Jurien Bay

Jurien Bay WA Australia

Jurien Bay is situated 222 kms north of Perth.

The region developed as a result of the rock lobster (crayfish) industry. Jurien Bay was known to the Europeans in the seventeenth century, however was not mapped until an expedition in 1803 led by Thomas Nicholas Baudin and Louis-Claude Desaules de Freycinet, mapped and named much of the area. The two ships Le Geograph and the Casuarina, sailed up the Western Australian Coast line collecting local Flora and Fauna.

From these ships Freycinet a Cartographic Surveyor, surveyed the area and named it Jurien Bay after Charles Marie Jurien from the French Naval Administration. Mount Lesueur was named after Charles Alexandre Lesueur who was the ships artist on Le Geograph and Mount Peron was named after the ships Naturalist and Botanist, François Peron.
Despite the excellent mappings there were three major wrecks off the coast in the 1890’s alone, one ship called the Lubra sank in January 1898.

The first settlement of Jurien Bay occurred in the mid 1850’s when Walter Padbury took land around Jurien Bay and Walters’ nephew, John Grigson, managed the property and became the first pioneer in the area. The pastoralist success in the area led to the jetty named Walter Padbury’s Jetty being erected in 1885, this provided access for wool and hide transport. The jetty was destroyed by fire & the remains were covered in sand, however the remains were re-discovered in the 1970’s and its location is marked by a large rock and plaque at the Old Jetty Site at the end of Hastings Street.

By the early 1900’s the waters around the area were being fished for groper, dhufish and snapper. By the 1950’s people began to build permanent residences which were nothing more than shanties made from corrugated iron rather than proper dwellings.
Jurien Bay was officially named Jurien Bay on the 21st December 1956. By the 1960’s it was clear that the town’s development would be based around the crayfish industry & due to this, 2 new jetties & 2 factories were built. An airstrip was also built so that shipments could be flown direct to Perth.

Jurien Bay has a reputation for one of the best locations on the Central Coast for catching snapper, baldchin groper and dhufish, bringing fishermen and women from all over the State. Boasting a modern marina which has four boat launching ramps and ample car and trailer parking. The coastal waters off Jurien Bay are a multiple use Marine Park including several islands, two of which is the home to the Dibbler, a small marsupial mouse, an endangered species.