Wineglass Bay

Wineglass Bay is a renowned crescent-shaped beach within Freycinet National Park on Tasmania's east coast in the Glamorgan-Spring Bay municipality. Famous for its white sand, turquoise water and backdrop of the pink granite Hazards mountains, it is consistently rated among Australia's most scenic beaches. Accessible only by walking track or boat, it lies south of Coles Bay and forms the centrepiece of the Freycinet Peninsula.

Visitors can expect a remote natural beach setting within Freycinet National Park reached via well-formed walking tracks through coastal bushland. The main experience is the uphill walk to Wineglass Bay Lookout overlooking the bay, with an optional steep descent to the beach itself. The beach is undeveloped with white sand and clear water, surrounded by granite peaks and native vegetation. There are no shops or services at the bay; facilities are at the park visitor centre and car park.

Wineglass Bay lies within Freycinet Peninsula, first sighted by Europeans during French explorer Nicolas Baudin's expedition in 1802. The bay was used by shore-based whalers in the 1820s-1850s, and its name is commonly attributed to the whaling era. The area was declared a national park in 1916, making Freycinet one of Tasmania's oldest national parks.

The Freycinet Peninsula is part of the traditional lands of the Oyster Bay Aboriginal people. The park landscape holds cultural significance for Tasmanian Aboriginal people, with evidence of long-term occupation including middens and artefacts along the coastline.