Guide to Eden New South Wales Australia

Eden is the last town of any size before the Victorian border, built on a headland in Twofold Bay, one of the deepest natural harbours in the Southern Hemisphere. It has a working port, a fishing fleet and a cruise ship wharf, and a history tied to whales, first hunted here and now watched.

Known For

• Whale watching in spring
• The Killer Whale Museum
• A working harbour on Twofold Bay

Things To Do in Eden

Whales

Humpbacks stop to feed in Twofold Bay on their way south from September to November, often close to shore, and cruises leave from the wharf. The town celebrates with a whale festival in spring. Lookouts on the headland give a good view without leaving land.

Killer Whale Museum

For a century, a pod of killer whales worked with Eden’s shore whalers, herding baleen whales into the bay in return for a share of the kill. The museum tells this extraordinary story and displays the skeleton of Old Tom, the pod’s leader, who died in 1930. It has been enlarged in recent years.

The Harbour

Snug Cove has the wharves, a fishermen’s co-operative, cafes and mussel farms offshore. Aslings Beach, on the ocean side of the town, has a rock pool and a long stretch of sand.

Beowa National Park

Beowa National Park lies on both sides of the bay. To the north are the red and white cliffs of the Pinnacles; to the south, Boydtown, the old whaling station at Davidson’s, Boyds Tower and the Light to Light Walk to Green Cape.

Where To Stay

Eden has motels, holiday parks, apartments and a historic hotel at Boydtown.

Eat & Drink

Seafood is the speciality, particularly mussels and fresh fish from the co-op. The main street and the wharf have cafes, pubs and restaurants.

History

Twofold Bay is the country of the Thaua people of the Yuin nation. Shore whaling began in 1828. In the 1840s the entrepreneur Benjamin Boyd tried to found a rival town across the bay, and failed. Eden was later proposed as the capital of Australia.

Getting to Eden

Eden is on the Princes Highway, about six and a half hours from Sydney and Melbourne alike. The nearest airport is at Merimbula, 25 minutes north.