Jervis Bay day trip from Sydney: beaches and tips

A Jervis Bay day trip from Sydney works if you leave early and keep the plan short. Parks Australia says Booderee National Park is about three hours' drive from Sydney, so expect about six hours in the car. That leaves time for Hyams Beach and a few stops in Booderee. A 48 hour car ticket for Booderee costs A$11. From early June to early July, you can also watch for whales heading north.

Sources for this section: Parks Australia, Getting here, Passes and permits and Whale watching.

Driving time and how to get there

Booderee National Park is at Jervis Bay on the south coast of New South Wales, between Nowra and Ulladulla. Visit NSW puts Huskisson 2 hours 40 minutes from Sydney. Hyams Beach is a short drive south of Huskisson, with Booderee further south.

You do not need a 4WD in Booderee. Stony Creek Road and Ellmoos Road are unsealed, so take care on them. Watch for wildlife on the roads at dawn and dusk.

No car? Parks Australia lists a Sydney to Jervis Bay shuttle service, a train to Bomaderry (Nowra) with a bus on to Huskisson or Vincentia, and private tours to and around the park. It says Booderee is best explored by car, bicycle or boat.

Sources for this section: Parks Australia, Getting here and Getting around; Visit NSW, Hyams Beach.

Hyams Beach: sand, walks and crowds

Visit NSW describes Hyams Beach as a seaside village on the southern shores of the Jervis Bay Marine Park, with a stretch of fine white sand. It says gentle waves from the bay lap onto the beach, and calls the water perfect for swimming, snorkelling, fishing and stand-up paddleboarding.

The Sun-Herald wrote in 2006 that Jervis Bay had a Guinness Book of Records entry for the whitest sand in the world, officially at Hyams Beach, though "many others around there are similarly blessed." Visit NSW is more careful. It says the White Sands Walk, which includes Hyams Beach, is "on some of the whitest sands in the world."

For a walk, Visit NSW suggests the Hyams Beach trail, also called the bird spotter's walk. It begins at the southern end of the beach. The White Sands Walk starts at the Greenfield Beach picnic area in Vincentia and takes up to 90 minutes. We would skip it on a day trip.

The Illawarra Mercury reported in early January 2017 that up to 4,000 people could visit the beach on any given day at that time of year. Legal parking covered only 300 vehicles. The village has one road in and out, and cars and buses arrived from the early hours. Go early.

Sources for this section: Visit NSW, Hyams Beach; The Sun-Herald, Gazing onto the world's whitest sands, 1 January 2006; Illawarra Mercury (credited to southcoastregister.com.au), Hyams Beach, Jervis Bay, struggling under the weight of numbers, 6 January 2017.

Booderee: who runs it and what it costs

The Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council and Parks Australia manage Booderee together under a 99 year lease, the park's 2015 management plan says. Ownership of the land and waters was handed back to the Council in 1995. Booderee means "bay of plenty" in the Dhurga language, Parks Australia says.

A car or motorbike pays by the vehicle, not by the person: A$11 for 48 hours, GST included. Certain concession holders, such as aged pensioners and veterans, pay A$5.50. Walkers and pushbike riders enter free. The vehicle can leave and re-enter as often as you like while the ticket lasts. Buy it at the Visitor Centre. Parks Australia describes a coin operated fee station there, so bring coins.

The Visitor Centre closes at 3pm from Sunday to Thursday, and at 4pm on Fridays, Saturdays, public holidays and school holidays, Parks Australia says. Another of its pages says 4pm every day.

Sources for this section: Department of the Environment, management plan page; Federal Register of Legislation, the plan, approved November 2015; Parks Australia, Passes and permits, Visitor Centre, Getting here and Our culture.

A realistic plan for the day

Parks Australia says you can easily get a feel for Booderee in one day, but it recommends not rushing. It says temperatures average 9°C to 15°C in July and 17°C to 24°C in January. Bring warm layers in winter. The clock times are ours; the walk and drive times come from Parks Australia.

That gives about five hours on the ground. Winter days are short, so part of the drive home may be in the dark. To avoid that, stay a night. Visit NSW lists places to stay at Hyams Beach, from old style beach cottages to luxury beachfront holiday houses.

Sources for this section: Parks Australia, Getting here, Getting around, When to come, Suggested itineraries, Visitor Centre and Whale watching; Visit NSW, Hyams Beach.

Safety, whales and what to skip

No beaches in the park are patrolled or netted, Parks Australia says. It calls the shark risk small, with no recorded attacks in the region, though shark numbers peak from December to March. It advises against swimming or wading in the sea between dusk and dawn, and says to swim with other people.

Parks Australia does not recommend swimming at Steamers Beach. It warns of dangerous currents, and of large sharks drawn by a nearby seal colony. It calls Green Patch a very safe beach with excellent facilities. On rock platforms, watch the waves and never turn your back to the sea.

For whales, Parks Australia says the best place to look is the historic Cape St George lighthouse. Humpback and southern right whales begin their northern migration in early June and continue to the first week of July. The best time to spot one is late morning or early afternoon on a clear, calm day. Bring binoculars and some patience.

Prefer a boat? Visit NSW says dolphin and whale tours leave from Huskisson. On land, Parks Australia also says to carry drinking water, stay on marked tracks and not feed the wildlife.

Sources for this section: Parks Australia, Staying safe, Walks, Beaches and Whale watching; Visit NSW, Hyams Beach.