Freshwater Bay is a bay of the Swan River, in metropolitan

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. It is about 5 km upstream from the mouth of the river at

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and is overlooked by the suburbs of

Dalkeith Dalkeith ( ; gd, Dail Cheith, IPA: �t̪alˈçe is a town in Midlothian, Scotland, on the River Esk. It was granted a burgh of barony in 1401 and a burgh of regality in 1540. The settlement of Dalkeith grew southwestwards from its 12th-cent ...

, Claremont,

Mosman Park Mosman is a suburb on the Lower North Shore region of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Mosman is located 8 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre for the local governm ...

and

Peppermint Grove Peppermint (''Mentha'' × ''piperita'') is a hybrid species of mint, a cross between watermint and spearmint. Indigenous to Europe and the Middle East, the plant is now widely spread and cultivated in many regions of the world.Euro+Med Plantbas ...

. Freshwater Bay was named after Freshwater Bay and Freshwater, Isle of Wight by Henry Charles Prinsep (1844-1922), who had a riverside family holiday cottage there, ''The Chine''. Freshwater west

Indigenous context

Before and after the arrival of Europeans, the bay had significance to local indigenous people.

Features

Much of the bay's foreshore on the western and eastern sides are limestone cliffs. The head of the bay is the location of the Claremont foreshore. Other important features to the south are the sand spit at

Point Walter Point Walter (Noongar: ''Dyoondalup'') is a point on the Swan River, Western Australia, notable for its large sandbar that extends into the river. It is located on the southern shore of Melville Water, and forms its western end. Point Walter ...

and Point Resolution at the eastern end.

Human interaction

Parts of Freshwater Bay are designated ski areas. Due to Point Walter's spit and the high surrounding limestone cliffs, the bay has relatively calm waters and is protected from winds, making the area suited for jet skiing, rowing, sailing and other water recreations.

Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club The Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club is a yacht club situated in Freshwater Bay on the Swan River in Peppermint Grove, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1896 by a group of friends including Aubrey Sherwood and E ...

and

Claremont Yacht Club Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth ** Claremont Football Club, West Australian Footbal ...

are situated in the bay, both of which provide recreational boat mooring space and other club facilities as well as conducting races.

Christ Church Grammar School , motto_translation = God is our leader, learning is our light , established = , founder = William Joseph McClemans , type = Independent single-sex early learning, primary, and secondary day and boarding school , gender = Boys , deno ...

and Methodist Ladies' College are also situated atop the limestone cliffs along the northern section of the bay, often using it for rowing training and also kayaking for physical education classes.

Environmental management

Extensive and long standing environmental impacts of suburban development around the bay have been reviewed following stricter environmental regulation.Swan River Trust (W.A.) (1999) Freshwater Bay management plan : prepared in conjunction with the Claremont Heritage Trust Advisory Committee. East Perth, W.A. : The Trust Series Report, 1033-9779 (Swan River Trust (W.A.)) ; no. 29.

Notes

{{coord, 31, 59, 51, S, 115, 46, 50, E, display=title Swan River (Western Australia) Bays of Western Australia Claremont, Western Australia