentia

If you only do one walk from Sanctuary Point, make it this one. The White Sands walk and Scribbly Gum track are two connected tracks in Jervis Bay National Park forming a 2.5 km loop. NSW National Parks suggests allowing 30 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes and grades it Grade 3: a formed, signposted track with short steep hills and many steps. It is roughly 10 km from Sanctuary Point, around a quarter of an hour by car.

The walk starts at Greenfield Beach picnic area. Pedestrian access opens off the cul-de-sac at the end of Elizabeth Drive, Vincentia, with parking bays along Elizabeth Drive.

The White Sands section heads south along the bay past the white sand and clear water of Chinamans Beach. NPWS calls it a top spot for birdwatching and glimpsing dolphins, and suggests bringing swimwear for a dip on the way. The return leg on the Scribbly Gum track turns inland through tall coastal forest and finishes at the top of the picnic area. It is steeper with more steps, so families with small children may prefer to walk out and back along the water.

Extend It To Hyams Beach And The Bird Spotter's Walk

The White Sands loop is easy to stretch. NPWS suggests the path from Chinamans Beach to Cyrus Street, which leads through Hyams Beach village to its well-known beach, turning a short loop into a half-morning walk with more places to swim.

At the southern end of Hyams Beach village, the Hyams Beach trail is also known as the Bird Spotter's walk. NPWS says local birdwatchers designed it and added signs explaining the birds you will see and hear. It is 2 km return, 45 minutes to 1 hour 15 minutes: start at Lister Crescent, walk about 1 km, then turn left at the intersection for a short distance to Seamans Beach, and come back along the trail or the sand of Hyams Beach.

Bring binoculars. NPWS lists New Holland honeyeaters, eastern spinebills, eastern rosellas and crimson rosellas among the local birds, and suggests fish and chips from Hyams Beach Café on the sand as a spring plan. Confirm the café's trading hours before relying on it.

Round The Bay Walking Track: Huskisson To Plantation Point

For a flat, social walk that suits prams, scooters and mixed ages, choose the Round the Bay walking track. Visit NSW describes it as running from Huskisson to Plantation Point at Vincentia, accessible to people of varying abilities, prams and bikes, and free. The listed start, Hawke Street in Huskisson, is roughly 11 km or about 15 minutes' drive from Sanctuary Point.

Heading south, the path passes the shark net and Huskisson Beach, then White Sands Park with picnic lawns and a climbing playground. It crosses a bridge over Moona Moona Creek, a shallow inlet popular with families with young children, then follows Collingwood Beach, a good spot for stand-up paddleboarding.

At Elizabeth Drive you can step off for drinks and snacks at the Vincentia shops. Further on is a historic boat ramp once used to ship wool from Goulburn to Sydney, then Orion and Barfleur beaches before the accessible pathway ends at Plantation Point.

Visit NSW does not publish a total distance or time, so walk at your own pace: park a car at each end, or turn around when the children are done. NPWS also mentions a council track from Greenfield Beach north to Plantation Point via Blenheim Beach, with several lookouts, which links this path to the White Sands walk for a longer day.

Greenfield Beach Picnic Area As Your Walking Base

Greenfield Beach picnic area makes the White Sands walk an easy half day for families. NPWS lists free barbecues, picnic tables, a shelter shed with information panels, showers and drinking water. It is named after Colin Greenfield, who lived in the area from 1942 until the 1970s. There are no rubbish bins, so bring a bag and take everything home.

NPWS also runs a Greenfield Beach cultural walk led by an Aboriginal NPWS guide, covering bush tucker, native plants for food and medicine, and how this landscape has supported Aboriginal communities for thousands of years. Listed fees are $20 for adults and $14 for children, with a 10 per cent discount for four or more people, and bookings are required. The next published dates are 11 and 19 January 2027, so it suits a summer holiday, though NPWS says group tours are available on request.

Booderee National Park: Passes, Entry And What To Know

Booderee National Park covers the southern headland of Jervis Bay. Parks Australia describes it as 6,379 hectares, including 875 hectares of marine environment, jointly managed by its Traditional Owners and Parks Australia since it became a national park in 1992. Its rules and passes are separate from the NSW parks around it.

You need a pass to drive in. Booderee lists $20 for a one-day vehicle pass, $10 for a one-day concession pass, $80 for one year and $110 for two years. Walkers and cyclists entering on foot or by bike do not need a pass.

Village Road in Jervis Bay Village is roughly 14 km, about 17 minutes, from Sanctuary Point. Booderee notes a small general store and petrol station in the village. Download maps and your pass before you go, because NPWS warns of limited mobile reception in neighbouring Jervis Bay National Park. The Booderee Visitor Centre is on 1800 357 823.

