The City of Shoalhaven, New South Wales.

The City of Shoalhaven is a Local Government Area (population 88,405) in south-eastern New South Wales (NSW), Australia, two hours south of Sydney. It is more or less conterminous with an area referred to as The Shoalhaven. It is on the Pacific Ocean and the Princes Highway and is the terminus of the South Coast line.

The Shoalhaven region in New South Wales is the southern part of the traditional homelands of the Tharawal people.

George Bass explored the area in 1797, following Seven Mile Beach. He crossed the shoals at the entrance to the river, calling it 'Shoals Haven' due to the shallowness of the river mouth. This river is now known as the Crookhaven, but the name was adopted for the Shoalhaven area and the Shoalhaven River.

The city actually consists of a number of distinct towns that share the one government. These towns include:

• Nowra and Bomaderry;
• north of Nowra: Berry, Kangaroo Valley, Shoalhaven Heads and Jaspers Brush;
• around Jervis Bay: Huskisson, Vincentia, Greenwell Point, Culburra Beach, Currarong, Callala Beach, Callala Bay, Orient Point, Hyams Beach, Sanctuary Point, St Georges Basin, Basin View, Falls Creek, Tomerong, Wandandian, Bream Beach, Wrights Beach;
• further south: Sussex Inlet, Berrara, Cudmirrah, Bendalong, Cunjurong, Manyana and Lake Conjola;
• the towns of the Ulladulla area: (Ulladulla, Milton and Mollymook); and
• in the far south: Burrill Lake, Tabourie Lake, Termeil, Bawley Point and Kioloa.

Tourism

The Shoalhaven is, after Sydney, the most popular tourist destination in New South Wales. It can be reached from Sydney by car via the Princes Highway and by rail via CityRail's South Coast Line which terminates just north of Nowra in Bomaderry. The most well-known part of the Shoalhaven is the Jervis Bay area. The area is approximately 160 kilometres long along the coastline, including 109 beaches, which allegedly possesses the whitest sand in the world, as well as pristine natural Australian bushland. The Shoalhaven area is home to numerous species of native Australian flora and fauna.

Culture

The area is well-known for its strong commitment to the arts and music, featuring the See Change and See Celebrations festivals in the Jervis Bay and St Georges Basin areas, as well as the EscapeArtfest festival and Blessing of the Fleet in the Ulladulla area.