Gymea Bay

This article is about the bay. For the suburb, see Gymea Bay, New South Wales. For Gymea, see Gymea, New South Wales.

Gymea Bay
The bay of Gymea Bay
Location	Southern Sydney, New South Wales
Coordinates
Type	Bay
Primary inflows	Coonong Creek
Primary outflows	Port Hacking River
Basin countries	Australia
Frozen	never
Settlements	Gymea Bay, Gymea

The Gymea Bay is a bay on the upper estuarine Port Hacking River, fed by the Coonong Creek in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia

Location and features

The bay, the locality, suburb of Gymea Bay and the adjacent suburb of Gymea, were named after the Gymea Lily Doryanthes excelsa, a tall perennial (up to 6m) that is prevalent in the area. The plant was called "Gymea" by the local Eora people and became the inspiration for the suburb's name, by government surveyor W.A.B. Geaves in 1855. The Gymea Lily has been adopted as a symbol of the area and features on the crest of many local organisations. Development in the area has eradicated most of these lilies but some can still be found, a few kilometres south in the Royal National Park.

Recreation

Gymea Bay is home to the heritage-listed Gymea Bay Baths, at the shore of Gymea Bay Baths Reserve at the intersection of Gymea Bay Road and Ellesmere Road. Gymea Bay Amateur Swimming Club has been using the baths for over 40 years. The bay and Port Hacking estuary are used extensively for watersports such as wakeboarding and water skiing.

Gallery

Gymea Bay Sunset