Booderee Botanic Gardens: The Gentlest Walk In The Park

Booderee Botanic Gardens are the only Aboriginal-owned botanic gardens in Australia, and admission is included in the park entry fee. The gardens suggest allowing between an hour and a full day.

Marked paths wind through displays of south-eastern Australian native plants, with information on bush tucker, the medicinal uses of plants and the Koori people's long association with the area. Booderee's half-day itinerary singles out the trail around Lake McKenzie, a natural freshwater wetland. The Scribbly Lawn has electric barbecues and a sheltered picnic area for groups or wet weather, which makes the gardens a sensible plan B when the wind is up on the coast.

Green Patch: Bristol Point Loop And Telegraph Creek Nature Trail

Green Patch is one of Booderee's most popular beaches and the easiest place in the park to combine a walk, a picnic and a swim. Booderee lists amenities and free barbecues, and it is a good spot for wallabies, rainbow lorikeets and marine life.

Green Patch To Bristol Point Loop

This 2 km, one-hour, Grade 2 loop is best at low tide. Cross the bridge onto the beach, head for the rocks on the right and reach the rock platform via a small bridge at the eastern side of the picnic area. Follow the signs to a small secluded beach, scramble back onto the rocks and take the forest track to Bristol Point picnic area, returning through tall blackbutt forest.

Telegraph Creek Nature Trail

Also 2 km, one hour and Grade 2, this circular trail is the spring pick. Signs explain the vegetation as it passes through tall eucalypt forest, fern-lined creeks and swamps where freshwater crayfish forage, then woodland and heath where spring wildflowers attract birds. Start at the northern end of the Green Patch car park or the signposted point on Jervis Bay Road near the turn-off. There are seats along the way.

Everything on the rock platforms, including shellfish, seaweed, octopus and crabs, is protected and must not be taken or disturbed.

Murrays Beach And The Munyunga Waraga Dhugan Loop

Murrays Beach looks out to Bowen Island, home to a little penguin colony, and is the start of Booderee's best introductory walk. Munyunga waraga dhugan means 'white-bellied sea eagle's home camp' in the Dhurga language of the Wreck Bay Aboriginal people. The loop is 5.4 km, about 2.5 hours and Grade 2, with 14 signs on Booderee's plants, animals, culture and history. From Governors Head, scan for sea birds, penguins, seals, dolphins and whales. Stay on the marked trail.

Murrays is the furthest trailhead here, roughly 20 km or about 27 minutes from Sanctuary Point, so make it the anchor of a whole Booderee morning. At low tide, walk from the car park to the boat ramp, over the rock platform onto Murrays Beach, and return through the forest.

Steamers Beach And The St Georges Head Circuit

For fit walkers, Steamers Beach offers the park's most dramatic scenery: an isolated beach flanked by high cliffs and backed by steep dunes. The track from Steamers Beach car park is 2.3 km one way, about an hour and Grade 3, through tall eucalypt forest and tea tree, finishing with a steep flight of stairs.

Do not plan to swim at Steamers. Booderee does not recommend it because of severe tows and large sharks. For a dip, the headland trails lead to smaller, more sheltered beaches such as Kittys Beach and Whiting Beach.

The Full Circuit Trail

The Circuit Trail is an 11.4 km loop from Steamers Beach car park; Booderee suggests about four hours to visit the main sites.

Side trails lead to St Georges Head, Corangamite and Kittys Point, and to Kittys Beach, Blacks Harbour and Whiting Beach. Carry plenty of water and food, start early on warm days and stay on marked tracks near the cliffs.

Cave Beach, Bherwerre Beach And Cape St George Lighthouse

On Booderee's ocean side, Cave Beach is a popular surf beach a few minutes along the main trail from its car park, about 16 km or 20 minutes from Sanctuary Point. From the car park, walk to the long, south-facing Bherwerre Beach via Ryans Swamp: 900 m one way, about 15 minutes, Grade 2. The swamp attracts swamp hens, egrets and ducks, and Booderee notes it is also home to frogs, snakes and turtles. For a circuit, return along the fire trail to Cave Beach Road: 2.8 km, about an hour, Grade 3.

Cape St George Lighthouse Ruins

At the end of Stoney Creek Road, the ruins of Cape St George Lighthouse are, in Booderee's words, perhaps the most significant European site in the park. Designed by colonial architect Alexander Dawson and built in 1860, the three-storey sandstone lighthouse stood 61 feet (18.5 m) high. Up to 15 people, including the keeper, two under-keepers and their families, lived in its eight rooms between 1860 and 1877, with supplies hauled from a landing more than four kilometres away at Murrays Beach.

