Safety Bay is an outer southern suburb of

Perth Perth () is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth-most-populous city in Australia, with a population of over 2.3 million within Greater Perth . The ...

, the capital city of

Western Australia Western Australia (WA) is the westernmost state of Australia. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east, and South Australia to the south-east. Western Aust ...

, located on the coast within the

City of Rockingham The City of Rockingham is a council and Local government areas of Western Australia, local government area, comprising the south coastal List of Perth suburbs, suburbs of the Western Australian capital city of Perth. History Rockingham is loca ...

History

Safety Bay was originally a small cove on the north shore of Warnbro Sound, now encompassed by Safety Bay Road, Berry Street and Janet Road. It had been noted by surveyor-general

John Septimus Roe John Septimus Roe (8 May 1797 – 28 May 1878) was the first Surveyor-General of Western Australia. He was a renowned explorer, a member of Western Australia's legislative and executive councils for nearly 40 years, but also a participant in ...

in 1837 as "a safe, well protected boat anchorage" and he gave it the appropriate name of Safety Bay.

In the mid-1830s,
Thomas Peel Thomas Peel (1793 – 22 December 1865)Alexandra Hasluck,, ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 2, MUP, 1967, pp 320-322. retrieved 2009-11-04 organised and led a consortium of the first British settlers to Western Australia. He was a ...
became interested in Safety Bay as a potential harbour to establish a base for
whaling Whaling is the hunting of whales for their products such as meat and blubber, which can be turned into a type of oil that was important in the Industrial Revolution. Whaling was practiced as an organized industry as early as 875 AD. By the 16t ...
operations as well as a point from which inland stands of
jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with rough, fibro ...
could be exported. After initial approval by Governor Stirling and Surveyor-General J. S. Roe for the founding of ‘Liverpool’—as Peel’s port-town was to be known—in 1842 a town site was marked out and planned by surveyor Thomas Watson. Peel’s venture did not go ahead at this time, however.

Roe recorded depths of in what was later named "Peel Harbour". In 1846, Roe undertook a more detailed investigation of the potential of Safety Bay as the site for a port. The Harbour, however, had silted up to such an extent that it was no longer suitable for shipping and it began to become known as "Peel Basin" instead. The harbour (or basin) disappeared over time, and was last recorded on maps of the area in 1890. It has been suggested that the harbour is reforming, as evidenced by reconnection of Tern Island to the Safety Bay shore in 2001 and enclosure of the waters to the east. In the late 1920s the Safety Bay Townsite Estate was subdivided by A. J. H. Watts, and the suburb grew over the 1930s.

Safety Bay Road Safety Bay Road is an east-west metropolitan road located in the City of Rockingham, about south of Perth, Western Australia. The road starts in Rockingham's coastal suburbs and heads south from Peron past Lake Richmond. The road then turns ...

, which links Safety Bay to Rockingham, was bitumenised and extended to

Mandurah Road Mandurah Road is the name given to two roads in the cities of Perth and Mandurah, Western Australia, which link together at Stakehill Road, Karnup, Western Australia, Karnup. Route description The northern part starts in the Kwinana Beach, We ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, through Baldivis to join the

Kwinana Freeway The Kwinana Freeway is a freeway in and beyond the southern suburbs of Perth, Western Australia, linking central Perth with Mandurah to the south. It is the central section of State Route 2, which continues north as Mitchell Freeway to A ...

in 2002, and the

Forrest Highway Forrest Highway is a highway in Western Australia's Peel (Western Australia), Peel and South West (Western Australia), South West regions, extending Perth's Kwinana Freeway from east of Mandurah down to Bunbury, Western Australia, Bunbury. ...

in 2009.

Recreational attractions

Because of its mild, child-safe, sheltered beach, Safety Bay became a popular family holiday venue early in the 20th century. The beach area offers uninterrupted views of Warnbro Sound from Shoalwater to Port Kennedy. The boat-launching facilities are utilised by recreational sailors and anglers. An adjoining beach at Shoalwater is used by

windsurfers Windsurfing is a wind-propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

and

kitesurfers Kiteboarding or kitesurfing is a sport that involves using wind power with a large power kite to pull a rider across a water, land, snow, sand, or other surface. It combines the aspects of paragliding, surfing, windsurfing, skateboarding, snow ...

. The bay lies wholly within the

Shoalwater Islands Marine Park The Shoalwater Islands Marine Park is a protected marine park located in Western Australia and stretches from the northern point of the Garden Island Causeway to the southern point of Becher Point. The marine park is located offshore from t ...

which is a pristine habitat for a rich variety of birds and marine life centred on Penguin Island. The Safety Bay Beach boat ramp is popular with locals and is opposite Cafe Barco and the Bent Street shops. Local boat cruise operators offer opportunities to see wildlife including dolphins, whales, sea lions and penguins. The district is well served by shops, pubs and restaurants and is close to numerous technical product and service outlets in the comprehensive light-industrial estates on and around Rockingham's Dixon Road.

Transport

Safety Bay is served by a road network including the nearby

by which Perth (50 km to the NNE) can be reached in about 45 minutes by car. The port city of Fremantle is a 30-minute drive to the north and the resort city of Mandurah is 20 minutes to the south. Those destinations are also served by bus routes which connect with the Perth-Rockingham-Mandurah rail service. The rail journey to Perth from Rockingham takes 33 minutes, with trains at 10-minute intervals in peak time. Perth Bicycle Network route SW38 links Waikiki Beach in Safety Bay with Rockingham Beach in Rockingham.
Rockingham Bike Map downloadable from Perth Bicycle Network

References

External links

Shoalwater Islands Marine Park
Down load leaflet from Western Australia's Department of Environment and Conservation {{Suburbs of Rockingham Suburbs of Perth, Western Australia Suburbs in the City of Rockingham Bays of Western Australia