Adventure Bay

Adventure Bay is a large sandy bay and beach on the eastern coast of Bruny Island in the Kingborough local government area, Tasmania, accessible via ferry from Kettering south of Hobart. Named after HMS Adventure, it features a 5-kilometre curved beach with calm waters backed by forested hills. It is notable for its scenic natural setting, swimming and nature-based recreation, and strong maritime history linked to early European explorers including Tobias Furneaux, James Cook and William Bligh.

Visitors can expect a wide, curved sandy beach with generally calm, clear water suitable for swimming and paddling, backed by bushland and low hills. The foreshore includes grassy picnic areas, a boat ramp and walking tracks. The area is quiet and natural, with views across the bay to Penguin Island and Fluted Cape. Visitors can explore the beach on foot, view the Cook Monument and Bligh Museum of Pacific Exploration nearby, and observe wildlife including little penguins and shorebirds.

Adventure Bay was named after HMS Adventure, commanded by Tobias Furneaux who anchored there in 1773. Captain James Cook visited in 1777, William Bligh visited in 1788 and 1792, and French explorer Bruni d'Entrecasteaux visited in 1792-1793, after whom Bruny Island is named. The bay was an important early anchorage for European exploration of Tasmania and is marked by the Cook Monument and the Bligh Museum of Pacific Exploration.

The area is part of the traditional lands of the Nuenonne people of Bruny Island, part of the South East nation of Tasmanian Aboriginal people. The bay retains cultural significance for its Aboriginal heritage and for its association with early European maritime exploration, reflected in local place names and interpretation at the foreshore and museum.