Twofold Bay

Twofold Bay is in the south coast region of New South Wales. It is a large oceanic bay with an open entrance.

Twofold Bay is located on the far south coast of New South Wales about 400 kilometres south of Sydney and 40 kilometres north of the Victorian border. The bay is divided into two distinct bights, Calle Calle Bay and Nullica Bay, giving Twofold Bay its name.

The tributaries of Twofold Bay include Boydtown Creek, Lake Curalo, Nullica River, Shadrachs Creek and Towamba River, in addition to other smaller creeks and stormwater drainages.

Twofold Bay is known for its whaling history. Humpback whales often come into the bay in spring. Eden is the largest commercial fishing port in New South Wales and a principal export point for timber and timber products. Twofold Bay also contains a commercial mussel farm.

Estuary health and features

Water quality

Twofold Bay has not been sampled as part of our monitoring program. We monitor water quality in Curalo Lagoon, Fisheries Creek, Nullica River, and Towamba River the main tributaries to Twofold Bay.

Towamba River estuary was last sampled in 2008–09, Nullica River in 2011–12, Curalo Lagoon in 2017–18 and Fisheries Creek in 2020–21.

Find out more about our estuary report cards and what each grade means.

Physical characteristics

Estuary type: Bay

Entrance
location 		Latitude (ºS) –37.08
Longitude (ºE) 149.95
Catchment area (km2) 11.0
Estuary area (km2) 30.7
Estuary volume (ML) 334,559.4
Average depth (m) 10.9
Notes: km2 = square kilometres; m = metres; ML = megalitres.

Water depth and survey data

Bathymetric and coastal topography data for this estuary are available in our data portal.

Seafood harvest area status

The NSW Food Authority website lists the current status of oyster/shellfish harvest areas.

Land use

The Twofold Bay catchment is largely undeveloped with a significant amount of the catchment forested. The urban areas of Eden and Boydtown are concentrated on the north-eastern and south-western foreshores of the bay. The Beowa National Park fringes the southern and northern edge of the bay, and the commercially managed Nullica and East Boyd state forests are located to the north-west and south of the bay respectively.

National and marine parks

  • Beowa National Park is the largest conservation area situated on the northern boundary of the Twofold Bay catchment.
  • There is no marine park associated with this estuary.

Citizen science projects

  • The Far South Coast Landcare Association is a volunteer environmental and conservation organisation that works to improve management of local land and water. This association manages the Eden Cove and Cocora Wetlands Group.
Twofold Bay

Local councils manage estuaries within their area, unless the estuary is attached to a marine park. Bega Valley Shire Council manage this estuary.