Whale watching platform at Cape Solander

National Parks and Wildlife Service has built a new whale watching platform at Cape Solander to improve your whale watching experience.

Cape Solander, within Kamay Botany Bay National Park, Kurnell, is a spectacular site and receives over 200,000 local, domestic and international visitors each year. It provides a great spot to look for whales from May to July each year and is also the starting point for the popular Cape Baily Track.

Cape Solander is an exposed location subject to substantial wind and salt spray, and the materials were chosen to be more resilient to the corrosive environment.

What are we doing?

The new whale watching infrastructure is now complete. We have improved visitor access and safety by constructing a new accessible whale watching platform with larger viewing areas, better pedestrian access and new interpretation. We have also improved the parking areas and safety barriers and provided a new footpath from the parking area to the whale watching platform.

The project complements and promotes the scenic values of the national park and is consistent with the National Heritage listing of the site.

In 2020, National Parks and Wildlife Service engaged landscape architects Oculus to design a more durable and accessible whale watching platform that would meet visitor needs, withstand the harsh corrosive environment and improve visitor safety.

Construction commenced in mid-2021 but was affected by the COVID-19 crisis, its subsequent impact on the availability of sub-contractors and materials, and the significant weather events of the past year.

We are pleased to advise that the project is complete, and Cape Solander Road has been reopened.

The Kamay Botany Bay National Park plan of management (2019) and the Kamay Botany Bay National Park: Kurnell Precinct master plan aim to provide enriching and memorable experiences in the park, improve access to the park for all, and contribute to the goal of easy and safe transport to and within the park.

During the annual whale migration, you can spot them from lookouts along the entire coastline of Sydney. Check out some other top whale watching locations around Sydney.

Top whale watching spots