Christmas Cove

Christmas Cove on the western side of the Penneshaw town, has been converted into a small boat harbour through the construction of two small harbour walls and a dredged basin. The 300 metre long high tide beach curves around the shore of the very protected, almost circular bay, surrounded by 20 metre high bluffs. The bay was originally filled with the fronting sand flats, the western side of which have been dredged for a boat ramp and moorings. The cove is an important geological site, with Palaeozoic glacial erratics lying on the beach. Look for the ice scratches in the cliff face caused by ice action over 250 million years ago. Large granite boulders carried by a glacier are now monument to Captain Matthew Flinders. Christmas Cove is unsuitable for swimming, owing to the shallow sand flats and boat traffic.