Frenchman Bay

Frenchman Bay

French­man Bay is a beauti­ful beach and picnic area near the popular Torndirrup Nation­al Park.

French­man Bay Beach is a north facing, pro­tect­ed beach with gentle waves, fine, white quartz sands, cryst­al clear turquo­ise waters, and rocky granite out­crops.

It has grassy BBQ areas, shad­ed picnic tables, and a con­veni­ent boat ramp, making it an ex­cell­ent day beach for sun bath­ing, swim­ming, snorkel­ing, or simply stroll­ing along the beach.

French­man Bay is an ideal loca­tion for a family picnic by the beach or as a start­ing point to ex­plore the Flinders Peninsula.  The nearby HMAS Perth wreck pro­vides ex­cit­ing diving opportuni­ties.

The area was origin­ally known as Quar­ant­ine Bay for it's use as a quar­ant­ine stat­ion in the early 1800's.  In 1877, W.E.  Archdeacon referr­ed to the area as French­man Bay, acknowledges the visits of early French ex­plorers who used the fresh water springs in the area.  These springs can still be found flow­ing to east­ern part of the beach.

The site was also once the loca­tion of a Norwegian whal­ing stat­ion, which ceas­ed opera­tion in the early 1900's.  The mostly timber build­ings were demol­ish­ed, leav­ing only a few brick ruins and con­crete stairs still visible today.

French­man Bay is approxim­ately 20 minutes drive from Albany city centre, close to Torndirrup Nation­al Park, the Gap, Natur­al Bridge and many other local attract­ions

facili­ties include ample park­ing and public toi­lets.  Dogs are per­mitt­ed, with off leash areas east of the boat ramp.

updated 08/04/2022

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