Bherwerre Beach

Bherwerre is the long, south-facing ocean beach on Booderee’s southern edge, a broad sweep of sand reached on foot from Cave Beach. It’s a good choice for a long shoreline walk or a surf when conditions suit. It often feels quieter than the better-known beaches around Jervis Bay, though you do have to walk in. For a photo, frame the curving waterline with some sand in the foreground; it gives the shoreline a sense of length. No Booderee beach has a lifeguard patrol, so judge the ocean carefully.

From Cave Beach car park, follow the main trail to the campground, then take the trail on its western side around Ryans Swamp to the beach. It’s 900 m each way, about 15 minutes, Grade 2. To make a circuit, take the fire trail back to Cave Beach Road: 2.8 km and about an hour, Grade 3. Cave Beach camping area has toilets, cold showers, fresh water and wood barbecues 300 m from its car park; those are campground facilities, not services on the beach.

In December 1835, the convict ship Hive wrecked here carrying Irish convicts, women and children. Parks Australia’s account says almost 300 people were aboard and only one was lost; Wreck Bay Koori people helped rescue survivors. The ship sent later to recover cargo, the Blackbird, also came to grief on this coast. Sonar surveys have mapped the Hive’s remains, but most are buried under sand, so there’s nothing visible to search for.

The walk skirts Ryans Swamp, where swamp hens, egrets and ducks use the wetland; frogs, snakes and turtles live there too. On the return loop, the fire trail crosses dunes revegetated with bitou bush in the late 1960s, now a major coastal weed. In deeper soils, tall blackbutt forest replaces the dune plants. Hooded plovers nest near the Sussex Inlet end of the beach; keep well back from nesting birds during breeding season.