Marina service
Huskisson Public Wharves
About
Huskisson Public Wharves at a glance
Public wharf precinct on Currambene Creek at Huskisson, base for Jervis Bay's dolphin and whale watching fleet, with a council pump-out facility (key held by Dolphin Explorer Cruises) and the adjacent Fishermen's Wharf cafe strip.
Service area: Shoalhaven
- Marina type
- government/transport wharf-marina
- Operator
- Shoalhaven City Council
- Region
- Shoalhaven
- Water body
- Currambene Creek, Jervis Bay
Facilities and services
- pump-out
- charter & cruise berthing
- public toilets
- picnic facilities
- nearby boat ramp (Woollamia)
- bait & tackle
- dive shop
- kayak hire
- ferry service (Husky Ferry)
About Huskisson Public Wharves
The public wharf precinct at Huskisson sits on the lower reach of Currambene Creek, a clear, mangrove-lined estuary that enters Jervis Bay beside the white sand of Myola Beach. This is a working government wharf rather than a marina in the conventional sense, yet it functions as the marine heart of the Shoalhaven's busiest tourist town. Jervis Bay's dolphin and whale watching fleet, including long-running operators such as Dolphin Watch Cruises, which has worked these waters for more than three decades, and Jervis Bay Wild, boards passengers here daily, and in season the pontoons hum from early morning with crews briefing visitors before the run out through the heads. Fishing charters, dive boats and the little Husky Ferry, which crosses the creek mouth to Myola, all use the same frontage. Ashore, the Fishermen's Wharf area feeds the crowds with takeaway seafood and coffee, while the Huskisson Hotel and the Owen Street cafe strip are a short walk up the hill. Voyager Park wraps around the point, carrying a memorial to the 82 sailors lost when HMAS Voyager sank after its 1964 collision with HMAS Melbourne, and the free saltwater sea pool on the rocks below. Across Currambene Street the Jervis Bay Maritime Museum keeps the town's wooden boatbuilding story alive, headlined by the restored 1911 Sydney Harbour ferry Lady Denman, much of it built within sight of the wharf. The precinct has stayed remarkably consistent in character while the town around it has grown into the hub of the Jervis Bay region, and on any given morning the wharf still mixes working boats, charter crews loading eskies, and locals throwing a line off the pylons as they have for generations.
Marina facilities
Facilities here are those of a council-managed transport wharf rather than a commercial marina, and boaters should arrive with expectations set accordingly. The most significant published service is the sewage pump-out facility listed by the NSW Government at Huskisson, one of the few on this stretch of the South Coast; the key is held by Dolphin Explorer Cruises at the wharf, so skippers needing to empty a holding tank should call ahead during business hours to arrange access. The wharf itself provides alongside berthing used mainly for passenger pick-up and set-down by the cruise and charter fleet, and recreational vessels may come alongside briefly to embark or land crew, but there is no published system of permanent or overnight wet berths, no berth power or water outlets, and no fuel berth. Diesel and petrol are not sold on the wharf; the nearest refuelling options are road tanker arrangements or the service stations in town. There is no slipway, travel lift or hardstand on the precinct, and no chandlery, although Huskisson's main street supplies a bait and tackle store, a dive shop, kayak hire and camping supplies within a few hundred metres. Launching for trailer boats is handled at the Woollamia public wharf and boat ramp about a kilometre up Currambene Creek, which has parking and a fish-cleaning bench and is the practical start point for private craft. Toilets, bins and picnic facilities sit in Voyager Park immediately beside the wharf, and the town provides full provisioning within walking distance. The wharf precinct also carries a public jetty used by the Husky Ferry for its ten-minute crossing to Myola, and the adjacent car park on Currambene Street serves as the meeting point for the cruise fleet's passengers. Waste bins and fresh water points serve the fishing and charter boats, and Marine Rescue Shoalhaven coverage extends across the bay for vessels in trouble.
Local sailing knowledge
Approaching Huskisson by sea is refreshingly undramatic by NSW standards: Jervis Bay has a wide, deep entrance between Point Perpendicular and Bowen Island with no bar, and leads and lights make a night entry feasible in reasonable weather. The complication is Currambene Creek itself, a shallow estuary with a shifting channel inside the mouth; keelboats drawing more than about a metre and a half should work the tide and follow the marks, and at low water large areas of the creek dry to sand and seagrass. Tidal flow at the entrance runs hard on big tides. Once inside, the wharf face has the best depth, while the rest of the creek suits trailer boats, kayaks and shallow-draft tenders. The cruising beyond is exceptional: more than a hundred resident bottlenose dolphins work the bay year-round, humpbacks pass close inshore from May to November, and the cliffs and sea caves of the Beecroft Peninsula lie a short run to the north. Anchorage can be found off the township in settled weather, though southerly swell reaches in. Ashore, White Sands Walk strings together the famous quartz beaches, Booderee National Park and the ruined Cape St George lighthouse fill a day, and the monthly museum markets and the Husky Pub's balcony handle the evenings. Winter mornings are cold and crisp; book whale trips ahead in school holidays. Provisioning is a strong suit: the supermarket, bakery, bottle shop and a dozen eateries line Owen Street within a few hundred metres of the wharf, so crews can restock entirely on foot. The Huskisson Pictures cinema and the museum's monthly markets fill any weather days.