Nutgrove Beach is a popular beach destination along the River Derwent in Sandy Bay,

Hobart Hobart ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the island state of Tasmania, Australia. Located in Tasmania's south-east on the estuary of the River Derwent, it is the southernmost capital city in Australia. Despite containing nearly hal ...

Tasmania Tasmania (; palawa kani: ''Lutruwita'') is an island States and territories of Australia, state of Australia. It is located to the south of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland, and is separated from it by the Bass Strait. The sta ...

. The north facing beach has views of

kunanyi / Mount Wellington Mount Wellington, also known as kunanyi () in palawa kani and gazetted as kunanyi / Mount Wellington, is a mountain in the south-east of Tasmania, Australia. It is the summit of the Wellington Range and is within Wellington Park reserve. Hoba ...

, Lords Beach,

Wrest Point Hotel Casino The Wrest Point Hotel Casino is a casino in Tasmania. It was Australia's first legal casino, opening in the suburb of Sandy Bay, Tasmania, Sandy Bay in Hobart, on 10 February 1973. The hotel tower is the List of tallest buildings in Hobart, ta ...

, the

Tasman Bridge The Tasman Bridge is a prestressed concrete girder bridge connecting the Tasman Highway over the River Derwent (Tasmania), River Derwent in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia. When it opened on 29 March 1965, the Tasman was the longest prestressed con ...

, and the

City of Clarence Clarence City Council (or City of Clarence) is a Local government in Australia, local government body in Tasmania, and one of the five municipalities that constitutes the Hobart, Greater Hobart Area. The Clarence local government area has a po ...

on the eastern shore. Nutgrove Beach neighbours

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

and Red Chapel Beach, and is close to the Sandy Bay Sailing Club and Lower Sandy Bay shops. The beach is dog-friendly and has bathroom facilities.

History

Nutgrove Beach has historically been a popular staple of local activity, used for horse races, regattas, sailing races and swimming. Prior to the

British colonisation of Tasmania The British colonisation of Tasmania took place between 1803 and 1830. Known as Van Diemen's Land, the name changed to Tasmania, when the British government granted self-governance in 1856. It was a colony from 1856 until 1901, at which time i ...

, the land had been occupied for possibly as long as 35,000 years by the semi-nomadic Mouheneener people, a sub-group of the Nuennone, or "South-East tribe". The Mouheneener held a permanent settlement on neighbouring Long Beach called ''kreewer''. Originally Nutgrove Beach was a continuation of Long Beach. As a means in preventing further foreshore erosion, a basalt seawall was constructed in the 1970s, dividing the beach in two. The new beach was named Nutgrove Beach after nearby Nutgrove House, an 1880s homestead built by John T. Read, a farmer who owned the Kinvarra Estate in Plenty. Read named his house "Nutgrove" after a small grove of walnut trees growing on the land. There were many apple, pear and nut orchards in Lower Sandy Bay in the 19th century. Nutgrove House still stands today.

Marine life

Nutgrove Beach is home to many sea creatures, including the native smooth spotted shore crab (''Paragrapsus laevis'') and the critically endangered spotted handfish (''Brachionichthys hirsutus''). Though once a calving ground of the

southern right whale The southern right whale (''Eubalaena australis'') is a baleen whale, one of three species classified as right whales belonging to the genus ''Eubalaena''. Southern right whales inhabit oceans south of the Equator, between the latitudes of 20� ...

(''Eubalaena australis''), it is now incredibly rare to sight a whale in the Derwent estuary. Whaling was banned in Australia in 1978, and ships are not to approach closer than when encountering whales.

Environment

In 2015, a survey report found that over 40 houses along Nutgrove beach are at risk from rising sea levels. In 2018, an annual report revealed that Blackmans Bay and Nutgrove Beach contained the worst water quality within the Derwent estuary.

Access

Nutgrove Beach is a one-hour walk from the

Hobart City Centre The Hobart City Centre (referred to as the Hobart CBD) is a suburb surrounded by metropolitan Hobart, which comprises the original settlement, the central business district, and other built-up areas. It is the oldest part of Hobart and include ...

, or a short metro bus ride along Sandy Bay Road.

References

{{Hobart landmarks Beaches of Tasmania Sandy Bay, Hobart