Booderee names the lighthouse as the best place in the park to watch the whale migration. Take care near the cliff edges.

Spring Walking Safety Around Jervis Bay

Booderee reminds visitors that spiders, snakes and ticks live in the park, and asks everyone to carry drinking water and a first aid kit, wear a broad-brimmed hat and sunscreen, stay on marked tracks and supervise children at all times.

Booderee has also reported H5 bird flu in the park. If you see sick or dead birds or animals, do not touch them, keep your distance and report multiple cases to a ranger or the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888. On the drive home, watch for kangaroos and other wildlife, especially at dawn and dusk.

Walking With A Dog In The Group

NSW National Parks states that pets and domestic animals, other than certified assistance animals, are not permitted in Jervis Bay National Park. That covers the White Sands walk, Scribbly Gum track, Hyams Beach trail and Greenfield Beach picnic area. Booderee is a Commonwealth park with its own rules, so ask the Booderee Visitor Centre before assuming a dog can come.

The simple answer is to plan national park walks as people-only outings and give the dog its own outing on a council foreshore or off-leash area. Check current Shoalhaven City Council dog rules for the specific beach or reserve, as they vary between locations. The Luna's Sanctuary house rules ask guests not to keep pets locked up inside while the property is unattended, so talk to the host about the best arrangement when you book.

Why Luna's Sanctuary Suits A Jervis Bay Walking Weekend

Luna's Sanctuary is a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in Sanctuary Point that sleeps up to eight, a good fit for two families or a group of friends planning a few days of walks. The St Georges Basin waterfront is a few minutes' walk away, and the Vincentia and Booderee trailheads are a short drive.

Walking days end with tired legs and sandy feet. Two bathrooms, one with a freestanding bath and one with a glass walk-in shower, help when eight people come back at once. The covered deck with a large BBQ and seating for eight to ten keeps dinner easy, and the upstairs kitchen has an island bench, gas cooktop and dishwasher for packing lunches.

The converted-garage games room has table tennis and darts, there is a fitness space with gym equipment for a stretch, and two living areas with TVs, sofas, books and board games give people room to spread out. The listing also notes a first aid kit in the cupboard above the fridge, handy when someone comes home with a blister.

Pet-friendly stays are offered for up to two pets with prior approval, and the backyard is fenced. Self check-in is from 3pm and check-out is by 10am.

How A Group Of Eight Uses The House On A Walking Trip

Groups rarely want the same walk. Some will want the Steamers Beach circuit; others will be happy with the Round the Bay path and a coffee in Vincentia. Two living areas and a games room make it easy to split for the day and come back together for dinner.

A simple pattern works: early walkers leave for Booderee with the pass already bought, while the rest have a slower breakfast and head to Greenfield Beach or Huskisson later. Everyone meets back at the house in the afternoon, and the BBQ on the deck takes care of dinner. The bunk bedroom suits children, and the games room is a useful release valve on a hot afternoon once walking is done.

A Three-Day Sanctuary Point Walking Itinerary

Day One: Arrive And Walk To The Water

Check in from 3pm and walk the few minutes to the St Georges Basin waterfront. Buy your Booderee pass online that evening, and check the fire danger rating and park alerts.

Day Two: White Sands Morning, Huskisson Afternoon

Drive about 15 minutes to Elizabeth Drive, Vincentia, and walk the White Sands and Scribbly Gum loop, adding Hyams Beach if the group is keen. Swim at Chinamans or Greenfield Beach and use the Greenfield barbecues for lunch. In the afternoon, walk part of the Round the Bay track from Huskisson past Moona Moona Creek, then head home for a BBQ on the deck.

Day Three: A Booderee Day

Start early with the Munyunga waraga dhugan loop and a swim at Murrays Beach, or send the fit walkers to Steamers Beach. Meet for lunch at Green Patch, then finish with the Telegraph Creek Nature Trail or the Botanic Gardens before closing time, adding the Cape St George Lighthouse ruins if there is time.

On a final morning, the Bristol Point loop at low tide or a waterfront stroll fits easily before the 10am check-out.

Before Leaving Sanctuary Point: Your Walking Check

Plan Your Stay

Jervis Bay's walks reward a few days rather than a rushed day trip. Sanctuary Point puts the White Sands walk, the Round the Bay path and every Booderee trailhead within a short drive, with the St Georges Basin waterfront a few minutes from the door.

Check dates and live availability for Luna's Sanctuary in Sanctuary Point, browse more stays on the WTP Holiday Homes booking page, or find more local ideas in the WTP holiday home guides. Track details, prices and rules change, so confirm them with NSW National Parks, Booderee National Park and Visit NSW before you travel.