Getting up close and personal with the giant stingrays at Bendalong is one of the South Coast’s most unmissable experiences. And whilst I know generally speaking getting up close and personal with animals in the wild is a no-no, it’s a little different at Boat Harbour Beach and that’s because the stingrays will be coming up to you! In fact, they appeared to delight in crashing into you, swimming through your legs and generally flapping around you in the most endearing way.
And before anyone mentions Steve Irwin (God rest his soul), you’re in the shallows, so it’s a very safe way to encounter these majestic creatures.
Here’s everything you need to know about the Bendalong stingrays and a nearby walk to a secluded cove and sea cave to round off a wonderful couple of hours in the area.
Everything you need to know about the Bendalong stingrays
Where to find the Bendalong stingrays
The stingrays can be found at Boat Harbour Beach in Bendalong, around a 35 minute drive from Jervis Bay. There’s a parking area at the eastern end (the far end as you drive in) of the beach and then you walk down the concrete ramp and onto the sand.
Even if you don’t see rays when you’re on the beach, don’t worry, you need to get into the water. They will clock you from a little further out and swim into the shallows.
They are of course hoping for a feed. The whole spectacle began when fishermen used to throw scraps out of their boats and they now associate people with food.
The experience
Almost as soon as we entered the water the rays emerged. It may take a few minutes for bigger numbers to come in, but it’s likely that you will get a couple sniffing around very quickly.
There’s nothing like seeing an absolute gigantic ray swimming towards you and instead of stopping like you might expect, crashing right into your legs!
It was such a shock the first time it happened and a real delight every time thereafter. I did lose count of the number of rays we saw, but it would have been more than a dozen.
Sometimes as many as four may be circling your legs at any one time.
They do have long barbs which I tried to avoid, though it’s very rare for a ray to sting you and wouldn’t cause any serious harm if they did (as it would only get your leg).
I’ve not heard of any of the Bendalong rays ever stinging anyone, so of course try and avoid the barbs, but I wouldn’t be overly worried.
Visiting the rays is a popular thing to do, so if you can it’s best to come midweek if you’re hoping to get them to yourself. Having said that if you can only visit on a weekend, then it’s still well worth it.
To feed or not to feed
As mentioned the reason the stingrays are so interactive at Bendalong is because they are hoping for food. You don’t need to feed them to have them come and investigate you because they will be sussing you out for food regardless.
If you do feed them they will hang around longer, but you definitely don’t need to, to have an amazing experience.
If you do choose to feed them, make sure it’s only bait that would be in keeping with their natural diet. The Holiday Haven holiday park, a two minute drive up the road from Boat Harbour Beach sell bait (generally prawns) for $10 a bag for people to feed the rays (cash only).
The best time to see the stingrays
Technically you can see the stingrays at any time of day, but if you can, morning is likely to be best. That’s because visiting the rays has become a popular experience so they are going to be more interested in seeing if you have food earlier in the day.
That’s not to say you won’t see them later, we visited a couple of times and they were still around after 1pm, but they were slightly fewer in numbers.
Parking and facilities at the beach
There are toilets and showers for you to wash off just set back from the car park beside the beach. There isn’t a huge amount of parking beside the beach, but there were still plenty of spaces when we visited on a weekend.
The Inyadda Beach Walk and sea cave
Boat Harbour Beach is pretty, but just a few minutes away you’ll find the spectacular and huge Inyadda Beach. You can walk to within 200m of the beach by using the car park close to the Holiday Haven Bendalong (the public car park, before the barrier).
However, you can also walk from Boat Harbour Beach. The walk is nothing to write home about and not worth doing for anything other than exercise except for the fact that you can also visit a stunning secluded cove along the way. We’ll detail the walk below, but if you’re not interested in the cove, just drive to the closest car park to Inyadda Beach.
The short route
Distance: 200m to beach, 600m to sea cave (each way)
The quickest route to the beach is 200m each way, and is accessed from the public parking area you can see here on Google maps.
The path is straightforward, but has one very eroded gully to negotiate towards the end. You can walk on the edge of the gully with care. Just before you reach the beach you need to walk down a steepish bit of sand, which is a bit like a sand dune.
If you’re going on to the cave you need to turn left when you reach the sand. The cave is at the far end of the beach, 400m away.
It’s a small cave which is best visited a couple of hours either side of low tide.
The long route
Distance: 1.6km to beach and sea cave (each way or you’ll need a car shuffle)
You can start the longer route from the parking area at Boat Harbour Beach, or by driving a couple of minutes up the sealed road to the closer park, you can see here on Google Maps. The road to the second car park is uphill, so unless you want the exercise you may as well drive it!
The trail begins to the left of the car park and the narrow dirt track skirts round the edge of the holiday park. There are several lookouts over the sea and rocky coastline, but the trail itself is mundane.
Roughly 350m after leaving the second car park you’ll see the signpost for the Bendalong Headland Walk.
The dirt path is mainly flat, but it’s uneven underfoot, with plenty of tree roots and leaf litter. At the 450m mark, 100m into headland walk, you’ll keep right at the fork.
Roughly 200m later you need to keep left at the fork. From here the path will now head downhill and it continues to be uneven terrain.
At the 850m mark, 200m after you started heading downhill, you’ll see a wooden staircase on the left. This leads to One Tree Beach and it’s really the only reason to do this walk!
It’s a gorgeous secluded cove with crystal clear water backed by tree covered headlands. It is so peaceful and we couldn’t believe there wasn’t anyone else there on a warm weekend.
There are a lot of rocks around the shallow bit of water you’ll first come to, but it’s still a beautiful spot to laze around in the very calm water.
Once back on the main track you’ll have a few stairs up and then down towards Inyadda Beach, which is just 150m away. The stairs are uneven and a few small sections are eroded.
You’ll then arrive at the eastern end of Inyadda Beach, just a few metres away from the sea cave.
Keep them wild
Please remember to take all rubbish with you and keep these places wild and pristine - as with anywhere in the outdoors. It’s important to leave them exactly as you found them so they will remain beautiful for generations to come.
Litter tends to breed litter, so if you do spot any and are able to pick it up and dispose of it outside the area, it will go a long way to keeping the area clean.
This post may contain affiliate links, meaning at no additional cost to you, that we will earn a small commission if you click through and decide to make a purchase. This helps towards the costs of running our website. Thanks for your support.
